Before we begin, a warning: if you harbor even an inkling of interest in taking a "family learning vacation," do not under any circumstances utter that phrase around your kids. "I don't want to go and you can't make me," announced my 11-year-old daughter, Alex, when the words accidentally slipped past my lips. Added her 12-year-old brother: "Are we gonna have to sit around in a big circle and say, "Hi, my name is Nick, and I like to poke things with a stick'?"

Not the most auspicious start to planning our weeklong trip to the College of the Atlantic's Family Nature Camp, but I was half expecting that reaction. The kids, after all, didn't know what I did: that they'd get a chance to stay in an actual college dormitory in Bar Harbor, Maine. That we'd get to join real naturalists on Crocodile Hunter-like expeditions to tide pools, beaver ponds, and other wild areas in nearby Acadia National Park. That we'd even get a chance to go on a whale watch and try sea kayaking.

All they heard was "learning," which to a kid's ear sounds disturbingly like "school"--the last thing they wanted to think about on their summer vacation.

To my wife, Sarah, and me, however, the appeal of this family ... uh ...nature camp outweighed any objections our kids could muster. We'd be spending a week in a spectacular seaside location, our days divided between structured activities and free time, our meals provided by the college's renowned cafeteria, our accommodations spartan but comfortable, and all for a very reasonable fee.

If the kids happened to learn something on this vacation too, well, that was a risk I was willing to take.

As it turned out, we all learned a great deal.

Please keep in mind that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are subject to change. Updated July 2005.