Mrs. Green Gear and I enjoy Relaxing… This is an understatement. We do daily things to make our days less cluttered and more enjoyable such as turning off the TV after 8pm, taking the time to sit down and eat together, etc…. but sometimes that isn’t enough. Over the course of a year the residual balance of modern stress builds and the only way you can wipe the slate clean is by participating in extended relaxation, otherwise known as a vacation.
One of our favorite ways to do this is to drive about an hour outside of Columbus, Ohio to the Hocking Hills region and spend a few nights at a cabin away from Cable News, Cell phones, Cars, and well… people. It’s a “staycation” we look forward to with a lot of anticipation. This year we looked around the thousands of websites for cabins in Hocking Hills and found the Good Earth Cabins located outside Hocking in Vinton County (an area I had visited in my youth for deer hunting). Good Earth Cabins adds a little eco-friendliness to the standard cabin fare by using recycled materials (where possible), installing new energy efficient appliances, and cleaning the place with “green” cleaners.
Cabins in hocking hills vary in terms of quality, but every one of them includes the essentials: TV w/ DVD Player, Cookware, Modern Kitchen, Fire pit, Grill, and Hot-tub. So, from this list of amenities you might assume that people visiting here are only interested in eating food, watching movies, lighting things on fire, and having sex…. and you’d be 100% correct. Sure, there are all kinds of amazing things to do in beautiful hocking hills like play with hummingbirds, kayak, and go on a ropes course, but I’d estimate from the “guest book notes” that 99.9% of the people visiting are only interested in the food, sex, and serenity…. and if they’ve been married for more than 10 years, usually just the serenity.
Quality of these places vary, as I’ve mentioned. Sometimes they’re old and sometimes you feel like the first person staying there. Sometimes you’re literally 10 miles from anyone and other times there is a trailer full of neighbors 50 yards from your front porch. We’ve stayed at maybe 5 different cabins and this one is probably the best mix of all things. It’s new, with great modern (and green) appliances but has a lived in feel. It has a combination of open areas and woods so you can stroll around. It has a huge porch with views of the hills and hollers. It also happens to be the biggest we’ve stayed in and by far the highest quality.
We stayed at their cabin called “lazy dog” which I’m assuming is inspired by the fact that it is 100% pet friendly. This is important for the Mrs. and I because we have two dogs and putting them up at the kennel would have easily tacked on an additional 200 bucks for our 3 night stay. The lazy dog has room for six people, three bedrooms, 3 baths, and cost $150-175 during the week and $225-$250 on the weekends. We put in three nights, starting on a Sunday so we paid both rates. This place is on par with others in the area in terms of price for the weekend but a VAST savings over others during the week… and that is before you figure that this place was the best and biggest we’d been to.
The property included 11 acres with a nice field and pond… We let the dogs roam at will and other than a few ticks, they were about as happy as I’ve ever seen them. While we were there, we only left to make a beer run, other than that we grilled out every night, I finished three books, and caught some fish in the pond (one nice bass!). Every night we would watch one of their DVDs and then retire outside to sit near the campfire and chill out. We had a great time and plan on returning.
Okay… but what about the GREEN! how is this place “green.” The “green” cred for the Good Earth Cabins is an odd bird. Most of the green initiatives they have are ones that you or I would make in our house, and not the crazy ones… I mean the ones most people should do like, efficient appliances, recycled products, green cleaners, etc…. The funny thing is, this provides absolutely ZERO benefit to the consumer other than a warm fuzzy feeling. Still, when you consider that they do these things and others places don’t, this is an incrementally better option for the environment, even if you don’t directly benefit from it. The one thing I was aghast at was that they didn’t use CFLs or other low power light and didn’t have low flow showerheads…. Since it’s in the country they may not be able to do the showerheads because of water pressure, also there was no recycling because it’s in the hills, so bring your own back and put it in your own bin.
Video Below
RATING: 3 out of 5 Gears for Fixed Eco Benefit, Price / Value, and Quality.
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