For Christmas this year, John and Jackie and Tom and I rented a cabin for a weekend in Hocking Hills.  Instead of more stuff, we decided we really just wanted to spend some relaxed time together.  Hocking Hills has plenty of places to rent and lots of stuff to do, even in the winter.

Jackie found a cabin, the Fairchild Haus, for us to rent through Air BnB.  We needed two bedrooms and for the rental to be pet friendly.  Those were the basics, but what Jackie found went way above those basics.  The Fairchild Haus is a modern house, completely renovated in 2024.  The house had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a comfortable great room with a small kitchen.  In addition, there were two full-body massage chairs and a custom indoor koi pond water feature. There was an outdoor sauna and a hot tub and a jacuzzi tub in the downstairs bathroom.

Three walls were mostly windows without curtains.  The windows allowed plenty of light into the house, but made it a little awkward at night.  Although the house is very private – on 30 acres – Pookah did not like seeing another dog in every glass surface in the house.  The house also felt a little cold because of the windows.

We found the koi pond to be an interesting choice.  The koi pond area was bigger than the great room and felt like wasted space.  We thought it would be more fun to have a pool table or ping pong table in the space.  We did not take advantage of the sauna or hot tub – it was just too cold to go outside and get them set up.

Our relaxing weekend at Hocking Hills began with a delicious supper of homemade ravioli.  John has been experimenting with making pasta and he and Jackie made the ravioli from scratch.  Tom and I contributed rolls and a tossed salad.  We also brought Crave cookies for all of us to enjoy.

After supper we played the Lionel Double Crossing board game, which is one of my favorite games.  No one else really likes to play it, so I am limited to playing it once a year.  But John won and I enjoyed my annual game.

On Saturday we headed out to hike in Hocking Hills.  It had snowed the night before but it was about 35 degrees, so not too cold.  We drove to the parking lot for Ash Cave.  On the way we noticed lots of people hiking, full parking lots, and school buses shuttling people around.  When we got to Ash Cave, we were lucky to snag a parking spot as someone pulled out.

The hiking trail was packed with people and dogs.  Pookah was eager to say hello to all these possible new friends.  By the time we walked to the cave and walked back, she was a muddy, wet mess.  Ash Cave was gorgeous, as always, but there were so many people.  I asked one of the rangers about it, and she said it was the Winter Hike Weekend.  Thousands of people come to Hocking Hills the third weekend in January to hike from Old Man Cave to Ash Cave – six miles.  There was a food truck, extra rangers, and animal displays.  It looked like fun but there were so many people.  Almost 6,000 people did the hike in 2025 and it looked like a similar number in 2026.

We decided to head back to the quiet cabin where Pookah got a wash, blow dry, and brushing.  She endured it very patiently and then was ready for some quiet time.  The humans in our group decided to check out downtown Logan.  Which was in the middle of its annual Frozen Festival.  The downtown main street was blocked off and ice sculptures stood in front of the storefronts lining the street.

In addition to admiring the ice sculptures, we checked out a few of the shops.  First we got some specialty hot chocolate at Sunset Slush.  I got the Smore hot chocolate and it was delicious.  In addition to the hot chocolate, they had specialty coffees and very decadent looking brownies.

We checked out the Columbus Washboard Company, which looked like a deli from the outside but turned out to be a factory that makes washboards.  In addition to a deli.  The display of all the washboards was really interesting.  They give tours of the factory on weekdays.  John and Jackie found some maple syrup produced on a farm near Logan.

Our final stop on our walking tour of downtown Logan was Vintage en Vogue.  It calls itself a vintage clothing store, but it looked more like a shop for local artisans.  There was pottery, woodworking, knitted hats and mittens.  The first thing I noticed when I entered was the loud music.  Then I realized there was a string quartet in a back room playing live music.  I enjoyed listening to them as I looked around the shop.

And that is where I am going to stop talking about our weekend in Hocking Hills – for today.  I will pick up the story again later this week.