Schuyler surprised me with a trip to Broken Bow, OK the first two days in December, and it’s a place that had been on my list for a year or so, so I was very happy about the trip destination. We had the absolute best time and stayed in quite possibly the best rental property I’ve ever stayed in, anywhere. Who knew Oklahoma was so beautiful?!
It’s about a 2.5-3 hour drive from Dallas, TX and we arrived around 6:30pm on a Tuesday night. We drove down a small winding dirt road, rounded the corner and pulled right into our circle drive that had the cutest little luxury farmhouse cabin on its own private lot, right in the middle of some pine trees. The name of the house is Shear Comfort. It’s about 1000 sq. feet, felt huge, and has one big bedroom, huge bathroom, living area, kitchen, etc. I loved the high ceilings and whirlpool tub IN the bedroom corner, with the tv hanging on the wall visible. Pure bliss. You can check it out and book here if interested. It was beautiful, private, peaceful, and just perfect. We spent that night unloading, checking out the huge back deck that had a staircase that led down to a large backyard. In the backyard there was a nice fire pit with adirondack chairs, a cornhole game, a patio style table, and more picturesque trees.
Schuyler built us a fire, we cranked up some music on his phone, he sipped on crown and coke, and me, hot chocolate, & we had the best night hanging out, checking out a beautiful full moon, and star gazing. Pretty much our personal heaven. Once we came in I hopped right into the whirpool tub and turned on the jets, before hopping into bed for the night.
We woke up early the next day and grabbed coffee at Okie Girls Coffee – I had an Irish cream + mocha latte..hot, because it was freezing and drizzling rain, then we set out to explore. We loved visiting on weekdays and maybe because it was December too, it was very much so not packed or trafficy anywhere we went, and every business was taking serious covid precautions. We had to order our coffee at a walk up window and pick it up the same way, for example.
We drove all the way through Beavers Bend State Park which was really close to our house, and it was so beautiful. I was really hoping to see some wildlife, especially a little baby bear, but sadly we did not. At the very end of the park was a big dam in a wide open space, where we were surrounded by water down below. It was really breathtaking. Ok, now it’s lunch time…
We had a recommendation to try Grateful Head Pizza and I’m so glad we did. I’m still thinking about that crust. The perfect mix of chewy & crispy…Yum! I go for chicken & pineapple and Schuyler does plain cheese. Can’t go wrong with either. We weren’t able to dine in so we ordered from a window outside and while we waited we walked over to a few shops connected to the pizza place. I bought candy & baby boy some little goodies. Seems to be a trend in my shopping these days. 🙂 After lunch and resting for a little bit, we went back out in the freezing and drizzly rain to see more of the area-but not without a stop at Hochatown Coffee Central for some fudge first. Go for the birthday cake or the salted caramel flavors. I think I ate more sweets these two days than ever!
My favorite shop we went to was called Hochatime. They have unique souvenirs, cool camping gear, super soft t-shirts, for kids too, and the best part is the restored vintage camper in the middle of the store, called Betty White. You can actually walk inside of it and find lots of cute camp-related kids book and toys, and it’s just the coolest thing.
We then drove through downtown Broken Bow and stopped into those shops too. They were mostly women’s & kids boutiques, where you guessed it, we bought baby boy more goodies. We’ve been doing this anywhere we go, since we found out I was pregnant. Such a sweet memory to look back on! Shabby Shack was my favorite store there.
After shopping we made our way back towards our cabin since it was getting close to dinner time. Right before you get to where our house is there’s a shopping center area that includes a connection of 3 or 4 spots-a distillery, a winery, a speakeasy, and a bar I think, and it’s all owned by the same family. Schuyler wanted to stop in and do a tasting of the whiskey first so we stumbled into the speakeasy which was SO cute, and he had the bartender make him an Old Fashioned with their house made whiskey. The name of the place is Hochatown Distilling Co. If you go make sure you ask for JJ-she had the best stories, the sweetest spirit, and made us feel like family, instantly. She told us all about the local petting zoo and showed us pics and videos on her phone of the cutest little animals. We made a note to visit the next morning. We were the only people at the speakeasy, and we felt so comfortable meeting the owners and their families that would occasionally come in and out for a drink. The atmosphere was so down to Earth, and Schuyler said the drink was fantastic! He doesn’t like vodka drinks and JJ somehow convinced him to also try a drink she made up and he couldn’t believe that he couldn’t even taste the vodka! Highly recommend this place.
We made steaks, chicken, & veggies over the fire for dinner this night and it was the perfect meal to cap off our last night there. After dinner Schuyler found some strings of Christmas lights somewhere in the house-no idea haha-and strung them outside on the back porch leading up to the hot tub. We spent some time here to cap off the rest of the night. I just had my legs occasionally in there, and it was perfect. Most of the cabins in the area have hot tubs which I think it such a great idea, so make sure to get a house with one!
We woke up to see the sunrise the next morning and decided to reheat our leftover pizza over the firepit before packing up and heading out. Best. idea. ever. Have you ever had pizza cooked that way? I looked at Schuyler and told him I don’t think I can eat pizza any other way now and he laughed and totally agreed. So good. We showered, I took some photos around the property, and we made some last minute stops to the petting zoo, which is actually an animal rescue center too-SO SWEET. It’s a must stop. They had the most unique and tame animals here-from raccoons, beavers, baby cows, goats, deer, you name it-and many were permanently injured in some way. It broke my heart and warmed it at the same time to see them receive so much love and attention. I couldn’t believe how much they ran up to us to get food. You can buy a giant bucket of feed for like $5-10 and they all loved that. Next was lunch at Rolling Fork Takery. It’s a stop-in and order to-go at the counter kind of place. They had seats outside I believe but because it was so cold still we just ate in the car. We got a freshly made hot smoked ham & cheese & a smoked turkey & swiss grilled cheese sandwich and they were some of the bests we’ve had. I can’t get over such a small town off the beaten path in Oklahoma would have such amazing food! They also had salads, soups, prepared foods, and desserts.
Some other places we heard were great to visit for lunch, activities, & wine tastings-would be so fun to go back for a girls’ weekend for those-were Girls Gone Wine, Foggy Bottom’s Restaurant-in the state park and had beautiful views of the river, Friends Trail Loop Trailhead, and the area also has rafting, ziplining, & axe throwing available, and in the process of building a huge arcade type place for kids out there. Would love to go back when it’s warmer!
Have you been to Broken Bow before? Where else would you recommend, if so?
