K.O.A Allentown P.A........Think twice !!!

We just spent a long holiday weekend at the Allentown K.O.A in Pennsylvania and to be honest I'm not a HAPPY CAMPER!! After checking in we were told to follow a golf cart to the site,nice touch i thought. When we reached the site the gentleman proceeded to guide me in and give me a quick rundown of hookups and; well whatever. I have been camping for 20 years and didn't need to hear this stuff but again a nice touch. after setting up and checking the place out, and it is a nice clean place, my wife and i and my 2 kids made a fire and settled in to what appeared to be a nice relaxing weekend, that is until i cracked open that first Coors light. When the gentleman that showed me to the site rode by and saw me with a beer he came over and said " That is a no no here sir" I thought he was joking but he was very stern and said im not sure why your laughing but this is an alcohol free campground "WHAT"? Now I'm in total disbelief here, i was waiting for the candid camera guy to come jumping out from behind a tree, didn't happen. The end result was i loose the beer or leave the property. Now trust me im no alcoholic but i earned the right after 2 tours to sit by the campfire on my vacation and have a beer, well not at this campground. Wait, its not over...After taking a couple blood pressure pills and getting my temper in check i figure OK, that's there rule and i have a choice here. Either keep my mouth shut and loose the beer or ruin the weekend for my family by leaving, i chucked the beer, but we were marked game then. Seems like every 20 minutes these guys were riding past and checking us out. So were laughing and telling stories, my kids are 13 and 17, were not loud by any means, guess who appears to inform us it is now quiet time, 10:00; yes folks 10:00 on a Friday nite of a holiday weekend. I made it through the 3 days and hauled ass out of there. Bottom line...Don't go to this campground unless you enjoy being belittled by this K.O.A staff with nothing but one rule after another, and for god sake if you do go DON'T TAKE BEER!!

"Coors light" I thought that was alcohol free, or a shandy.
But just think of all the calories that you did not consume due to the alcohol ban (site owner is most probably a reformed alcoholic).
:As to the quite time after ten pm he most probably thought that you needed your beauty sleep.

Here in Minnesota the State Parks are alcohol free. They will not hastle you unless you are really drunk. As long as they do not see a keg or booze bottles all over your ok. In my day I had many beers in State Parks and no problem. I would not go back there again, and I am sure you won't .

Wow... I did a search of campground reviews for this KOA and it appears your summary is very accurate. In fact, I'd say you're definitely in the majority .

Thanks for the heads up... I'll make sure to stay away if I'm in that neck of the woods!!

Here in the U.K. there are sites advertised as Adult only I bet there a laugh a minute.

Sean

Thats why we keep the bright RED plastic cups ready. , But no we don't drink much at all either, its just when you do get ready to have one its best to keep it in a cup. Like the beach, or state parks has always been a NO NO. But it seems as long as your discreet about it they leave you alone.

We have several campgrounds in Michigan that are alcohol free also. I'm like the others, don't drink much, but I sure do like an adult beverage around the campfire at night. I just act like a sneaky teenager, I put some whiskey in a 7UP bottle and mind my own business.

John

5verfamily,

I'm sorry you had an unsatisfactory experience at the Allentown KOA. What might help in understanding the Allentown situation is knowing (as Paul Harvey would say) "the rest of the story."

The DW and I worked for the past three seasons with another couple who workamped at the Allentown KOA about 5 years ago. It seems that right after the current owners bought the CG there was an incident over that 4th of July weekend. A drunken, abusive camper was bothering his neighbors who complained to the owner. The owner approached the camper and asked him to please control his behavior. The camper took exception to this a severly beat the owner. The sheriff was called and arrested the camper (assault and battery) and the owner went to the Allentown Hospital emergency room for treatment. The "alcohol free" policy went into effect the next day. Our friends told us that the policy is rigerously enforced.

So, like a coin, every story has two sides. BTW, I looked on the web page for Allentown on the KOA site and they do advertise the "alcohol free environment" policy.

I do hope that the staff member who approached you about the park rules was polite about it. At the KOA we worked at we tried very hard to be polite and fair when we had to speak to folks.

Thanks for listening.