Venturing just 20 minutes outside of Austin, we spent a weekend glamping at a boutique retreat that goes by the name of Green Acres!If you've visited us here at home (I'm talking to you, friends and family), it's pretty common to see a copy of our local in the know magazine, Austin Monthly, laying on the coffee table. It's our go-to reading material on all things new or unique happening around town and thanks to them, Green Acres was brought to our attention when it made an appearance on the cover and within an article about some great "Stay-cations" for Austinites. Doing a little research, we discovered that Green Acres is located 25 miles East of the city in the small town of Elgin, TX. Green Acres was started by a family of 4 (three of them live in a vintage Spartan trailer and their oldest son lives next door in an Airstream) who relocated from LA to Austin to begin living life a little simpler. Wanting to create a retreat-like atmosphere for artists, writers, and really anyone wanting to adventure, Green Acres was born. We both thought the place looked amazing and decided to book a two night stay (thanks to a pretty great deal they were offering the first week of 2016) in February of this year. Green Acres is the quintessence of luxury camping, or "glamping" as it's called on the streets. It has all the elements of camping but on a whole new level. Instead of in a tent with an air mattress, we slept in a yurt with a queen-sized bed and warming blankets to keep the chill off. Instead of walking half a mile to the community bathroom/shower stales, we walked 15 feet to the private toilet and bathhouse (there was a bathtub if you wanted to take a soak). It went beyond the basics one might experience when camping in the great outdoors. Other than their living quarters, the owners Brandon and Kirsten, had purchased two yurts that you can reserve through AirBnB for a relaxing time away. They built a communal kitchen and dining space into the existing barn, added a bathroom "shed" with a shower, toilet, and running water, and besides their Yorkie and two cats, they added some farm animals to the mix as well. When we were there in February, they had Donkeys, Alpacas, and some Silkie Chickens who hadn't laid any eggs yet (that's changed since this winter). On top of all of that, they have several hammocks hanging around the area and a corral fire pit for evening s'mores, which consisted of gourmet marshmallows and imported chocolate that Kirsten graciously provided us with! Like I said, beyond the basics! It was just a super relaxing environment! Both yurts were rented as well as the family being home and it still felt like we had our own space. The only downside was that the kitchen had just one refrigerator. It definitely felt tight once our food, along side the other campers' and the owners' existing food, was all in there. We ended up keeping all our non-refrigerated items in a cooler underneath the counter so we didn't take up any additional kitchen space. We stayed two days in late February to celebrate Chase's birthday. We visited about a month early because we wanted to be sure it wasn't going to be hot during our stay (it can easily get up to the mid 80s by the end of March here in Texas). It wound up being a cool stay and the evenings dipped down into the 40s but each yurt was equipped with space heaters, bed warmers and heating blankets. We were beyond cozy and the colder weather made the bonfires more enjoyable. Green Acres, the owners, and the entire setting was such an awesome adventure. We definitely plan to visit again, maybe when we can rent out both yurts with friends or family to experience with us.
Until Next Time, C + D
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Michelle Windham
12/2/2017 04:43:54 pm
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