The three keys to planning a great picnic are 1. a pretty site, 2. good food, and 3. the right accessories. Here's how to plan your own perfect outing.
What is a picnic? A picnic mixes the essential ingredients of delightful scenery with food and beverages. An adult picnic is a very different thing than a family picnic.
An adult picnic can be romantic, sports-oriented or an excuse to sit quietly on a blanket and read. A family picnic is usually more activity-oriented, often including swimming, organized games and unorganized playing.
Family picnics don't even have to include children, if it's more like a family gathering of adults, or could even be a childless couple taking their dogs for an outing. After all, dogs are family too!
The key to making a picnic a success is selecting the right spot for your needs, whether a shorefront or beach, city park, nature trail in a national park, or a mountain overlook.
Once you have chosen your picnic site, then you should plan your menu. Adutls might like a bit of chilled wine or sparking juice, fresh fruits and cheeses. For children, there are lots of healthy prepared options, already packaged to make set-up and clean-up a breeze, and you can bring boxed fruit juices instead of soda if you wish.
The third key to a great picnic are the accessories - it's nice to have a blanket to lay on the ground and mark out your "area", a few camp chairs, a cooler or two for food and drink, and a beach bag for your books and outdoor playthings (like swimming noodles, nerf balls and whatnot). Some people go all out and bring a grill, shade tarp and changing tent!
And while it's nice to go to a park that has picnic tables, don't let that limit your picnic site creativity: there are lots of foldable, portable picnic tables that you can purchase to bring along.
You can find comfortable folding chairs and sturdy folding picnic tables at Camping World:
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