Sunday, August 2, 2015

Stag Leap Country Inn -- Deer Haven cabin

Last year for our 20th anniversary, Larry and I went back to our first home: Nacogdoches, TX.  That is the small college town in east Texas where we lived when we got married.  You can read about that trip HERE.  We try to make an effort to take a short overnight or weekend trip every year for our anniversary, but after twenty years of the same basic trip over & over, we wanted to do something different.  {Usually, we go somewhere, stay in a hotel--almost always a Holiday Inn Express, visit 1-2 local sights & then come home.}  So this year, I asked around on Facebook to see if anyone could suggest a semi-local place to go that was a little different.  After lots of suggestions, I settled on a place that looked really neat.  Ironically, it was back in Nacogdoches, but the place we stayed couldn't have been more different than a Holiday Inn Express.

Friday, we left home about lunchtime and after a short stop for lunch on the way, arrived at Stag Leap in Nacogdoches.  It's about five miles out of town.  This sweet little sign greets you at the main house driveway.


The owners met us at the door of the main house to welcome us and gave us directions to our cabin, which was about 2 1/2 miles down the road, totally secluded from the rest of the world.  Seriously, friends, my troubles melted away when we turned down this driveway...


....and pulled up in front of this sweet little cabin.



This front porch.  Oh my soul.  That rocking chair was just about my favorite place to be all weekend, right beside my sweet husband who was fond of that swing.


 
On the side of the cabin, there was this little patio area with a grill, table and chairs, and a wonderful, deep jacuzzi.  Oh the time spent there, staring at the stars, relaxing!



The front yard area was spacious, tree lined and SO quiet.





The side and back yards were equally wide-open & peaceful.


The driveway leading to the property (which was closed by a gate at the end) is wayyyy over there.


Backyard views:



And later in the evening, the front yard & front of the cabin:


The interior did not fail to wow us, either!  The owners had come over a few hours prior & turned on the ceiling fans and A/C, which was so very welcome since it was 100+ degrees outside.  Everything inside looked just like (or even better!) than what we saw on the website.

The living room area:

This little book was by the phone.  It included brochures for all sorts of tourist attractions in town, maps to restaurants, schools, churches and just about anything else you could imagine needing during your stay.


There was a full-sized pull-out Murphy bed in this pretty cabinet.  (We didn't use it, but it was neat to see that it was available for guests if they had children with them.)


The TV came equipped with satellite TV, which was charmingly set to an easy-listening station when we arrived.  There was a loveseat, recliner and gas fireplace as well.


Also in the living room area, there was a chest full of board games.



And the TV cabinet was full of movies and books to enjoy during your stay.


The kitchen was awesome!  A fridge full of breakfast foods, cabinets full of dishes, towels, utensils, a sweet little dining set.  You could almost get away with never leaving the cabin all weekend!






As you can see in the pic above, the bathroom was right off the main living area.  Let's just pretend that the seat to the toilet is down.  :)


The bedroom was also right off the main living area, through a door to the right of the bathroom.  (There was also a door that connected the bedroom & bathroom.)  The chest at the foot of the bed held more blankets & sheets for the Murphy bed in the living room.  The armoire (see picture below) held pillows for the Murphy bed.




After a hot day out in town both days we were there, we enjoyed quiet evenings in the jacuzzi tub, playing games from the living room chest, swinging/rocking on the porch or just propped up in the living room watching TV and resting.





And the mornings were easy as there were canned cinnamon rolls ready to make provided in the fridge!  (I was reading the comments from previous guests in the cabin's guest book, and then wrote my own, while I enjoyed breakfast Saturday morning.)


This morning when it came time to pack up the suitcase and head home, we had a hard time saying good-bye to this quiet little retreat.  So peaceful, so relaxing, so perfect for a get away!  If you are thinking of travelling in east Texas and need a quiet haven, a private, secluded little peace of paradise, I strongly recommend that you take a look at Stag Leap, specifically the Deer Haven cabin where we stayed.  (They have several other cabins as well!)  You can find more info about them on their website.  You can find it here:  http://stagleap.com/

I told the owners I would be writing a blog review of our stay at their cabin when I got home & shared the URL for this blog site in my comment in the guest book.  I hope they find it and can share it with future guests!  If you came to this post due to that comment in the guest book or through the Stag Leap family, please comment or email me and let me know.  (Email address is at the top right of this page.)

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Was so glad to read your blog post about Stag Leap!! We leave tomorrow for our 21st anniversary get-away at the Deer Haven cabin!!! I am even more excited after reading your post!! Thank you!!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the great post. What a small world! I was at the Stag Leap FB page, saw the comment that you had written a review, so I came to read what you had to say and as soon as I saw the photo of you I recognized you (I live in Flint and my kids went to Whitehouse, so I've seen your picture with your column before)! Anyway, thanks for such a thorough review and great pictures!