Run Away with Me (…for the weekend)

“The vacation we often need is freedom from our own mind.”

-Jack Adam Weber

Breaks. We all need them. So what better time to have one than right after the holidays? Running away from all responsibilities right after the busiest time of year is glorious. It’s a notoriously slow weekend for travel and the deals are plentiful when booking the weekend after New Years. So that’s what we did. We scanned Airbnb and found us a cozy little place five miles south of Chattanooga, TN. And I do mean cozy. It was probably the coziest Airbnb we’ve ever stayed at.

Enter the Cabin in the Woods. That was the name on Airbnb. It immediately caught my attention because it was this cute, rustic cabin from 1890. It had everything I wanted for our escape from urban life. So we packed up and headed out on the two hour drive.

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Y’all know by now, our favorite escapes are in the mountains. It’s our happy place. I know some people say that the beach is a better escape, but there’s just something about the mountains. Whether it’s the little country stores you find on the drive up or the fresh mountain air at dawn, the mountains have a magic about them. This cabin presented all that magic with a neat little bow.

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It had all the personal touches you could ask for, including a bottle of wine from a local winery. We would have curled up and stayed in bed with the fire going all weekend…if I hadn’t gotten an itch to go explore Chattanooga (no one is surprised, I know).

We spent two nights snuggled up in this cabin and it was an absolute necessity to wake up early to watch the sun come up on Sunday morning. Well…for me anyway. Alex had no part in that. Sitting out on the porch swing with a cup of coffee as I listened to the early morning noises gave me time to reflect on all that 2019 gave me. I won’t get fully into it here, but it was quite the year y’all.

After freezing my ass off for an hour and getting a splinter in my thumb, I headed back inside to the blankets, the fireplace, and a still sleeping husband. I could have stayed there forever. Instead, we got up and I got to giggle over the thought of Alex attempting to take a “shower” in the claw foot tub.

We had a lot of fun in Chattanooga. It honestly reminded us of Asheville with the mountain backdrop, good food, and all the things to do and see. We spent a good chunk of the day at the Tennessee Aquarium. Well worth the money.

Thanks to the rain, the river was extremely high and overflowing a bit. It made the walk along the river interesting. We really look forward to going back. The area has so much history to offer and we barely scratched the top. We also took a driving tour around Chickamauga battlefield…or as I jokingly referred to it with my dad “Chimichanga.”

Side note. BATTLEFIELDS AND HISTORICAL SITES ARE NOT PLAYGROUNDS FOR YOUR CHILDREN. I don’t care if lil Benny has a lot of energy, take them to an actual playground and bring them back when they’re old enough to appreciate the history. Shout out to the disrespectful Instagram mom letting her children play and climb on the monuments for the perfect photo. Clearly someone couldn’t read the “DO NOT CLIMB ON” sign.

Okay, rant over.

After our exciting day, we went back to the cabin, snuggled up and did absolutely nothing but drink wine and eat cheese. It was lovely.

All in all, that three day weekend was just what we needed. It was an escape from adult life right before it got really busy and expensive (you’ll see on Wednesday). Alex and I have been so caught up with the holidays, work, and other adult things that we realized we didn’t get the time together that is so important in any relationship.

The link for the Airbnb is below. No this isn’t an ad, it was just a great place and they deserve the love. Keep an eye out later this week for a huge announcement, and as usual travel well and travel often!

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/37915855?source_impression_id=p3_1578931829_I%2BGlXGIeZu1QRABr