Over Easter weekend, the Roberts family chose to rough it in the woods of Broken Bow, Oklahoma. And by roughing it, they mean a quaint, three-bedroom cabin right next to civilization.
Kyle Roberts: Well, another holiday trip for our family and another successful weekend planned by you. This time, it was Broken Bow, Oklahoma, and while it may not have quite as many things to do as New York, there were still plenty of great restaurants, shops and locales to keep us busy for three days. And the best part? It’s only a three-and-a-half hour drive from Ruston.
Judith Roberts: The best part to me was seeing how much Broken Bow and the neighboring Hochatown have grown in the year since we’ve been.
Kyle: I know, right? We’ve been to Oklahoma five times now, and I feel like we always discover something new when we go.
Judith: And we never get tired of doing a lot of the same activities we normally do – hiking, going to the animal rescue sanctuary – but we did a lot of new things this time, like going horseback riding and, Penny’s favorite, seeing axolotls, her favorite animal. That was totally random, but I’m so glad she got to see some axolotls in a shop.
Kyle: So let’s start with some of the things we always have on our to-do list: we have a few restaurants that we always want to go to, and this time we separated our days between an entire day in the town on Friday and then an entire day on Saturday in the park. What were some of the highlights for you from both?
Judith: The day dedicated to hiking and the day dedicated to doing “town” stuff were so critical, because we saw so many more people in town on Saturday and not as many on Friday, when we did things like horseback riding, mini golf, and going to the animal sanctuary. They looked a lot busier on Saturday, which was the day we spent hiking in Beaver’s Bend.
Kyle: Let’s talk about the mini-golf and the animal sanctuary: three memories for life on a Friday. First, a giant camel stole Penny’s feed bucket and gave her quite a startle, and second, that was right before you beat me in putt-putt golf, despite me having played for over thirty years.
Judith: Miracles do occur.
Kyle: And then third, and I have no doubt anyone reading this would be shocked to know this, but I really enjoy horseback riding, which we did in the cool of the morning. I was given a very spirited six-year-old colt named Clyde, who by all accounts was very rambunctious.
Judith: And you know what “spirited” means. That’s what they said to describe our Corgi, and we all know that’s just a code word for hyper. But you and your horse Clyde did just fine. I was surprised how fun it was to go on just a meandering two-mile loop with the horses, but it was so relaxing and peaceful. I don’t know if we enjoyed it more or the kids, but it was definitely something I want to do again. Plus, it worked us up an appetite for BBQ later.
Kyle: The restaurants in Broken Bow are only growing. We ate at three really good places: Abednigo’s, Namaan’s BBQ and Grateful Head. There’s something for every taste in Broken Bow, even gourmet hotdogs.
Judith: My cousin in Baton Rouge took his family to Broken Bow a couple of weeks ago, and he and I were texting about it while we were there. He said he wished Broken Bow was closer to them because they had such a great time. They did a lot of the same things we did, especially with the hiking. Even if you don’t like hiking, it’s a beautiful landscape that can be seen throughout the park. Or, if you’re like our Alice, you can jump from rock to rock in places, climb, explore, and enjoy yourself immensely.
Kyle: You mentioned the growth of Hochatown earlier– this is a place that as recently as seven years ago hardly had anything outside of the state park. Now, there are plenty of restaurants, tourist attractions, and AirBNB cabins all over the 10 mile stretch between the towns.
Judith: There are a ton of great options too in Hochatown, Broken Bow and nearby Idabel. I don’t think we’ve had a bad experience at a cabin in the area – in fact, every time we say, “Oh, wait, THIS is the best cabin.” But I do think this last one truly was my favorite. I’d like to go there again.
Kyle: And while I’m thankful to be back home, I couldn’t agree more. I think my favorite thing about Broken Bow is just how close it is: it’s truly remarkable that something so beautiful is only a short drive from Ruston. It’s absolutely worth it, and a great place for a getaway.
