Wow, has it been a MINUTE since I did a travel diary! I believe this was the last one, which was 15 months ago?! Crazy. This past weekend we snuck away for a quick trip down to Florida since we hadn’t had a family vacation in way, way too long. Dillon turned 5 on the 17th and Mike turns 40 next week, so this felt like a good as time as any to get in some well-deserved R&R. Now, if you’ve been following me for the last year and a half, you’ll know that we’ve been taking COVID so seriously. Mike and I have been fully vaccinated since March but air travel has still felt really icky to me [I’ve only taken two flights prior to this since March 2020]. Until Dillon can be vaccinated [which hopefully is soon!] I think we won’t be pursuing travel too much. However, the last few months have been a LOT for us and we all needed something to look forward to. With COVID raging in Florida, I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to pull this off, but we flew into a super small airport and our flight was only half full. The resort we stayed at was an all-inclusive and only operating at 50% capacity. We spent a solid majority of our time outside [at the pool mainly] so we felt good about how we’d be spending our time.
Now, speaking of the resort, this one brought some intense responses from people we told. We stayed at the Sandpiper Bay resort in Port Saint Lucie, which is actually a Club Med property. One of our friends jokingly said “oh, so I guess now you’re rich AND old for choosing Club Med”, ha! But in all seriousness, it’s an all-inclusive in the US! We had originally been eyeing Mexico, but the thought of testing positive and having to stay down there for 2 weeks was frightening. We had the option to drive home if absolutely need be, so this felt like a great compromise. Not only was it an all-inclusive, but they had childcare included in the price of the stay. God bless a Kids Club. Mike and I got to have uninterrupted time at the adult pool while Dillon got to swim and play on the playground with other kids. There was 5 or 6 kids max in his “class” which felt safe as well. This vacation was EXACTLY what we needed. It was relaxing, we had great weather, got both adult and family time, didn’t have to make ANY decisions, and we truly just CHILLED. Our flight was super quick and CHEAP into West Palm Beach [aka the smallest airport ever] and we had a car waiting for us to take us to the resort. Again, didn’t have to lift a finger.
This resort had SO much to do for being a domestic destination. Every water sport you could imagine, trivia, 3 pools plus a splash pad for kids, a few bars, a taqueria for off-hours bites, and a buffet that changed it up for every single meal. Now, I will say, if you’re looking for the Ritz, this isn’t it. But if you want a nice, big room [D had his own!] that is clean, this does the job. Again, we spent 90% of our time there outside anyway, so the room style didn’t matter too much to us.
I really wanted to relax this trip, so the three of us packed into one carry-on, and I didn’t concern myself with taking outfit photos or anything. When I told Mike I didn’t buy a single new piece of clothing for this trip, he was so pleasantly surprised. That was truly the vibe we were going for and definitely accomplished that mission. I did link up what I wore here if you are interested in anything. All the pieces I took are so old but still fit the bill.
I would highly recommend this resort if you want a quick 3-5 day getaway that has tons to offer for kids and adults alike. My only compaint [if I had to choose one] was I wish there were more restaurant options, but the buffet truly did do such a good job of changing up the meals and offering more exotic cuisines outside of pizza and burgers. Overall, though, if you want to shut off your brain and sip a drink by the pool under palm trees, Sandpiper Bay will let you do just that.
Have you ever been to a Club Med property? It had never been on my radar until now, but I think I need to check out their other locations!
