BROKEN BOW, OKLAHOMA

Sometimes you don’t have to cross oceans to have a relaxing vacation……… merely crossing a state line will do the trick 🙂

And that place is none other than the scenic Broken Bow in Oklahoma.

Broken Bow is a city in the McCurtain County in the South-East of Oklahoma. It paves the way to Broken Bow Lake, the famous Beavers Bend State Park, Mountain Fork River, Glover River, and the Ouachita National Forest.

The average summer temperatures are in the 80s, the forest green and the lakes and rivers gleaming clean.

We decided to do a weekend getaway and after picking the kids early from school left on Friday. It is just 2 and a half hour drive from DFW, Texas. To beat the rush hour and also to reach before sunset we decided to leave at noon.

The drive was relaxing with lush greenery, cows and houses spread on acres with ponds.

 

We drove through Manchester and Paris ( trust me we were still in Texas) and were really excited to see a big can of Tomato Soup at the entrance of Campbell Soup Factory.

On reaching Broken Bow, the first thing we saw the Choctaw Casino. Unlike the huge Casino building, we are used to seeing, this looked like a truck stop. (Didn’t go inside so can’t say much 😉 )

As far as the lodging goes, after much research, we had earlier booked a cabin with River Bank Cabins which are located off US Highway 70, on the lower Mountain Fork River.

A dirt road leads to these cabins which are graciously spaced apart on private acreage with lots of ponds.

All the cabins overlook the Mountain Fork River and have direct access to the water via a walking pier which can be used for fishing. The is a boat dock too. You can also canoe directly from your cabin.

We stayed in cabin #2 with two bedrooms and 2 baths and a fully stocked kitchen with appliances, dishes, cookware. There was satellite TV as well as board games to enjoy.

The cabin was neat and very well organized with a rustic decor.

The outside patio had nice furniture and charcoal grill to BBQ. The firepit was surrounded with tree stumps to sit so did not have to take out folding chairs (win, win).

As soon as we checked in, the lovely couple who manage the property came to greet us and make sure that all our needs were met. The also gave fishing rods and lots of bait to our boys so they could enjoy fishing during our stay.

After settling in we headed to the pond to try our luck at fishing. It was the first time for all of us and it took us some time to actually get going and after a bit of struggle finally got the hang of it. We tried our luck for a while but ALAS came back empty handed 🙁

But the amount of fun the kids had was totally worth it.

Late night we enjoyed BBQ, bonfire and relaxed on the patio late after the kids had gone to sleep.

The next day woke up to the most beautiful and serene view and enjoyed breakfast on the deck.

Anytime we go somewhere we usually take things for breakfast because that is one thing I want to enjoy in my PJs. I really do not like to dress up and leave early to get breakfast unless it is a dire necessity.

After breakfast and trying our luck at fishing we headed to Beaver Bend State Park. We had just left our cabins when we realized that we had forgotten to pack our kiddos flip flops. A quick search led us to Walmart and we could not be happier. Just an FYI Broken Bow has fully stocked Walmart, Pruett’s Food, an amazing grocery store, and a nice Dollar Tree. So if for any reason you forget something to pack or you want to get fresh grocery, you can find everything at these stores.

Beaver’s Bend State Park is about 10 miles North East of Broken Bow. It is a fun place all year round. With activities like camping, hiking, biking, swimming, canoeing, boating…there is something for everyone.

We found this neat place called Beaver Bends River Floats to rent canoes/kayaks. We ended up renting two tandem canoes. They do not take reservations so try to get there early as it gets really busy especially on the weekends.

The way it works it that you are given life jackets and are taken upstream via a shuttle bus and then you canoe/kayak back downstream to the place your car is parked. The whole trip is around 2.5 miles long and takes around an hour to complete, you can take up to two hours to finish the trip.

It is one of those experiences you will never forget and one where you will be admiring the beauty of nature with every breath.

You do not need any kind of experience to enjoy it and most of the people were doing it for the first time.

 

Extremely hungry, we headed back to Broken Bow/HochaTown and enjoyed an early dinner at Steven’s Gap, an American Diner. It does not look like much from outside but it is a favorite of the locals which is one of the reasons we decided to give it a try. The food was good with big portion sizes, so order accordingly.

Tired from canoe-ing the kids slept early while we adults enjoyed campfire in the peaceful night with garam chai and meetha on the patio.

We enjoyed canoeing soo much that after checking out we headed directly to Beaver’s Bend State Park to enjoy a round or two.

On our way back stopped at Janet’s Treasure Chest in Hocha Town to check out the Big Foot and grab some memorablia.

For lunch we went to Rolling Fork Takery.

Perfect when you are not in a mood for fried food. It’s a farm to fork concept and you can tell the food is great quality. Best thing was that the owner greeted us and gave some valuable suggestions too. She checked up on all the customers to make sure everyone was taken care of well.

The menu is written on a white board with daily specials. They have a nice covered porch with sweet decor.

We tried the tacos, sliders, salad, sopapilla cheese cake and ice cream. The sliders just melt in your mouth and the tacos were full of flavore. The ice creams had unique flavors and were creamy and rich. Grabbed a coffee on the way out for the journey back home.

Everything was phenomial. We will definitely be coming back fo more.

Other fine dinings to try are Grateful Head Pizza Oven and Abendigo’s Grill.

Waking up everyday to this serene and calm view was an amazing break from our hectic lives. If you are within driveable range to Broken Bow I highly suggest taking a few days off or even  the weekend to relax and unwind and reconnect with nature.

Till then,

Happy Travels 🙂