Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Big Cedar Review

I had several people message me over the weekend about our trip to Big Cedar Lodge. Scott and I had been once before but this was our first time to take the boys so we obviously did it a little different this time around. We had the absolute best time. It felt so nice to get away and it's just under a two hour drive from our house so it's quick and easy to get to. I know a lot of people go all the time but some of you are like us and have never been or have never been with kids so today I thought I'd share what all we did on our little getaway. I was honestly worried that we would run out of stuff to do by staying two nights but we could have totally stayed one more night and been plenty entertained the entire time! 

Big Cedar has so much to do for families. We started our trip off by eating lunch at Arnie's Barn and it was delicious. My favorite meal at Big Cedar no question. The enchiladas were fantastic and the atmosphere was lovely. After lunch we decided to do the golf cart tour since it was so close by. This was something Scott and I had done before and we knew the boys would love it--and they did! 

After the golf cart tour we decided to go to Fun Mountain. Scott and I had never been here before but it is everything a kid could want on a vacation and more. They have a large arcade area which, of course, the boys loved. The kids version of Vegas. Ha! There is bowling, laser tag, go carts, a climbing wall, ropes course and more. So much to do here and I had no idea when Scott and I went without kids that it was even there. The kids had a blast and are still giving us a hard time that we ran out of time to go bowling. The bowling alley was so neat!!

For dinner that evening we ate at Devil's Pool. The food was good but nothing special. I would still recommend going and the location is nice since it's right in the middle of Big Cedar.

On Saturday we took the boys fishing. Campbell has wanted to go fishing for a long time now so we were excited to let him try it! Scott rented two poles for $30 and they gave us some worms and told us the areas where we could fish. We had our own little dock to ourselves and the boys were so excited but quickly got bored once they realized fishing took some patience. Ha!! Bennett got a nibble but the fish got away and that was about all that came out of our fishing. We all loved taking turns with the pole and I felt like I was in an episode of Andy Griffith. It was so relaxing and a lot of fun. 

After fishing we had lunch at Truman Cafe & Custard. I love this little place. It's a small restaurant where you walk up and order then they bring your food out to you. The menu is limited but everyone loved their different sandwiches and the atmosphere was so quaint and lovely. We ate outside where the weather was perfect and we had a beautiful view of the lake. 

Wells was very overdue for a nap at this point so my mom and I took him back to the cabin for a nap while everyone else did mini golf. I was super tired myself so I also laid down for a little nap. We got a one bedroom cabin and it's just hard being in a small space with little ones. We took the pack n play for Wells and set it up in the bathroom. Campbell and Bennett slept in the pull out sofa which was just steps away from mine and Scott's bed. The kids ended up staying up way too late and Scott and I were forced to go to bed earlier than we would have liked. It's just a weekend so it's manageable but everyone was pretty cranky and it just made it a little harder. The two bedroom cabins are such a huge price jump from the one bedroom cabins and we didn't want to pay that much for it. While Scott and I were laying in bed quietly trying to talk while the boys were attempting to fall asleep, we commented how we were so glad that for our trip to Disney this summer, we have a bigger room with a true one bedroom for he and I to shut ourselves off in so we can get the boys to bed early then stay up and watch TV alone without worrying about keeping them awake. That was really the only downside to our trip--the sleeping situation.

Wells took a good, long nap and as soon as he woke up he popped up bouncing and was ready to get going again. I had noticed a lot of people doing paddle boats and really wanted to do them too so we all went down to the lake to paddle boat and it was just as fun as I remembered it being when I was a kid! Afterwards, all of the boys went back to the cabins (we were able to get cabins right next to one another which was so nice!) and my Mom and I hung back and went shopping in their gift shop. It is a huge gift shop with really, really good stuff and that kept us entertained for about 45 minutes. We got back to the cabin, poured some wine, enjoyed the view then started getting dinner prepared. We had originally planned to eat at Osage but once we saw the Razorback game would be on during dinner, we opted for grilling burgers at the cabin instead. 


The next day we had a yummy breakfast at Truman's, piddled around the grounds a little more then hopped in the car to head home. We all kept commenting on how much fun we had and decided to make it an annual thing from now on. There was so much to do and a lot of the activities are free which is a nice little perk! Big Cedar doesn't have a mask requirement. Some people were wearing masks but the majority were not. I noticed a lot of people swimming in one of the pools so I'm assuming the pool is heated. We didn't get around to doing the pool and several other things like beach volleyball, bowling, shuffleboard and a few other things at Fun Mountain. Like I said, I thought we would run out of stuff to do after two nights but we definitely could have stayed three and still had plenty to do. It was just such a nice change of scenery and a great place for families. It's a relaxing getaway to a beautiful resort and I'm so glad we spent our weekend there!! Highly recommend for a family vacation or a couples getaway too!

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