Right now I’m daydreaming of sunny skies, sandy beaches, and Christmas carols. Yes, you read that correctly. I’m currently reminiscing about my family's vacation to lovely St. Pete Beach, Florida over this past Christmas holiday.
I grew up in Southern California where it was pretty much always 75 degrees on Christmas Day. It wasn’t until well into my adulthood, moving to Colorado and then to North Carolina, that I realized most people equate the holidays with chilly weather and hot cocoa. Over the years, I've happily embraced bundling up on Christmas Day, which is especially evident with our past holiday trips to New York City and Busch Gardens in Virginia over the last couple of years.
However, when our kids requested a “tropical” holiday vacation this year, I was more than happy to get back to my roots with a warm, sunshine filled holiday. I did some extensive research on where we could go for this tropical vacation, keeping our budget and desire to road trip in mind. When I came across TradeWinds Resorts in St. Pete Beach, FL, I was so excited. A 9-hour drive from Raleigh, NC, it would be one of our longer road trips but definitely doable for our family. Based on the website, the resort seemed to offer everything we could possibly need for a fun vacation- water slides, paddle boats, kids crafts, private cabanas on the beach, daily activities like s’mores and poolside movie nights, and so much more. Most of our family trips involve going non-stop, walking for miles, exploring new sites and keeping extremely busy. This trip was designed to slow us down and fully enjoy the amenities at a beach-side property. TradeWinds Resort seemed to be the perfect destination for this and when they agreed to host our family over Christmas it made things that much better.
TradeWinds Resort in St. Pete Beach, FL actually houses two unique properties: TradeWinds Grand Island Resort and RumFish Beach Resort. The best part about staying at either property is that guests receive access and amenities to both resorts, including the swimming pools and resort activities. We stayed at TradeWinds Grand Island Resort but ventured over to RumFish Beach Resort (a quick 5 minute walk across the beach) pretty often during the course of our stay.
TradeWinds Resorts takes every measure to ensure families have a great time at their resorts. They have one of the prettiest properties and direct access to the beach. I loved that the resort fee included so many activities and entertainment. During our 5 day stay, we only left the property a handful of times. We loved spending time in KONK Club making crafts and playing mini golf in the courtyard. My kids really enjoyed all the planned activities like the touch tank experience. sea shell scavenger hunt and campfire s'mores. The beach bum in me was so thrilled to have our own private loungers right on the shore that we could reserve at no extra cost every morning. We were delighted with our dining experience at RumFish Grill, home to a 33,500 gallon fish tank that was featured on the show Tanked!
The location of the resort itself was also prime for extra Florida fun! We surprised the kids with Legoland on Christmas Day and it was only about an hour and a half drive from the resort. This was a huge perk for us as Legoland had been on our family’s vacation list for a while! It was great to be able to enjoy our relaxation vacation but then hop in the car for the day for our Legoland Adventure.
While the holidays may be months away, it’s never too soon to start planning your own holiday getaway! Spring Break and Summer vacations are right around the corner too. TradeWinds Grand Island Resort and St. Pete Beach, FL really make for an amazing destination any time of the year!
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