This is not a "click the reservation button" style lodging. Whether you are seeking a quiet evening after a day on the Buffalo River or want additional experiences of art and nature workshop, you can customize your retreat experience.

Your host, Val, spent several decades in a computer lab as a graphic design professor and witnessed firsthand early addictions to smart phones. In an effort to live a slower life with a connection to nature, she resigned from that career to focus on providing hospitality on an individualized basis. Hosting a group of friends from Memphis who love floating the Buffalo to a book club weekend getaway from Knoxville or a family escape from Nashville or beyond to let the kids play board games, these are rewarding interactions that go beyond other lodging options.

Seasonal availability from mid-March to mid-November. Lodging accommodates up to 12 guests, and there are also primitive campsites available on the bluff above the Buffalo River about .2 miles walk from the lodge.

Enjoy the scenery and interactions with the 15 donkeys, mostly miniatures, and ask about a guided tour of the rest of the property to visit the chickens and peacocks. For those who yearn for a garden or pets, but can't due to circumstances, ask about the workshop where you can fill that desire.

Val is a certified Forest Therapy guide which is included in the solo, couples, family, or group packages and involves a few hours of slow experience focusing on your senses with a walk to the river and back (that's not a hike or a naturalist walk).