Last week for my birthday, I took off for a few days of (mostly) unplugged relaxing at the wonderful dog-friendly Getaway House with Oats. Getaway is a company that has created communities of tiny homes that are off the beaten path, located about an hour outside of major cities across the country. We chose the one that’s outside of Boston, which ended up being in southern New Hampshire, a little over 3 hours from where we live in Connecticut. It was a lovely drive and easy to find.
My only goals were to relax, hike, read and take a few photos. And of course, do all of that with Oats by my side. I love that Getaways are all dog-friendly, and they even welcomed us both with little surprises - a smores kit for me and adorable little bag of “Mutt Mallows” for Oats. They also had two dog bowls and a roll of poop bags available for us in the cabin. On top of the doggy items, there was a tiny kitchen with basic amenities and pretty much everything I needed to cook for a couple days. There was a two burner stovetop, a sink with fresh running water, biodegradable soap, and a mini fridge. There were also books, playing cards, a little activity book and a cell phone lock box, if you decided to go completely off the grid.
One of the things the Getaway cabins are known for is the giant window on each house. Next to the bed there is a big gorgeous window facing the forest (or in some locations - the mountains). Since booking this little adventure was somewhat of a last minute decision for me ( in part because I like to do things spontaneously, but also because I was making sure I wouldn’t have any work obligations that required me to be home for those 3 days), the only cabins that were still available were those with two beds. It was still a very cute little tiny house, but it would also have been fun to have the giant window view without the extra bed above me. But this gives us something to look forward to next time!
The beds are all queen size and come with pillows and linens - and are VERY cozy. The giant window doesn’t open, but there’s another smaller window at the end of the bed that can be opened to let the fresh air in, which was lovely at night since we were fortunate enough to have great weather. There’s also three other windows in addition to those two, so it’s very airy and well lit.
On the first evening there we did a short hike around the Getaway property and out to a nearby town forest, then came back to have dinner and relax for the night. The next morning, I fed Oats and cooked breakfast while reading and enjoying the light pouring in the cabin, and then we headed out for a bigger hike at the nearby Northwood Meadow State Park. It was a beautiful hike that circled a lake, so Oats was thrilled that she could swim at several different spots off the trail.
The trail we took was 2.8 miles and I would highly recommend it to anyone who stays at Getaway Boston (or just lives close by). The cabin had a little booklet of information and suggested local hikes, but I don’t believe this one was listed. It was really stunning, easy but beautiful, dog-friendly and only 13 minutes from the cabin. Oats was thrilled to be able to swim, and we both really enjoyed the hike. Also - does anyone know what kind of caterpillar that is on the tree in the middle photo here? We saw them everywhere and they were so furry and cute.
I asked Oats to stand on this rock for a photo, and since she didn’t want to take her eyes off the lake, I captured her looking out at it. I immediately loved this image because reminds me of the Lion King. Everything the light touches Oatsy…
Here’s a few cell phone photos from our hike (to check out all my “quick snaps” during the trip with commentary from Oats, check out my Instagram page (@withloveandoats) or by clicking HERE, where I’ve added a story highlight for this trip titled “Getaway Trip.” There’s some videos there and some more details and photos of the cabin and our hikes - including the bizarre cabin toilet.
After our hike it was still early in the day, and I wanted to do something fun and dog-friendly before returning to the cabin for the evening. There is a dog-friendly brewery near the cabins, but it’s unfortunately only open from Friday-Sunday and we were there mid-week. So when I started looking up other dog-friendly activities nearby, I kept seeing places in Portsmouth NH. As it turns out, Portsmouth was only 30 minutes from the state park where we were, so we headed there for the afternoon. We walked around, visited some cute shops, posed for a few quick photos, and Oats got love from (and gave kisses to) lots of nice strangers. It was a perfect late summer afternoon for a few miles of walking through a cute little seaside city. (More cell pics below)
Then we got to come back to this adorable tiny house and relax for the rest of the evening. The outdoor area of the cabin had a picnic table, adirondack chairs and a bin with firewood and kindling kits if you wanted to build a campfire. You just take what you need and they charge it to your card later.
In 2 of the 3 images below you can see sweet Oatsy in the big back window. The bottom one cracks me up :)
Seriously this place made for some fun photo opportunities.
I tried to do a bit of relaxing each morning and enjoy drinking my tea, reading, having breakfast and snuggling with Oats. It was nice to be mostly unplugged, with no computer or TV and just a lovely view of the forest.
We did another local hike before heading home on the final morning. I didn’t break out my camera for a lot of photos but I did see this cute little patch of baby pine trees and thought Oats would look pretty surrounded by the green, so I had her pose for a few minutes. Clearly she was having a good time. Christmas card maybe?? :)
This hike was at Bear Brook State Park. We took both the Little Bear Trail and the Big Bear Trail. Still didn’t see any bears :(
Notice the difference between the cell phone images (below) and camera ones (above). Even though it’s not ideal to bring my real camera on hikes (and I typically don’t), sometimes it’s nice to capture a couple pretty photographs in the forest. I took only a couple and then put my camera away to enjoy the rest of the hike.
Oats and I really enjoyed our trip up to New Hampshire and our stay at a Getaway tiny house. There was no noise and no traffic. We were alone but there were also plenty of other people around. There was electricity and water but no Wifi or TV. According to my sleep app, I got better sleep both nights of our trip than I have in weeks. We just got to be outside and breath for a couple days, but also had the comforts of home in a tiny cabin. I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to anyone traveling with dogs who wants to just “get away” for a couple days.
What adventures have you taken with your dog lately? Did you enjoy learning more about this little excursion? Have questions? Let me know if there’s something else awesome in New England that I should check out. I’m always looking for fun places that allow me to bring Oats along, and I’m happy to share those with you so you can bring your dogs too. Happy travels!
To learn more about Getaway cabins and to save $25 off your next booking, click here. This post was not sponsored - just sharing a genuine review of a fun, dog-friendly adventure. I hope you’ll check it out and bring your dogs!
