Harvest Hosts vs. Military Bases: Pros and Cons
Last year on this voyage from Florida to Maine, we mostly stayed at Harvest host locations. The benefit of a Harvest Host is that it feels free, but then also for your $30 suggested spend, you get something in return for it: a sandwich or a bottle of wine or some honey or a couple drinks. The drawback is you probably do not have hook-ups, although more and more Harvest Hosts are now offering electric for a small additional fee. In fact, two of the Harvest Hosts we stayed in last year had electric and sewer.
Last year I made all the reservations, because we were new Harvest Host members and very excited. I wanted to try all of the top categories: a horse farm, an alpaca or llama farm, and a beer, a winery, a brewery… We tried them all, and we were headed north a little bit later. Temperatures were very hot and set up was hot and then no air conditioning…
This year Bill made all the reservations, with an eye to experiencing as many military bases as possible. We like the military basis because of the safety: we don’t have to worry about anything in the back of the truck and we know if we cycle, no one, I mean, no one speeds on a military base. Also, people on base are used to seeing people exercise. so, they are going to be mindful of a pedestrian. Also, for our $25 a night, we get… Full hook up. It is a very nice combination at a very fair and reasonable price.
Another thing I love on the military bases is that at 6:30 the bugle sounds, and at 7:00 a.m., everyone comes to attention. It makes you feel part of something larger than yourself. It reminds you of the hours and days and years of service you or your loved one put in, and it reminds you that there are people still making sacrifices to keep our country safe.
You are far more likely to see other people exercising when you walk, run, or cycle around the military base. It feels good that you’re not the only one up at 5:30 a.m. to get your steps in!
The other benefit about staying on base over a Harvest Host is that on bases, you have a commissary with no tax on whatever you buy, and you have a gas station with prices usually lower than out on the economy. And the security is great. Here are more considerations:
Compare Harvest Host to staying at a MWR
Pros for staying at a Harvest Host is that for the money that you spend, you get something. Either you get a bottle of honey or some beer or a bottle of wine or a sandwich.
Many of the Harvest Hosts are at a restaurant or brewery, so you can get food.
More and more, Harvest Host sites are offering electric hookups for an additional small fee. Also, some offer pump out. These increased amenities make Harvest Hosts the best deal out there – far more affordable than commercial campgrounds, and with many benefits not available when you stay at a huge commercial campground.
Another benefit of staying at a Harvest Host is that there’s possibly something interesting there. We have stayed at an apiary, a horse farm, a brewery, a vineyard, and a destination restaurant.
Another benefit of staying at a Harvest Host is that there is something there at the destination. Potentially a petting farm or some animals or someone who is proud of their business. Kind of a destination.
We have enjoyed a tractor museum, apiary, two horse farms, a maple syrup distillery, wineries, breweries, and more over our couple years of staying at Harvest Host sites.
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Another benefit of staying at a Harvest Host is there probably are very few people staying there. We did see at a Vineyard in New York that they probably had space for a couple hundred campers, and same with a winery in Homestead, FL. They had a huge parking lot was so they could’ve fit a couple hundred campers.
One of the drawbacks to staying at a Harvest Host is there are not bathrooms or showers. Also, many of them do not want you to run a generator or air conditioning.
Some Harvest Host require you to wait until their business hours are over to arrive.
Some Harvest Host someone on site, some do not. We have stayed at both types. Some of them are completely unmanned; you are given a code to get in a gate or simply no one is there.
Others where there is someone there, like a restaurant or museum, there might be someone with whom to chek in, but they’re not really there to help you with anything.
At a winery or brewery, they might be happy to check you in, but that’s all the service you will get from them.
More and more the Harvest Host also now have an option for electric, and some of them even have a sewer hook up.
We have stayed at three with a sewer hook up: one was an apiary, one was a vintage tractor museum, and one was a single-rv spot in the Catskills of NY. It felt like visiting Kellermans from Dirty Dancing!
I heard from a friend who stayed at the winery in Homestead that on Friday and Saturday night, they have line dancing.
The camp area ends up being their parking lot and it is absolutely full of cars because so many people come for the line dancing.
Benefits of Staying MWR
The benefits to staying on base are several. I’m beginning to think there are more benefits to staying on a base or at a MWR campground than staying at a Harvest Host, and here’s why:
At a MWR, there are always going to be bathrooms and showers. Hot showers. This is a great benefit!
MWR sites generally have laundry facilities, even the small ones like for me. And the prices are low. I have seen $1.50 up to $2.50 a load.
Another huge benefit is, especially for me because I like to walk and run; there will be plenty of paved roads. Especially if it’s on a base, there will be a lot of paved streets. If it is an MWR separate from a base; there may or may not be paved roads.
At the MWR sites, they generally are not squeezed in as tightly as you would find at a KOA. Seymour Johnson is the one where we found the campers fairly close, also at Patrick Air Force Base. However, at Seymour Johnson, they’re also are plenty of trees and they’re still not as close as at regular campground like Boyds in Key West, where they cram them in.
Money is not the object for a MWR campground, so the goal is not to pack it full or stretch resources.
At a MWR that is on a base, you very possibly also have access to a pool and a gym.
On a base, you’re already there with the commissary and tax-free shopping, groceries, fuel. And often an entire hospital.
You’re not going to find drunk drivers on a base or at an MWR property.
A huge benefit of being on a base or MWR is the security. Nobody’s getting in or out without someone knowing. Speed limits are strictly enforced. And theft just isn’t a problem.
We are usually traveling with some items in the back of our truck, and possibly scuba gear and our bicycles. When we are on base, we don’t even lock up the bikes! Our portable generator is safe.
At MWR properties, there are a whole lot of other things available to you for extremely inexpensive prices. At West Point Round Pond, you can rent a paddleboard all day for a couple dollars maybe $10. You can rent all sorts of equipment, all sorts of water sports items, there is even a beach and canoe, kayaks, robots pedal boats , and tons of sporting equipment for Rent very inexpensively. Fishing gear as well as bait.
MWR and base campgrounds usually sell ice cream bars from a freezer. This is a HUGE benefit! : )
MWR sites also have lending libraries with books, board games, movie DVDs to borrow. And jigsaw puzzles are a standard offering.
They also have often pavilions that you can use for larger groups. Patrick Air Force Base has an enormous game room, as do many, and Meade even has a full kitchen that you can use.
At Great Pond, Maine, they are open 12 months a year, and you can even rent an ice fishing hut!
MWR properties also very often have small cabins. We have seen these at Great Pond in Maine, also at Seymour Johnson. And at Fort Meade. Great Pond even has yurts! They are so cute! Great Pond also has several large two-story houses at $150 a night – which is a phenomenal deal to bring your entire family.
MWR campgrounds usually have someone there around the clock who can assist you with a dead battery or anything else like loaning a ladder to get to your air conditioning drip line – which we had to do at Round Pond, NY.
We’ve found MWR is great for leaving you after-hours instructions in a mailbox for late check-ins.
Since the MW sites are geared to morale, welfare, and recreation; that’s what you’re going to find. You might find exercise classes or craft classes or artwork classes. For welfare, you’re going to find a gym and exercise equipment and hiking paths and access to services. For recreation; games and playgrounds and sailboats and canoes and items for recreation like horseshoes or cornhole.
Another benefit of MWR sites is they usually are fairly inexpensive. I think the least we have paid is $20 a night and the most is $60 a night. That’s still far below a commercial campground. Harvest Hosts asks you to spend around $30 a night, so the cost is the same and the over-riding benefit of staying on base or MWR is that the security is better, and they have more to offer.
Another benefit is that if you’re staying on a base, there’s often a cafeteria that is incredibly inexpensive, and also inexpensive restaurants and drinks. For example, at Sigsbee on Key West, you can get a $10 burger or other dinner plate, and drinks are about five dollars. If you walk a couple blocks into downtown Key West, that same burger is going to cost you at least double and the drink probably triple.
I Don’t Go Anywhere Without:
- Stream2Sea Reef Safe SPF 20 or 30 mineral, regular or tinted sunscreen, mask defog, shampoo, conditioner, rash guards and more reef-safe supplies. Use my code “DeepWH” for 10% off. Yes, using boating and camping shampoo and conditioner protects our waterways and runoff.
- Mustang Survival pfd’s and foul weather gear for military specifications equipment.
- Harvest Hosts for the wineries, breweries, alpaca farms, honey apiaries, camping on the fly!
- Crisis Medicine Tactical Casualty Care Course knowledge so we can help ourselves.
- MyMedic Individual Bleeding Control Kits. We take ours everywhere.
- North American Rescue CAT tourniquets.
- Travelex is our trip insurer – click for a free quote.
- Girls That Scuba – members discount card for all things diving.
- RoadId for $5 off your cycling/running/kayaking/travel/sailing id. Sailors are now wearing them!
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