It’s no secret that my idea of roughing it is staying in a “cabin” (i.e. a house in the woods, with plumbing and preferably wi-fi and cable TV). So when we decided to travel up to Blue Ridge, GA for the weekend, there was no way we were going to stay in a regular hotel.We had to find a cabin, and not just any cabin.. a nice one.

I turned to Nevaeh Cabin Rentals to find us (my family and I) the best place for our budget and our taste. We spoke to Mary Jo, owner, and she pointed us to a wonderful little cabin out in the woods, but close enough to downtown Blue Ridge to keep from more long drives. Her website had all the details of the house as well as pictures. I knew exactly where we were staying.. no guess work or surprise bright red heart-shaped bathtubs (happened to me once..) She gave us directions, email confirmation, and her cell phone number in case we needed anything. I gotta say… it’s nice to have everything in place before you leave for your trip.

Nevaeh Cabin Rentals is smoke free and pet free cabins that were mostly larger than what we wanted, but I made a notation that they would be perfect for a girls weekend. I only spoke to Mary Jo about our cabin, but I looked on her site for others and they’re absolutely breathtaking. Huge ceilings, game rooms, nature walks, big screen TVs, washer and dryers.. and this is not roughing it at all. It’s luxury. In the woods. How awesome is that?

The view was fantastic! The cabin was unbelievably clean and smelled so fresh. There was even food in the fridge and some in the pantry! I didn’t need to bring a thing… except for that bottle of champagne. Our cabin had a fishing spot, but our 4yr old is a big princess and worms are icky.

We stayed our weekend (I didn’t make the bed. Sorry) and went back home. We always have such a great time when we’re in Blue Ridge. The people are awesome, the local restaurants are the best, and there’s so many family-friendly activities.

If you’re going to stay in the North Georgia Mountains there’s absolutely no better place to spend it at than in a cabin in the woods. Surrounded by nature, long walks in the woods, and some cabins had ponds to fish in… it’s 10 times better than a fancy hotel. Enjoy your stay!

Homepage: Nevaeh Cabin Rentals

The two houses of Ocoee Mist

We travel with our 4yr old all the time and while we do enjoy staying at hotels, we do change it up a bit and recently we stayed at The Ocoee Mist in Benton, TN. And let me just tell you, it has to be one of my favourite places on Earth. From the location, the surroundings, the peacefulness, the accomodations, and the farm animals.

Wait. What. Farm animals? Oh yea.

13 llamas
2 camels
1 horse
10 donkeys
1 peacock
24 goats
4 geese (maybe 5 now? They had an egg when I was there)
6 parrots
6 cats
5 dogs

Heh. Llama butt.

I know it sounds a lot, but Kevin and Carol have a lot of land and those animals have plenty to roam. The animals do not stay in your room nor do you stay in their stable. There is 2 wonderful houses (one house has two rooms and the main house is for the overflow of guests). The animals are extremely friendly and the owners are especially kind enough to allow us to walk around and get near the animals. I have never heard my daughter squeel has much as she did while we were there. This really is a family-friendly environment and I can’t recommend it enough. If you want to have a great time rafting on the Ocoee, they are only 5 miles away from it and then you can relax at Ocoee Mist.

Ocoee Mist is located in Polk County, Tennessee near the Ocoee River and the Hiawasee River. They are 2 miles from Lake Ocoee, 2 miles from restaurants, and 5 miles from downtown. The view there is wonderful, even when it rained we were happy sitting on the porch watching Mel the Camel impatiently wait for my husband to pet him again.

Mel and my husband

The breakfast was amazing (the dining room is awesome!) and I can’t talk highly enough about the owners. Very sweet, down to Earth, and wonderful people to talk to. Your family will never forget the experience, I promise. Our daughter still talks about “Daddy’s best friend, Mel the Camel”

For more pictures of Ocoee Mist Farm B&B, check out our Flickr set.

Yea. That’s where we stayed. Talk about living in the lap of luxury, and honestly, it wasn’t that expensive and it was worth every penny. Pam (owner) has thought about every single detail of this home. The only thing we really had to bring was ourselves and a change of clothes. There was even leftover food in the fridge and freezer and plenty of condiments. The kitchen was fully equipped and we didn’t have to want for anything.

We took a nice nature walk during sunset, and once nighttime came around, we sat outside on the back porch and could actually count the stars. It was beautiful, fantastic, and peaceful. In the morning we woke up to birds singing, a beautiful mountain breeze, and coffee on the back porch (it had the best view). Coffee was provided. I told you, there was very little we had to bring.

So how does this experience differ from a stay in a hotel? Well I just got back from another trip and let me just tell you the difference:
- We had to go to the front office to get more sugar, more towels, and some little shampoos.
- The people next to us really enjoyed watching a movie… LOUD
- Some guys outside our door talked until 2am.
- We were near a fire station.
- I opened our curtains and our lovely view was a guy bending over (yea, not kidding there)
- We had to go out to eat, which is nice sure, but after driving for 6 hours.. we only wanted to rest and didn’t want to have to get back into the car.

You really pay for the experience, the exclusivity of the area, and the bragging rights once you get back home. And honestly, when we returned home we didn’t have that exhausted feeling. We felt extremely refreshed. I know that has to do with Pam’s attention to detail in The Pond House.