Harvest hosts

[Barnyard]

We stopped at this beautiful Country Club, but they were totally unaware of the Harvest Host arrangement. They were friendly and willing to let us stay there but other than golf, they had no amenities, no restaurant, no nothing. New owner was waiting for liquor licenses. We were not comfortable with the surroundings and decided not to stay. The golf course in situated in the "salad basket" surrounded by romaine lettuce fields" It has great potential but not ready for primetime.

[wimpy]

Originally Posted by Rocinante

Wineries and Ohio. See, I would never have guessed.

Farmers in so many cases (NC being 1)reacted to losing govt subsidies (tobacco in NC) by converting to another more predictable cash crop, vineyards and/or wineries.

I believe this is the case across the US. Most states have terroir suitable to growing grapes & 10-15 years in, the wines being produced are comparable to anything found in CA.

If you're traveling in NC, the Yadkin Valley has 40+ wineries, you could call ahead & ask how welcoming they might be...virtually all are small family owned or literally Mom & Pop operations, typically as part of a farm and in a lot of cases, they stay open until 6 PM.

If you're interested in which Yadkin Valley wineries have good French varietals, PM & I'd be happy to advise as I've been doing wine tours for 16+ years.

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by Barnyard

We stopped at this beautiful Country Club, but they were totally unaware of the Harvest Host arrangement. They were friendly and willing to let us stay there but other than golf, they had no amenities, no restaurant, no nothing. New owner was waiting for liquor licenses. We were not comfortable with the surroundings and decided not to stay. The golf course in situated in the "salad basket" surrounded by romaine lettuce fields" It has great potential but not ready for primetime.

Sorry, I just search HH website and could not find the reference I read there the other day. Something to the effect they merged the golf club stays that were formerly under another name. They said to reference the old name when you stay. If I find it later, I will post it here.

So they may have totally unaware, or maybe they just did not realize it was now part of Harvest Hosts.
.

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by Rocinante

Pet rules will vary by host. At a minimum you will probably be required to keep pets on a leash when outside. Some places may already have farm dogs that don’t appreciate visitors. Locations generally say so in the details (e.g. “no pets outside your RV, please”). Also, when you call to ask if you can stay there on your preferred night, you can ask.

We have always felt 100% safe at HH locations.

Right. Once you're a member, you can click on the affiliated site and they will show if they are pet friendly, etc. by icons. In just looking around, I searched about a dozen affiliates and all but one was pet friendly. The only one that was not, was an Alpaca farms that had guard dogs for their herds that roam the property.
.

[wv2017]

Originally Posted by Mansderm161

Just joined. They have a year end special, $44/ year for life. Does anyone have a favorite winery or farm they visited using this service? I did not do the golf package. Curious if anyone has stayed at a golf course? Since I travel solo, also wonder about safety precautions.

Hi Mansderm161,

We joined Harvest Hosts back in June and have stayed at five HH locations thus far, with a very positive experience at every location. Below is a quick overview of our stays:

>> our first stay was at a farm, an Apple & Cherry Orchard, about 30 minutes from Hyde Park, New York..... parked for the night out in the middle of a 500 acre farm, in a level grass field, all by ourselves. Walked down to their country store that afternoon and bought some fresh fruit, home made jam and bake goods.

>> stayed at a berry farm about 15-20 miles south of Hartford, Connecticut..... parked for the night in a blueberry field, on a level, easy access, dirt road, all by ourselves. The next morning, we purchased several containers of blueberries & strawberries, via a "u-pick your own" that the farm offered.

>> stayed at a local brewery just outside Portsmouth, New Hampshire..... parked for the night on a level asphalt parking lot along side the brewery. Ate dinner at their restaurant (great food), outside on their courtyard patio, listening to live music.

>> stayed at a sunflower farm, in Pennsylvania, about 15 minutes off of I-80 (between I-81 and I-180)..... parked on the edge of a level gravel parking lot with great views. One other RV arrived about an hour after us. Walked through the farm taking plenty of beautiful pictures of the blooming sunflowers. Purchased a few items in their country store and bought our dinner from their BBQ trailer, parked out in front of the country store.

>> stayed at a winery between Akron and Youngstown, Ohio about 4 miles off of I-76..... parked for the night on level, fine cut grass, adjacent their gravel parking lot. Ate dinner at their restaurant, with good food and reasonable prices.


We seldom drink and do not Golf..... HOWEVER, in our opinion, Harvest Hosts has been a great experience and well worth the money. During all our stays thus far, we felt very safe & secure and 4 out of 5 times, we were parked overnight all by ourselves. We do exactly what 'Rocinante' mentioned in their post. We make small purchases, buy dinner when available, and post nice reviews, so the business 'gets something in return' from their participation in the HH program.

See the photos in the attached pdf file.


Cheers,

[75Bob]

We are headed to Arizona/ New Mexico mid February so we just joined Harvest Hosts for a couple of overnight stops on the way down from Il./Wis border. They're like $10 a night with just electricity. One has a wine tasting barn. I'm sure we'll make good use of that. Some seem like parking in someones large back yard but I really don't care, it's better than a rest stop and much more secure. What a good idea.

[Rocinante]

You'll find that very few HH stops have any hookups at all. No hookups is the standard for HH, so if any connections are offered, it's a huge kindness on the part of the host.

[Mansderm161]

Thanks for all the info on experiences. I am really excited to check them out, especially since I upgraded my solar and battery and can now boondock with no worries.