Last year when I went to Switzerland my friend Jordan set up our lodging at Airbnb hosts’ throughout the country (Thanks, Jordan!). What a good friend to handle all the travel and lodging.
While I had stayed at Airbnb before, this was the first time I had to use the service myself. I was taking my kids to visit Grandma for the first time. Keep reading to hear about my Airbnb experience at Wheel-View Farm.
Limited options in small a town
My sister has a big dog with a big bark. He’s friendly after the first ten seconds. Like any dog, he doesn’t like to have his hair pulled. Or his tail. Or his ears. Which is why with twin one-and-a-half-year olds who have grabby hands, staying with my sister was not the best option.
Grandma lives in a retirement community. No place to stay there either.
The local hotel is closed in 2015 for renovations.
The bed and breakfast two doors down from my sister’s house was full.
Pickins’ were slim for lodging.
Wheel-View Farm: 350 acres of scenic beauty
At a friend’s recommendation, we checked out the Wheel-View Farm on Airbnb.
It was located ten minutes from Grandma. Perfect!
No knick-knacks for the kids to break. Perfect!
A giant yard for the kids to play in. Perfect!
A separate bedroom for the kids to sleep in. Perfect!
What great hosts!
Carolyn and John own the family farm the rental house is on. We had a few technical glitches using Airbnb since neither of us had used it before. The only issue was a host has to ‘Accept’ your request to stay.
Neither of us knew that, but we eventually figured it out.
Moo
The kids learned quickly ‘What does the cow say?’.
Five minutes after pulling up to the house a dozen cows walked over to the fence to check out who the intruders were. My boy went as quick as he could to go check out these mysterious creatures.
My kids have no fear, which is going to be both a blessing and a curse.
Because of the electric fence I kept having to pull him back from the herd. Besides, no matter what kind of fence you have a toddler doesn’t need to be that close to a 2,000-pound cow.
Simply amazing, amazingly simple
The house had everything you would need for a base camp as long as you needed to stay. We were only in town for two nights. The place was clean, well-kept, and great for our family of four.
If you were traveling as a couple or with some friends it would have been awesome as well. I could see staying here with one or two other couples to roam the countryside during the days.
There’s a family room with big windows overlooking the countryside. Great for enjoying a morning cup of coffee (tea for me).
You can sit on the back deck and look out over the orchards and dairy farm.
Silence!
When we are in Dallas, there is no ultimate quiet. Planes are always landing at DFW. Someone’s lawn is always being mowed. We’re down the street from an elementary school. Traffic is always passing by our house.
At the lake, it’s quiet some of the time. We get noise from the occasional lawn mowing, boats going by, and sometimes from the power plant.
At the Wheel-View Farm – absolute quiet. It’s ten minutes from the main road. You’re surrounded by mountain views, apple orchards, fields, and trees.
The location is perfectly peaceful. I could have stayed much longer if I didn’t have cats and chickens back home to attend to.
Great for kids
The big front yard allowed the kids room to roam around. A picnic table in the shade allowed adults to sit and keep an eye on them.
The dandelions were a big hit with the kids.
Here we are watching the cows go in at the end of the day.
Farm history
Carolyn invited us up to the main house on the farm. They have a small swingset she cleaned up for the kids (it rained the night before) so they could go up and down the slide. Up and down the slide. Up and down the slide. They would have kept sliding for an hour, but Grandma was waiting for a visit.
While visiting we learned the farm had been in Carolyn’s family for three generations. John’s family owned the dairy farm down the road for four generations (since the late 1700’s). Having such deep roots in the local area is amazing to me.
When in Rome
If you ever happen to pass through Massachusetts and are looking for a fabulous place to stay, I can’t recommend the Wheel-View Farm enough. Before I left, I was already trying to think about when I could come back to stay again (maybe in the Fall – I have to find someplace quiet to write my book).
Question: Have you tried Airbnb yet? What did you think? Please leave a comment below
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