We recently had the experience to go to Fern Resort as part of a conference for Life with Baby. This was our second trip. We loved everything about it! We were there for a weekend, returned home, then went car camping the next day – Fern was so much easier than camping! While I enjoyed the camping trip, my Fern trip was so relaxing in comparison! 

Activities

FERN: There was so much for the kids to do at Fern Resort. As part of the conference, I spent one day in a meeting. My kids were with my husband, and they went on a free pony ride (there were multiple sized ponies, so each child went on a different horse!!), they played at the kids club – climbing the climber and sliding into the ball pit! There was a splash zone, and many different toys. My children wanted my husband to stay with them, but others were there under the staff supervision.

Once the conference was done, I went swimming with the kids, then had dinner, and took my son on a kayak ride in their bay. It is great that it is all included in the package!

For the bonfire, it was started each night at 8:30. We were able to enjoy it as a group on the Friday, then some of our families enjoyed it on the Saturday night, and one friend brought marshmallows for us.

My kids, being 5 & 3, had never seen a juggler – I wasn’t sure what to expect – but my 5 year old was laughing so hard at the antics of juggler dad Craig Douglas! He did a great performance that kids of all ages were able to enjoy and understand!

CAMPING: While there was lots to do for children at the campgrounds, most of it involved us generating entertainment for them, by having scooters, wagons, and toys available. None of this was needed to pack for Fern.  

FERN: They went swimming in two of the three pools – they were mostly in the “deep” pool with my husband, but they spent some time in the children’s pool. The children’s pool is also where they have the adorable lounge chairs!

                Each of the three pools was a slightly different temperature – so when we got too cold in the “deep” pool (closest to the lake) then we moved to the middle pool! Then, we got out, got a drink, and the kids played in the children’s pool! The children’s pool is only a few feet deep and very gradual, so they could walk in, jump in and play on their own.

                CAMPING: While we were camping, the lake was very rough in the afternoon – causing waves and undertow that were knocking over adults. My son had fun splashing in the waves, but my younger daughter did not. When we went to the lake in the morning, it was calm for everyone to swim in.

                FERN: The kids also went fishing. We brought their fishing rods, but sticks and strings are available at the boat dock. Live worms are also available which we used on our kids rods (bonus – the staff put the worms on the hooks for the kids!). My son caught a fish on his first cast! It was just a little fish, but my kids were so happy that they didn’t care! My husband was very busy pulling fish off hooks for the next hour!

CAMPING: We tried fishing while camping, and there were no signs of fish, other than a dead one on the beach.

 

FOOD!!

FERN: As others have discussed, the food at Fern was great. To have a buffet with each meal, we would order our food off the menu, then get food from the buffet for the kids. This meant that they were not hungry and waiting for us. It would be my only complaint with Fern that food took a long time. For example, for breakfast they had an omelet, but can only cook a few omelets at a time. Thankfully, as the place is very kid friendly, once my kids were done they were able to squirm around and play around our table! There are extras that you can buy, such as popcorn for the comedian, and blender drinks by the pool!

CAMPING: Thankfully, my mother-in-law provided most of the food for our camping trip. However, it wasn’t eggs benedict with fresh fruit each morning! My in-laws camp out of a pop up trailer, so they had all the serving ware, but it was so much easier at Fern! We also didn’t need to lug water from the communal tap and wash our own dishes.

Packing

FERN: For Fern resort, we packed clothes, and puddle jumpers. We packed a few books, and tablets for the kids in the room.

CAMPING: We had to pack everything for camping! Linens, towels, tent, beds, pillows, in addition to our clothes. After Fern, I had one load of laundry. After camping, it took me days to finish all the blankets and extras we had packed! Even just going to the beach required a wagon full of stuff, where as at Fern, we just needed our swimsuits and puddle jumpers – we could get our towels at the front desk on the way!

 

So while I had a great time at both vacations, the trip to Fern was FAR more relaxing and even though I didn’t get any spa treatments done, I felt very pampered! I will certainly go camping again – we have two more camping weekends booked this summer, I will be wishing I was at Fern!