Sun N Fun Blog: RV Resort, Vacation Homes, Vacation Home Rentals in Sarasota, Florida

The Barrons
When asked what her favorite thing to do is at Sun-N- Fun, 9-year-old Cecily Wood Barron said, “Jump in the hot tub when my Dad’s relaxing and annoy him.” She waited a few seconds for her Dad, John, to react before giggling. Dad tells us he’s glad there are two hot tubs – one for kids and one for adults.

Sister Helena, 10, has lots of favorites. She loves the Hippo Slide, the big pool, though she wants a diving board put in, the playground, dive-in movies and listening to music. Dad tells us she loves to get up and dance; she denies it.

What both girls, third and fourth graders at Bay Haven, agree on is that they love to eat at Boondocks. Helena’s runaway favorite, “the fries,” while Cecily is crazy about hamburgers with lettuce, tomato, cheese and ketchup. She’s also partial to ice cream: “The drumstick’s my favorite,” she tells us.

This is the family’s third summer at Sun-N-Fun, and they come as often as possible, getting here about three weekends out of every four and sometimes on weekday evenings for dinner and a swim.

“It’s my favorite place on earth,” Mom, Lauren, tells us. “I pass through the gate and my brain stem starts to relax-then my whole being. Sitting by the pool with a margarita while I watch the girls play…” she sighed, “I tell people all the time, if you can’t find something to do at Sun-N-Fun, you must be dead!”

Dad loves that the kids are in a safe environment where they can run around and enjoy things at their own pace while he enjoys a beer poolside. “It’s that cold one by the pool that makes it a truly family friendly experience for me,” John says with obvious delight. This is a tight knit family that knows how to laugh and have a good time.

The Mazes
The same can be said of the Maze family. Cheryl, Jeff and their children, 14 year-old Ryan, 12 year-old Brianna, and 9 year-old Luke have been regulars at Sun-N-Fun the last three years.

Ryan, a ninth grader at St. Martha’s, says the Resort is “like one of those towns in an old movie where everyone’s friendly and says hello.” While there are always lots of things to do, Ryan likes joining his friends, John, Barry, Justin and Joey to shoot some hoops when they’re not hanging around the pool.

Brianna, who starts seventh grade in September at Pine View, likes having her girlfriends – here’s her shout out – Rachel, Michaela and Amelia come with the family. “We like to eat and they have some great drinks at the bar.” Her favorite? “The Strawberry Daiquiri” she tells us, quickly adding, “the virgin, non-alcoholic kind.” She also enjoys a family game of pitch and putt.

So does little brother Luke, but not as much as he enjoys the Hippo Slide. “I like going fast, getting wet, hitting the edge and then running to get in line again. I go over and over.” We understand that- the Hippo Slide’s our favorite thing to do as well.

The Mazes live in The Legends just east of Sun-N-Fun and while they passed the Resort all the time, they hadn’t visited until neighbors told them about the Family Fun Pass. They’ve been regulars ever since.

Cheryl likes not having to cook, and enjoys sitting by the pool, reading, relaxing, and keeping an eye on the kids. For Jeff, it’s all the amenities: “The pool, the bar the food. It’s just such a welcoming place. I can sit by the pool, have a beer, listen to music, and watch a game on the big screen TV.”

Summer at Sun-N-Fun is something the whole family can agree on.

Ever wonder how your pet hamster feels about running around that wheel all day? You’ll have a great time finding the answer in our new water walking ball. And when you get tired of walking in circles on the water, there’s the new jumping pillow in the Fun and Games Center next to mini golf. Just try to stay on your feet when you’re having this much fun!

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With space filling up quickly, we suggest you contact Camp Coordinator Marci Melzer, a teacher in the Manatee School System or Tracy Goodman, our Lifestyle and Special Events Manager, soon to make sure your elementary school age children, 6 to 11, have the chance to participate in what promises to be an unforgettable summer for the kids. Camp will begin June 6 and run through August 19 and the time will be 9AM – 4PM. Before and after care will be available for an additional change.

Also on the agenda for the young ones is our Read S’more Books program. We plan to build on what was a big success last season with this reading program, so if you have some books around the house your kids are finished with (or that you’ve read to them a couple of hundred times) we welcome the donation as we build our library here.

Of course, we haven’t forgotten the rest of the family and have a great bunch of themed weekends planned including Everything Chocolate (we know, your mouths are already watering) and our Trade Screen Time for Green Time as we once again participate in the Great American Backyard Campout with the National Wildlife Association. Come and campout in our backyard for what we promise will be a weekend of fun and friendship.

Make plans to join us for these terrific events – and others – as we make this summer our most memorable ever. Call Tracy or Marci at 941-371-2505 and check our Facebook page for more information as the summer heats up.

Susan & John Kelly

This was the first winter season Susan and John Kelly spent at Sun-N-Fun. Now the couple is headed to our sister Resort, Sherkston Shores, where they’ve been vacation cottage owners for twenty years. Some call it the perfect lifestyle – winter here, summer there – the Kellys certainly do.

“We wanted a getaway no more than two hours from our downtown condo in Toronto. So I took a compass and drew a circle around Toronto that met that requirement. The first and last place we visited was Sherkston. We bought a cottage in Forest Grove, the first development there,” John says. “When we were still working –college professors, Susan taught public speaking, John taught law – it was our weekend getaway. Now that we’re retired we plan to spend a lot more time there.”

Retired, but certainly not retiring. Five or six days a week they ride the Heritage Bike Trail adjacent to Sherkston. The Trail, about 150 miles along a converted rail system now dedicated to bikes, takes them through forests and vineyards right to Niagara Falls. John describes it as “magnificent.”

The wineries are another favorite stop for the couple. The area around Sherkston is the second largest wine-growing region in North America after California. They’re also avid theatergoers who attend all of the productions done at the annual Shaw Festival, a theater event that draws crowds from all over the world. And of course, there are Sherkston’s two and a half miles of pristine Lake Erie beachfront.

They may have just discovered Sun-N-Fun, but they love the active lifestyle it offers and after three months here this winter, have booked for five next year.

“The great thing about Sun-N-Fun is the lifestyle it offers,” says John. “You can be active from morning till night.”

And the Kelly’s certainly are.  Susan got involved in the walking club, morning aerobics and swimming. She’s been creating stained glass, is planning on taking a woodworking class next year and has started playing Mahjong.

John has joined the men’s billiards club, is playing lawn bowling and is absolutely dedicated to Petanque. The game originated in Provence, France and is rapidly building a following in the States.

When we spoke with John and Susan, they were headed North in their Airstream, with plans to divide their summer between their Toronto condo and their cottage in Forest Grove at Sherkston. It sits on a double lot where Susan has spent twenty years developing a perennial English garden that is home to migrating Baltimore Orioles, Blue Jays, and very rare hummingbirds. She’s also created a butterfly garden where Monarchs are the main attraction for visitors who stop by to enjoy the Kelly’s efforts.

Be sure to do the same when you visit!

Joe & Dora Carvalho

Like the Kellys, Joe and Dora Cavalho have had the wisdom and good fortune to spend the winter here at Sun-N-Fun and their summers at Sherkston. In fact the Carvalhos own cottages at both resorts, Sun-N-Fun for ten years and Sherkston for twenty-one. They’re here from November through April, then return to their hometown of Toronto and the delights of Sherkston.

“They’re very different, but Dora and I love our time at both. The difference is that Sun-N-Fun is a community where we live six months a year, while Sherkston is a weekend getaway,” Joe explains. And for them, it’s the best of both worlds.

The retired couple’s routine seldom varies. Dora picks up Joe every Thursday afternoon for the drive up to Sherkston after he’s finished his volunteer work marshaling at a local country club’s golf course. An avid golfer, Joe carries a twelve or thirteen handicap, plays on Sherkston’s golf team every Friday morning during the summer and is part of Sun-N-Fun’s team, playing Mondays and Wednesdays. Whichever Resort they’re at, the couple stays active.

At Sherkston, while Joe plays, Dora enjoys walking and exploring the park’s lush 516 acres and two and a half miles of beachfront. Together, they fill their time visiting nearby wineries, going to Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, and nearby Port Colborne Marina to stroll, shop, and dine at restaurants like Betty’s near the Falls, Kelsey’s in Fort Erie, and the Lake House on Lake Ontario.  But what they enjoy most, according to Joe, is entertaining friends and they do a lot of it at both Sherkston and Sun-N-Fun.

Though both retired ten years ago, Dora as an investment specialist at CIBC Bank and Joe as a quality auditor for Chrysler Canada, they’re still very active. So the lifestyle at both Sherkston and Sun-N-Fun suits them perfectly. In addition to golf, Joe does yoga three or four times a week to stay limber, plays tennis when his elbow permits, and is into lawn bowling. And like John Kelly, he’s devoted to Petanque. The two men have plans to introduce it at Sherkston this year.

Dora does Zumba, takes Aquafit classes, and joins Joe at Yoga. She also volunteers as both an organizer of our 50^th wedding anniversary party every year for those couples fortunate enough to reach that happy milestone and for the yearly variety show for which she helps prepare food for the cast party.

Together, they share a passion for dancing, regularly attending the Woodlawn Hall dances and to the Bobby Jones Golf Course where there’s a dinner dance every week. “We’re ballroom dancers,” Joe says. “We like the waltzes, foxtrots and rumba.” They also love Sarasota and all that it offers; both are big fans of Lido Beach and St. Armand’s Circle.

Joe sums up his feeling, and the feelings of so many of us, when he says, “Thank God we found these places. They make retirement joyful.”

In the case of those lucky enough to divide their time between both Resort’s – twice as joyful!