Thursday, November 16 we made our way to Sun - n - Fun RV Resort in
Sarasota. As we make our way past Plant City, where we have visited often for
their Strawberry Festival (it’s the winter strawberry capital of the world).
They bring in name entertainment and have all the usual carnival food, but of
course the star is their strawberry shortcake. Fun entertainment like the cow
costume contest. Owner and their cow dress in fun themes. Yep, it’s a fun time!
Then, we make our way past Tampa where we also have visited many times to
visit Busch Gardens (used to be season ticket holders) for the animals and of
course the roller coasters, we have been to several Tampa Bay Lightening hockey
games and often come to celebrate a birthday or anniversary at Bern’s
Steakhouse.
We arrived at Sun - n – Fun in the early afternoon and got
escorted to our site. We are here for 3 weeks. I had hopes of ordering things
and having them delivered here for our SA cruise, but getting the package from
Zappos that arrived yesterday was painful. When we arrived here the UPS lady
just happened to be delivering a package and she just handed it to us as we had
just arrived and hadn’t even parked the RV yet. She said we had another one in
the office that she delivered yesterday.
So, Greg goes to get the package and was told they NEVER
accept mail at the office. It was probably in the mail room. OK, we don’t live
here and have no idea where the mail room is. Greg asks and she says well, it’s
not open now. It’s all locked up and we don’t have keys to it.
We check out the site map for this RV Park and find a mail
room hoping they list some hours. It’s locked and nothing there. So, we go back
to the office to ask where it is and what are the hours. It was moved
temporarily due to Irma damage and she gives me the hours and they were open. (not
locked up as they said before)
So, we set out to find it and eventually do. They were not
forthcoming in telling us how to find it. It’s a huge room and I’m sure It’s
run by volunteers that live here. (or possibly it’s a paid job) Anyway, they
said no they don’t take UPS packages there. We see the box sitting on the shelf
and they begrudgingly get it for us. Then, a lady comes by and really gets
snippy saying the only reason it’s here is because the UPS lady forgot to take
it back. They are supposed to only deliver to your site. (which wasn’t assigned
when it was delivered and I’m sure she wouldn’t have left it at an empty site)
We haven’t encountered that anywhere else, no matter how
large or small the park (or quality of park) they have all been gracious about
package pick up and delivery. For those who full time it, it’s the easiest way
to get something delivered. They normally have a room they keep mail in until
you come to pick it up.
For a lot of reasons, we have already crossed this one off
our list of places to stay. We expected to really like this place.
First of all, the roads in here are really narrow. So are
the sites. It was the hardest space to get into that we have found to date. (and
we’ve had a few tough ones) It barely fits in the narrow space (that isn’t all
that long either). It’s geared towards families that vacation here. It has
mostly these 500 sq ft “houses” that people can buy or rent. (they must have 90
consecutive days that they live somewhere else since that’s a law in the county
or something) So, it’s a weird feel here with that. It’s a huge pool area with
bar and snack bar, but you can’t bring your own soda or water to the pool area.
There are tons of “fun” things to do that we just don’t value in a place to RV.
They have a gym, but it’s $6.00 a day to use it. Normally, the point of a
resort RV park is that they have these amenities and they are included. (hence,
the higher cost to stay in one) Supposedly, the winter rate does let you use
the gym at no cost. The sites are gravel not paved, which isn’t a deal breaker,
but for resort prices you normally get a large paved space. This place is about
$30 per night more than the last place we stayed with wide streets, huge
parking space and nice amenities. If you had a family of kids and spent a
couple weeks here in the summer, I’m sure it would be appealing to those folks.
Though, there were a lot of retirees paying bocce ball & shuffleboard. The
pool was packed. Cost aside, for half the price we wouldn’t care to stay here
again. They just don’t make you feel welcome. They seem to be big on sales and
not much in the way of being friendly and customer service. Maybe they are to their owners.
Up until this one, there aren’t any we wouldn’t stay in
again. Of course, if this was all that was available we would stay here.
Saturday the 18th we drove to Port St. Lucie to
get our cruise stuff from storage. Just over 2.5 hours each way.
Today, Sunday we walked around this huge place. All things considered it probably is a decent lifestyle for retirees for a low cost active retirement complex. (in the tiny houses) Great for snowbirds since they have to leave for 3 months anyway, so they just go home.
entry
the office
our site (the little square in the bottom left corner is part of another RV slot)
poo area - the water park slide area is an extra fee
Boon Docks grill
one of several lakes / ponds
Park Models - 500 sq ft They are actually "mobile" with wheels and a trailer hitch, but aren't really meant to be moved often if at all.
bocci ball court
another huge building for parties etc.
shuffle board courts
bouncy mat for the kids
volley ball
mini golf
onsite dog grooming
horse shoes
one of the laundry rooms / mail room
RVs & Park Models mixed together
this is for you, Rick....sorry everyone else, they didn't name any streets after you....
Well, we will be busy getting ready for the 7 Day Birthday cruise for good friend Jennifer from Panama. I'll post the itinerary in my next post.
