The cabin we stayed at is privately owned and we rented it through VRBO. It was right beside another rentable cabin too. The other cabins, houses, and trailers, were mostly occupied by retired residents. You could tell it was a close-knit community, where the residents ride around on golf carts and stop to yell their latest observations to other hard-of-hearing residents. I found enjoyment listening to them while sitting on the front porch. :-) They all went to bed relatively early too, which is great for a family with young kids.
The cabin was located between two small towns, about 15 minutes to either one in either direction from the cabin. We read there were stores and restaurants there, but we didn't have a need to go find them. I cooked and froze our dinners to bring with us. We took a ton of groceries. There were small convenient stores relatively close, including Dollar Generals, so we were able to replenish milk and eggs as needed.
There were fun games, an antique xBox, and a pretty good DVD library. Hendrix's favorite xBox game was Chomp Chomp. ;-) We watched Goonies, Robots, and Rudy. Zane found a set of yard hockey sticks, so they used tape to make pucks to hit across the loft, often hitting it over the railing and begging for someone to throw it back up.
The walk to hang by the lake was short and easy. We were close to Amish communities. The road back to the cabin was narrow and limited, lined with rows of corn and cattle in fields. Almost every day we noticed the cattle wading in the ponds. And it was disappointing to see that someone plowed their golf cart through several yards of mature corn stalks.
Surprisingly there were hardly any mosquitoes. I don't think I got one bite and I didn't use repellent. But there were little fly-like gnats that liked to hover near the side door. We had a lizard that also lived by the back door -- pretty smart little guy, feasting on the gnats there.
I would consider staying there again!
