In January- before the Corona Virus of 2020 hit- I had booked a rental house for Memorial Day weekend, near Caddo Lake State Park(TX) for my family of 6 adults. We decided to keep the reservation and we are certainly glad we did!
Road Trip Time
My husband
and I took off a few days before the weekend and headed to Tyler, TX to see the
famous (and free) Rose Garden https://www.visittyler.com/tylerrosegarden/
and to do a little hiking at Tyler State Park.
Near Tyler state park, I found a listing for “The Happy Pine Cone” cabin.
Who can resist a
name like this? I certainly couldn’t-
and so I booked it for 2 nights.
Here is my rave reviews for this small 4 cabin complex called Cora’s Cabins- (airbnb)
https://www.expedia.com/Tyler-Hotels-Coras-Cabins.h29485023.Hotel-Information
The Happy Pine Cone was the smallest cabin- sleeps 2 .It had a nice screen porch, a queen sized bed-(great mattress with Comphy
brand sheets), and a really cool bathroom.
There was a microwave, coffee pot (with free coffee pods), toaster ,
dishes , silverware, grill tools and a small refrigerator. Outside there was a table, grill and fire pit
(they supplied the wood). The cabin had a/c
and a wood burning heater stove. On arrival, there were 2 small bottles of wine
and chocolate on our pillows. A candle
was lit- so when we opened the door we were greeted with a wonderful aroma.
The other cabins were equally as nice. RUSTIC on the outside POSH on the inside!
The Lazy Squirrel Cabin also sleeps 2, but has a really
big screen porch and a full kitchen as well as a fire pit grill area.
The Tree House – up the stairs and into the trees- has a
large screen shelter under it , so a group can rent the whole cabin complex and
have a bug-free place to gather. The
tree house also has a private upstairs screen porch, a big sitting area inside and a small kitchen.
Outside is a fire pit/grill area.
The Log cabin which sleeps 4 is the most like a
home. It has a full sized kitchen,
living and dining room area. There is no
screen porch on this cabin- but it has beautiful front and back porches, as well
as a fire pit area.
There is a communal horseshoe pit, walking trails and a
frog pond for all to enjoy. the cabins are close enough together so you could rent them in for a group, but far enough apart for privacy, when different couples are renting.
The best thing we did was to read the BOOK that came with the cabin. Inside the book, the owners invited you to walk down the street and make use of their 167 acre ranch. There were hiking trails, (one with Bible verses hanging from the trees), 2 catch and release ponds, a beautiful swing and gazebo set on top of different hills. There were even beehives to visit. It is a magical property- which also doubles as a wedding event venue (www.savannahsevents.com at the Flying H Ranch). If you go to the website you can see many pics of the rental cabins.
I am giving this place so much “press” because I met
Harlan (the “H” in Flying H Ranch). He is
a former pilot turned rancher and is the hardest working guy I have seen in
years. And though he was the owner, he
was changing out party light bulbs and checking the cabins after the
maids left to make sure everything was just so, and it was!
Eventually we had to leave our Happy Pine Cone cabin, so we headed 4 miles down the road to Tyler State Park. It had some nice hiking trails- we did the lake loop trail and then went for a swim in the lake. Due to Covid the park was only at 25% capacity, so the extremely popular swimming area was nearly empty. (great for us) (you needed to make online reservations to get in- they were not accepting drive-up customers)
Down the street from the State Park and the Happy Pine Cone- was a great BBQ
place- Bodacious BBQ. Even though this
is a chain- this location had really great BBQ- and house made sausage.
After 2 nights at the Happy Pine Cone, we left for Caddo
Lake. I rented a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house
along the river. (Airbnb) The house was
older, but super clean- with just about every kitchen gadget you could imagine.
There was a nice porch on the back with a bbq grill and a long, steep staircase
down to river level. We loved hanging
out on the wood slat patio at the bottom, fishing, and just watching boats zip
by. The house came with 2 small kayaks and a canoe. We didn’t take either out because the water
level was high and swift and the river was crowded due to Memorial day
weekend revelers.
The next day was spent at Caddo Lake State Park. Again, we had to make online reservations for
this state park. Due to the
virus no canoe rentals were offered, which made me sad, because this park is famous for its bayou canoe
trails. Instead of canoeing, we did a nice hike to some rock picnic shelters built in the 1930’s
by the CCC. They are still in great shape.
I love the Spanish moss at Caddo Lake
That night we drove to the town of Jefferson (about 25 min) to do
the historical ghost tour. http://www.jeffersonghostwalk.com/
It was $16 pp and well worth it. Our guide was not there to scare us- she is
an historian- so all her chilling stories were based on verifiable facts. Even
Steven Spielberg (and his film crew) left one of Jefferson’s hotels in the middle
of the night due to ghostly happenings! https://kkyr.com/dont-ask-about-the-ghosts-at-jeffersons-excelsior-house-hotel/
It seems that many of the hotels and buildings in Jefferson have issues with hauntings. The history in this town is fascinating!
And while you are in Jefferson- try eating a cornbread
sandwich at Kitt’s Kornbread http://www.kittskornbread.com/ or eating BBQ at Riverport BBQ https://www.riverportbbq.com/
Sample and buy some awesome peanut butter at Nutty’s (get the cinnamon raisin PB!!) https://www.facebook.com/nuttyspb?filter=2
Or spend a good bit of time Haley’s Antiques (crazy assortment of everything)
There are a ton of independent shops and restaurants in
Jefferson!! Loved this town.
After Jefferson, it was back to nature. (or at least we thought we were going to see nature) *******
If you skim the info about this place, it sounds like every other wildlife refuge. But trust me, we spent at least 6 hours on 2 days exploring this place. It is called a wildlife refuge,,, BUT it used to be AN AMMUNITION TESTING FACILITY - think TNT and other cool explosives. Left now, is a grid work of paved and unpaved streets and lots of cool concrete bunkers, that are being over-taken by nature.
HINT: wear long pants and sleeves- as poison ivy is an
issue. There is even a small cemetery,
built for the original settlers of this land. And yes we did see some cool birds, because it is a nature refuge!
So here ends the 5 night trip to East Texas. If you are interested in this trip or any other vacation possibilities – message me on Facebook. Or visit https://www.jackiebarnestravel.com/
for more vacation ideas!
Stay safe like me and Bucky!!
