Overnight Getaway - Blue Harbor Resort - Toddling Around Chicagoland

Overnight Getaway – Blue Harbor Resort

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Location: 725 Blue Harbor Drive, Sheboygan, WI

Phone: 866-701-BLUE (2583)

Parking: Free parking. Valet service is also available.

Check-in & check-out: Check-in is at 4:00 pm; check-out is at 11:00 am.

Price: Prices vary, but I was able to find prices starting at about $165/night. There is also a resort fee, which I believe is about $16.

There is currently a promo code (which expires in early September 2015) that can save you 10-30% on your stay between Sunday and Thursday. Find more details and restrictions on the Specials and Packages page of the Blue Harbor Resort website. Blue Harbor Resort also offers a discount on rooms to military personnel and their families, as well as police, firemen, and EMTs.

Accommodations: All rooms have a 42-inch flat screen tv, patio or balcony, microwave & mini-fridge, coffee maker, hair dryer, iron & ironing board, complimentary wi-fi, and an in-room safe.

King Suite – One king bed and a full-size sofa sleeper
Family Suite – Two queen beds and a full-size sofa sleeper
Family Fireplace Suite – Two queen beds, a full-size sofa sleeper, a wet bar area, and a fireplace
KidAquarium Suite – One queen bed, one set of bunk beds, a full-size sofa sleeper, and a wall-mounted 19″ tv for the kids. The KidAquarium rooms are decorated in an underwater theme, with murals, and the bunk beds and smaller tv are in a separate area.
Boathouse Suite – One queen bed, one set of bunk beds, a day bed, a full-size sofa sleeper, a wall-mounted 19″ tv for the kids, a wet bar, and a fireplace. The Boathouse Suites are decorated like a cottage-style fort, and the bunk beds, day bed, and smaller tv are in a separate area.
Whirlpool Fireplace Suite – One king bed, one full-size sofa sleeper, a fireplace, a whirlpool, and a wet bar area.
Loft Fireplace Suite – Three queen beds, one full-size sofa sleeper, a fireplace, vaulted ceilings, private balcony, and wet bar area.
Captain Suite – Two private queen bedrooms, one full-size sofa sleeper, full kitchen, breakfast bar with seating for four, 2 27-inch tvs & a 42-in plasma tv, and a fireplace.
Presidential Suite – Master bedroom with king bed and whirlpool, three private queen bedrooms, two sofa sleepers, full kitchen, Keurig coffee maker, pantry stocked with complimentary bottled water and soda, breakfast bar with seating for four, dining area with seating for six, 4 27-in tvs, 42-in plasma tv, 2.5 bathrooms, fireplace, private balcony, plush robes for use during your stay, and VIP Gilchrist & Soames amenity items for you to keep.
2-Bedroom Villa – Master bedroom with king bed, master bath, and 27-in tv (ADA compliant villas have a queen bed); additional bedroom with queen bed, bunk bed, 27-in tv, and bathroom; full-size sofa sleeper, full kitchen, breakfast bar that seat four, fireplace, wet bar, and washer/dryer.
4-Bedroom Villa – Master bedroom with king bed, master bath, and whirlpool; three additional bedrooms with queen beds and 27-in tv; full-size sofa sleeper, two additional bathrooms, full kitchen, breakfast bar that seat four, dining area that seats six, fireplace, wet bar, and washer/dryer.

Bathrooms: There are public bathrooms available in common areas. The sinks in our room were a little high and Dexter (age 5) had some difficulty reaching them. This is a common problem for us (he’s short for his age) so I wish I had thought to bring a step stool.

Nursing area: There is no designated nursing area, but lots of comfortable seating in common areas of the resort.

Stroller/handicapped accessibility: Bring a stroller if you need one; Blue Harbor is accessible. If you need to book a handicapped accessible room, call to speak to a reservation agent. The 4-bedroom villas are NOT handicapped accessible.

Food:

Latitude 43 – An elegant restaurant serving seafood and steaks, with indoor and patio seating.
The Beacon – The Beacon serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the lobby and outside on the deck.
On the Rocks Bar & Grill – On the Rocks offers happy hour and a full menu.
Shoreline Cafe – Shoreline offers Starbucks coffee, and grab-and-go snacks, sandwiches, and treats.
Rocky Bottom Snack Bar – Located in the waterpark, Rocky Bottom offers kid favorites like pizza and chicken fingers, as well as beer and cocktails for adults.
Poolside Snack Bar – This bar is next to the outdoor pool and is open seasonally.

There are also plenty of dining options in Sheboygan, and several places within walking distance.

Waterpark:

Waterpark features include:

Breaker Bay – 48 foot tall fort structure with guest-activated water effects, suspension bridges, water slides, 12 levels of activities, and a 1,000 gallon tipping water ship that drenches everyone underneath every 5 minutes
S.S. Minnow Pool – a baby shipwreck pool with zero-depth entry and water effects
Recreation Pool – a 79,000 gallon pool for swimming, games, and sports
Molly’s Moat – lazy river
Turtle Tub – a gigantic whirlpool
The Soaker & The Splashdown – two 3-story dueling tube slides
The Riptide Double Surf Simulator – an artificial wave creation for boogie boarding and surfing

Private cabanas are also available in the waterpark.

Entertainment/activities:

Lakeside activities – local vendors offer kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding, and surfing; in the winter, snowshoes and cross country skis are available
Golf – The Bull is a nearby golf course available by shuttle
Mini Glow Golf Course – Two indoor glow-in-the-dark mini golf courses
Kids Club – scheduled activities at the Kids Club include painting ceramics, tie-dyeing t-shirts, or build-your-own ice cream sundaes; in the summer, enjoy storytime and roasted marmallows by the fire

Bocce ball – available outside near the shore
Putting green – available outside near the shore
Arcade – located near the water park with video games and ticket redemption counter

Outdoor pool – open during the summer

Specials & packages: View all the current Specials and Packages on the Blue Harbor website. Currently available packages include:

Bed & Breakfast package – includes overnight accommodations, waterpark, & breakfast
Shrine Circus Special – Includes overnight stay, free admission to the Shrine Circus, and waterpark. Valid only for June 11, 2015.
Romance package – starting at $399/couple and include a whirlpool suite, one hour couples massage, bottle of wine, and 1/2 lb of chocolate
Stay & Play with the Bull package – starting at $154 per person and include overnight accommodations and 18 holes and a cart at The Bull (10 minutes from Blue Harbor Resort)

Parties & events: Birthday parties and group functions can be scheduled.

Additional amenities:

Reflections Spa – Reflections Spa offers massage therapy, skin care treatments, makeup application, body treatments, nail services, waxing, and hair care services. Packages and specials are available.
The Boutique – Located in the lobby of Blue Harbor, The Boutique carries a variety of home decor and gifts.
Washed Ashore Swim Shop – Souvenirs, swimwear, and other goodies are available at the Washed Ashore Swim Shop just off of the waterpark.

Our experience:

Sheboygan! It’s just so fun to say. We told the kids we were going there just a few days in advance and Cooper told everyone at school he was going to “Sheboingo”.

The drive to Sheboygan wasn’t bad; it was about 2 or 2 1/2 hours and we saw lots of interesting things. We scheduled our stay at the Blue Harbor Resort to start on Saturday and end on Monday morning.

We arrived at Blue Harbor early in the day, handed our keys to the valet, and were wowed by the impressive lobby. It’s just gorgeous. The entire resort is beautiful!

We were able to check in early and our room – a Loft Fireplace Suite – was fantastic. The kids ran up the stairs to check out “their” room, and then back down again to hang out on our balcony. The room had two queen beds, then a small half-wall with a seating area (with a couch that folds out to a twin bed). We had a fireplace, a balcony, and an additional room upstairs. We all agreed the two older boys would share the room upstairs, while John and I would share the main room with our toddler, Campbell. The older boys were really excited to have their own room and bathroom and (especially) their own tv. (Quick note about the bathrooms: Dexter is 5 and about average height or a little shorter than average and he needed help reaching the sink faucets. This has happened to us before so I wish I had thought to bring a small stepstool because it would have made our stay a little easier.)

During our stay, we really enjoyed our room. It was clean, pretty, the view from the balcony was beautiful (especially in the morning and at sunset), and we had enough room that we could all spread out an relax during our 2-night stay. It was really cool that we had a fireplace, but wound up not using it. There were signs warning that the tiles of the fireplace would get hot and could burn someone when the fireplace was in use and we decided we didn’t want to worry about trying to keep a 2-year-old away from it.

We visited the waterpark each day of our 3-day stay, including after we checked out on Monday. Cooper and Dexter immediately headed for the smaller water slides on top of Breaker Bay Pier and easily slid down them 100 times during our stay. Campbell loved the S.S. Minnow Pool with the little ship and lots of water features. He wasn’t quite sure about walking through the large water shower, but thought it was hilarious watching the rest of us doing it. The older two boys loved the bigger water slides, too, and begged us to take them down over and over again; Cooper was thrilled when he realized he was tall enough to go down himself and didn’t have to wait for us and we hardly saw him for the rest of the day. Dexter was a few inches shy of the requirement, but was happy as long as we kept going down with him. We spent plenty of time in the Recreation Pool and (my personal favorite) Molly’s Moat, the lazy river. Somehow, I was so busy playing with the kids that I never hung out in the Turtle Tub, but it’s a gigantic whirlpool and it looked heavenly. I didn’t have the guts to try out the Riptide Surf Simulator, but John did it several times and loved it.

The waterpark was clean and not too crowded, even on Saturday afternoon when I expected it to be busy; we never waited more than a couple minutes for any of the waterslides and John never waited more than about 10 minutes for the surf simulator. The staff were all very friendly and helpful, too.

Blue Harbor has lots of dining options and we took advantage of several of them. The Shoreline Cafe in the lobby was great for a quick cup of Starbucks coffee, snacks, or pastries for breakfast one of the days we were on the go, and for ice cream. Yum! We had an amazing buffet breakfast at The Beacon, where Cooper and Dexter ate their weight in bacon, eggs, and pastries, and Campbell decided he wasn’t very hungry and ate mostly ice, until he realized powdered donuts were available. We were going to try out Latitude 43 on of the nights, but it wasn’t open, so we had dinner at On the Rocks Bar & Grill instead and the Wisconsin Beer & Cheese soup was delicious. Another night we had pizza from On the Rocks that we brought to our room so we could eat while we watched a movie. I planned to get some lunch or snacks at the snack bar in the water park, but the kids were never willing to slow down long enough to eat!

As far as Blue Harbor Resort goes, there were only a few things I didn’t love:

The waterpark is closes at 1:00 pm on Monday and is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. This didn’t cause any problems for us since we stay during the weekend. A couple of the activities (like the glow bowl) are only open on weekends.
There weren’t any hours listed for the restaurants. It was easy enough to check with the front desk for hours, but I find it a little more convenient to have it listed in the materials in the room.

Things I really did like:

The location of Blue Harbor is great. It’s right on the shoreline so the view is beautiful and it’s very close to lots of restaurants and activities.
Everything was clean and the staff was friendly and professional.
The waterpark has a lot to do and wasn’t crowded at all
There a lots of dining options, perfect for whether you’re looking for quick food on the go, or a fancy dining experience, or something in between.

My suggestions:

Make sure you schedule your stay during the weekend if you plan to take advantage of the waterpark.
Explore the area. There’s a ton to do!
Check out the activities scheduled at the resort – there are plenty of activities for the kids on the weekend, and during the summer months you can enjoy fun things like bonfires.

During our stay, we did some exploring in Sheboygan. We saw some quirky things that the kids really got a kick out of: a Little Free Library (I love this!!), a really cool art van with a spiral staircase (!), a 2nd floor door (be careful – that first step is a doozy!), a shipwrecked boat, and another boat sticking out of the side of the Above & Beyond Children’s Museum.

There are several great family destinations within a short walk or drive from Blue Harbor. Spaceport Sheboygan, a science education facility with hands-on exhibits and actual NASA artifacts, is just across the street from resort and looked like a lot of fun, be we didn’t make it there. We also would have visited the Above and Beyond Children’s Museum if we had the time, but we’re saving that for next time.

We did visit the Kohler Art Museum, just a couple minutes away from the resort. It’s a pretty small museum, but there was a lot of cool artwork.

We also visited the nearby Bookwarm Gardens, too. Bookwarm Gardens is a garden where childrens’ stories come to life and kids can read and play. The gardens were beautiful, and I think they’re probably even more colorful and pretty later in spring and summer when everything is blooming. (We visited the first week in May.)