Anne’s first experience with visiting the TradeWinds
Island Resorts on St. Pete Beach was five years ago, before she moved to Florida. Here is how she remembers it then, and now: “We were traveling with a whole crew of extended family.
Mom ended up wearing an innertube the whole week with a giant rum drink in hand and a huge smile on her face. Fast for- ward, and here I am with my husband Walker, our three-year- old daughter Sonny, Rudee (who is now 13) and Doc, our extremely energetic black Labrador Retriever. Trips all together aren’t frequent as a whole family. Needless to say, this was an adventure we were into: dogs, toddler, relaxation, and not having to leave the premises unless we wanted to. Sonny was excited the dogs could travel with us. Doc was
salivating the whole way, thinking we were going down to the Causeway to throw the tennis ball. We drove over the beautiful Sunshine Skyway Bridge from our home in Bradenton and arrived at the Tradewinds Island Resorts in what seemed like no time at all. Check-in was super easy. After receiving our hotel bracelets, we loaded everybody out and marched right toward our beachfront, pet-friendly suite with a balcony view of the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. I particularly remember a staff member named Monte, who
was awesome at showing us the way. Walker sat on the couch first thing and said “It’s the kind of place you can wear your sunglasses inside!” Doc appeared to be in shock that he could actually be vacationing with us. We all went to the balcony to check out the view and then immediately to the on-site fenced- in dog park, conveniently located a hop-skip and a jump from our room. While Rudee and Doc frolicked around and did their
things, Sonny and I had fun taking photos in the cutouts. I love the dog park, and found it was a convenient amenity to be able to wake early or go out late with the dogs. Oh! Before I forget, each room comes with a goodie bag
containing a new issue of the awesome and resourceful maga- zine The New Barker, a comfy and plush beach towel, travel water dog bowl, food scoop, poo bags, and a blue stuffed animal Sonny took as hers immediately, and renamed “KeeKee.” We situated the dogs and sent Daddy to the Flying Bridge for a drink while Sonny and I headed to do arts and crafts with
www.TheNewBarker.com We felt the dogs needed a prolonged, energy-expelling out-
ing so we went down the road to Fort DeSoto Park. It is such a cool place. We loved the off-leash area and that restraint was sug- gested by voice command. People were enjoying seeing their dogs play in the golden light of sunset. Sonny, Rudee and Doc met several friends and loved free-roaming the beach area. After seeing a beautiful Golden Retriever, Doc forgot all about the ball we had thrown out in the water. Walker had to swim out to fetch it and get him back on track. We stayed until dark and went back to chill together at the hotel the rest of the night. The next day was ours to enjoy and we started with break-
fast at Bermudas, one of the 14 dining options available on the property. Sonny chose a huge Mickey Mouse chocolate chip pan- cake and danced around to the steel drum soundtrack in the restaurant. It was a chillier-than-usual morning, so we went into St. Pete to Daddy Kool Records (Walker’s request) until the weather warmed for chilling at the beach.
THE NEW BARKER 25
KeeKee in hand. On the way there, she danced around the hotel, looking at fountains and enjoying the energy and scenery. We found the arts table by the action-packed pool area and sat down to paint a ceramic piggy bank whale. The staff suited her up in an apron and handed her some pearly paints in blues and yellows. Sonny painted until her attention span diverted to other things and we trotted off to find daddy.
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