Boondocking with Harvest Hosts
Do you have gaps in your RV camping reservations as you head south to Florida for the winter? Filling those reservation gaps is easy with Harvest Hosts. If you are not already a member, we highly recommend it. Harvest Hosts offer overnight stays for RVers in thousands of locations in the US and Canada. Locations include wineries, breweries, distilleries, farms, museums, golf courses, and other attractions. Most host sites do not have hook-ups so you need to be able to boondock. The hosts do not charge members for the overnight stay, however, it is customary to spend money at their establishment as a thank-you (and well worth it!). A Harvest Host membership fee is currently $99 per year. We always enjoy the unique experience of staying with a host overnight as we travel. We have stayed at host locations all over the US and plan to continue.
Part 2 of our Nomadic RV Travel series focuses on highlighting some of our favorite Harvest Hosts. As we travel around without reservations, we stay at Harvest Host locations to fill in the gaps between stops. We always have fun meeting the hosts, learning about their businesses, and supporting them with a purchase. Part 1 of the series looks at Florida’s county, state, and national parks where we have successfully stayed for a few nights without prior reservations.
Our first Harvest Host stop is in North Florida.
Royal St. Augustine Golf and Country Club – St. Augustine, Florida
The Royal St. Augustine Golf and Country Club is conveniently located just minutes from downtown St. Augustine. The club facilities include a golf shop, clubhouse, and practice range. The 18-hole public course is well-maintained and feels more like a private country club. We enjoyed the practice range and dinner at the clubhouse during our stay.
The RV parking area will accommodate large rigs (45+). Another bonus – the club is tucked away in a quiet residential area. We had a nice place to walk after dinner and slept peacefully without any street noise.
Our next stop is in the lower part of Central Florida.
Sugar Sand Distillery – Lake Placid, Florida
Sugar Sand Distillery is a unique experience. The distillery is located on a 10-acre sugar cane farm in Lake Placid, Florida not far from Sebring. On location, they produce handcrafted small-batch spirits including rum, vodka, gin, and moonshine. The parking area is a large gravel lot and includes designated RV spots. Any size of rig is welcome. You can take a distillery tour and learn all about the craft distillery process.
We missed the last distillery tour the evening we arrived 🙁. However, we enjoyed a tasting at the open-air bar area. The bartender was friendly and knowledgeable. She explained all about the distilling process so it was a win-win 🙂. After the tasting, we enjoyed meeting new friends from Canada who invited us over to their site for drinks. We especially enjoyed the rum!
The distillery closes at 6:00 pm and since it’s located on a farm it is very quiet – another huge bonus. We can’t wait to return in 2023 for a repeat visit.
Heading west to Arcadia, FL, you will find our next stop.
Paradise Golf Course – Arcadia, Florida
We can’t say enough great things about Paradise Golf! The host and staff are beyond friendly and accommodating. The course is located just 15 minutes from Port Charlotte. The parking area accommodates rigs <45 feet.
The course is unique having 12 holes and allowing you to play 6, 9, 12, 18, or 24 holes in a single round. There is also a driving range and practice green for chipping, putting, and bunker shots. Wildlife is plentiful, especially the resident sandhill cranes.
The Palms Paradise Restaurant at the clubhouse is known for its excellent burgers (yummy!). We ate many meals there during our longer than normal stay. The morning we were supposed to depart, our jeep wouldn’t start. Mike, the manager, graciously extended our stay while our vehicle received repairs at Walt’s Garage in Punta Gorda. Many thanks to Mike, Bernie, Tracie, Chris, Jack, and Terry for all their help. We hope to see these fine folks again during our next stay at Paradise Golf.
Harvest Hosts Membership
Our Harvest Hosts membership is worth every penny of the subscription fee. We stay at Harvest Hosts all over the country as we travel about. The add-on golf membership is an excellent value that we use frequently. It is hard to imagine traveling without this amazing overnight camping resource.
We hope you have enjoyed our Nomadic RV Travel series. Thanks for reading!
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