It's funny that the Hocking Hills are just under an hour away and yet I hardly ever go there. A few weeks ago, a coworker suggested that all the girls get out of dodge and spend a few days communing with nature.
What a great idea! I began looking for cabins and finally settled on this: Natural Rock Cabin (which alsois for sale, just in case you'd love to buy it for me).Although we were in the woods, we wanted something like a real house, not a mildewy cabin. Natural Rock was very nice, and came with a hot tub. Not to mention the very cool fact that the house was built into a rock formation, so the entire wall on one side of the house is made of rock. That was pretty cool. The only thing we wanted for (besides internet access) was a fireplace.
We tromped around the woods, took lots of pictures, and ate lots of yummy food. We saw tons of pretty trees, including these with cool roots growing together over a big rock. doesn't it look like something from Lord of the Rings?
We were all surprised by how inexpensive it was. The five of each chipped in $70 for our 2 night stay. It's a great getaway for those watching their pennies; it's less than an hour away, most of the cabins come with full kitchens so you don't need to go out to eat, and there is plenty to do for free in Hocking Hills.
We all kept saying how we felt so far away and yet we were so close to the city. It was a great weekend, and we are certainly going to do it again.
Also, the weather was amazingly beautiful. I think this morning might have been the most beautiful day I've ever seen. We were at an antique store in a house in the middle of nowhere just looking out over the green of the hills, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, a a lovely breeze was blowing.
Here are a few things we did while there:
grilled grass-fed burgers from Up the Lane Cattle
drank pina coladas (a first for me, since it's kind of in the bartender's code of conduct manual that you would never order a frozen drink as a guest)
had a snack at restaurant Salaam, formerly cheffed by Barbara from Tigers & Strawberries. Alas, she's no longer there. We had a Mezze Platter and an order of garlic-doused shrimp. Their Turkish pide bread was amazing, with lots of little nigella seeds in.
If you have a few days but not a lot of dollars to spare, I totally recommend checking out Hocking Hills. It's really beautiful. You can see the full set of pictures on my Flickr page.
