City Retreat Park and the First Nudist Boy, Girl Scouts

Now called Gulf Coast Nudist Resort, the development was the home of the original naturist Scouts in the 1970s.

Joe and Laura Swainston always wanted a naturist place of their own. In 1968, the dream became a reality when the couple purchased 40 acres  and subdivided the unrecorded plat into 182 building lots in rural Hudson. The Swainstons also set aside seven acres of the land for a new private business called City Retreat Naturist Park.  The entire subdivision was owned by City Retreat Inc., which allowed nudists to enjoy the comfort of buying and owning a home in a naturist subdivision. By 1971,  the seven acres of naturist park expanded to 10 acres, and 39 of the building lots had been sold.  A few lots were exchanged for the construction of a new pool. Bob and Louise Van Ness became managers of the resort in 1973.  In 1977, the first nudist …

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William j. Schroer

2:09 pm on Monday, October 1, 2012

Great story....naturism is such a positive lifestyle and can provide young people with a more appropriate understanding of their bodies and to be respectful of themselves and others....marvelous about the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts...so progressive...what happened to them since then??   more ›

Nude Running Champs to be Crowned in Land O' Lakes

The Sept. 30 race at Caliente will determine the male and female champion.

The national champions of nude running will reveal themselves soon in Land O’ Lakes. The Caliente Bare Dare 5K is in its third year, but this is the first year the race will determine the male and female national champions. So far, runners from 12 states are registered to compete in the Sept. 30 event, which features a course that takes athletes from the Caliente clubhouse parking lot through the 125-acre resort and back. “Though running nude is not a requirement for the race, the national champions will be the first nude male and nude female finishers and will receive special awards for their accomplishments,” a press release stated. “This has become a destination event attracting runners from all over the country,” race director Pete …

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Clothing Optional Beyond This Point

Are You a Nudist and Don't Know it?

First you have to define what a "Nudist" really is.

A few years back, while reading a copy of "The Bulletin," a monthly newspaper published by AANR (American Association for Nude Recreation), I found something interesting in an ad for AANR clothing. Yes, we we do indeed wear clothing now and then for protection from the elements or to "fit in" to society's needs. At any rate, there was one item I especially enjoyed. It was simply a T-shirt with a slogan that said: "I'm nude underneath my clothes." If you think about it for just a moment, we ALL are Nudists under our clothes! The only difference is how you look at your reasons for wearing clothes in the first place. No, this isn't a recruitment ad to try some cultist lifestyle. It is meant to help you look at yourself in the mirror to see if…

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Clothing Optional Beyond This Point

Some Nudists Stay In The Closet, Others Do Not

Why many people in our lifestyle "keep it quiet."

I was talking once to a couple who was visiting Paradise Lakes about an incident in which they were on their way to Cypress Cove (a well known clothing optional resort in Kissimmee) for a weekend visit. On their way, they were pulled over by a deputy for a traffic violation. They said they were mortified that the deputy might have asked them where they were headed, because they were Christians and someone might have somehow found out about their interest in the Nudist lifestyle. As if the deputy cared and as if he would tell someone they knew if he did! The Nudist life is not unlike being a member of a religious group or even a minority lifestyle like being gay in many ways. Many Nudists are very secretive about how they sepnd their …

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