Weekend Edition Sunday

For some kids, summer camp season means crafts, campfires and sunshine. For teenagers at one Northern California camp, the focus is chemistry.

At Camp Enchanted Hills, about 40 miles north of Napa, the students have something else in common beyond an interest in science: They're all blind or visually impaired. The camp is a rare chance for the kids to compare notes on what it's like to be blind in a sighted world.

Enchanted Hills is owned by Lighthouse for the Blind, a San Francisco nonprofit; the National Federation of the Blind is one of its sponsors.

On-Air Challenge: Every answer is the name of a state capital. You are given a word. The first letters in the word are the first letters in the name of the capital. The last letters in the word are the last letters in the name of that capital's state. For example, given the word "main," the answer would be "Madison," the state capital of Wisconsin. Madison starts with M-A and Wisconsin ends with I-N.

Vanessa Carlton started her career intending to become a professional ballet dancer, but instead, she followed her dreams of becoming a musician. Now, she's a classically trained pianist, a singer and a songwriter. Her 2002 debut album, Be Not Nobody, earned three Grammy nominations. She's followed up that smash debut with three more albums, the latest of which is titled Rabbits on the Run.

The "The Great American Hall of Wonders" exhibit at the Smithsonian's Museum of American Art examines "the 19th-century American belief that the people of the United States shared a special genius for innovation." Host Linda Wertheimer takes a tour with Claire Perry, chief curator of the exhibit.

Lake Superior is a central character in author Ellen Airgood's debut novel, South of Superior. Guest host Linda Wertheimer talks with Airgood about how a Chicago outsider's entrance into a sleepy town along the lake reveals aspects of an America long past.