In the southeastern corner of Oklahoma, there’s an unincorporated community that’s reminiscent of Branson without the shows or Eureka Springs without the art. Just about every turn off Highway 259 is a gravel drive, there are more rental cabins than homes, and the real estate prices are more akin to New York City than Tulsa.

I’d imagine there are quite a few folks, even here in the Midwest, who have never even heard of Broken Bow, let alone Hochatown, and I wonder how many cross-country roadtrippers have ever found themselves caught in the confusing traffic of East Jesus Nowhere, Oklahoma.

I must confess that I had certainly never heard of Hochatown, even as a lifelong Oklahoman, and when my then-fiancée and I were pondering honeymoon destinations it was actually nearby Broken Bow whose reputation attracted us.

The Perfect Honeymoon Destination

Scott and Charity pose with their marriage license. — Photo by Sam Miller Photographer.

We had a short list of requirements for our honeymoon.

Hiking trails
A private, secluded cabin
A hot tub
Close enough to drive to and from in a day.

When I found a cabin on Vrbo in nearby Hochatown, I figured I was getting something off the beaten path that would be cheaper and more secluded than Broken Bow proper.

Boy was I wrong.

It turns out that a lot of the Broken Bow draw has actually crept into its unincorporated neighbor, and our “cabin” (really more of an upscale tiny home) was only two to five minutes away from the main strip of activities. Those extra three minutes there depend on how many deer you have to let cross the road.

With a permanent population of only 242 at the 2020 census, Hochatown recently voted to incorporate on November 8. On the one hand, the locals are lucky to have such a booming economy. But on the other hand, I’m betting many of them are quite disappointed to see their quaint country getaway turning into the next tourist trap.

But what’s done is done. The word is out and I’m adding to it. Hochatown is the most exciting thing in Oklahoma in quite some time.

The First Week of the Rest of Our Lives

Scott and Charity sit on swings at a bar in Hochatown. — Swinging at The Eat Out’s outdoor bar.

Charity and I didn’t get the Hollywood sendoff after our Sunday evening wedding. Our bags weren’t packed and we didn’t much like the idea of leaving town after 10:00 p.m. for a three-hour drive. Our first full day as a married couple began in the same bed we’ve been in for the last year or so.

Between filing the marriage license at the courthouse, returning my tux, and dropping off the Jeep for some $2000 in repairs, we didn’t make it to the cabin till after dark, Monday evening. We enjoyed our first night lounging in the hot tub, watching a movie, and enjoying reheated Rib Crib from the wedding.

We started our Tuesday with burgers and wings at The Eat Out, which was easily our favorite restaurant in Hochatown. This neat little eatery had a great outdoor bar with swings for seats as well as a large dog-friendly backyard area filled with picnic benches, corn-hole games, and several retro campers.

We went right back to the cabin afterwards and decided to spend the day relaxing in the hot tub and watching movies.

On Wednesday we tried out Grateful Head pizzeria, which I enjoyed. It wasn’t to die for, but I’d eat it again. The Grateful Dead-themed restaurant had lots of nice outdoor seating and a gift shop that’s worth visiting if you need some stocking stuffers for the Dead-heads in your life.

Charity and I visited Beavers Bend State Park after that with a goal of hiking, only to find the road closed that led to the trailhead. We decided to go walk the shoreline instead and were amazed at how beautiful Broken Bow Lake is.

The shore is all rock, and the rock is filled with quartz and other beautiful crystals. I’d imagine the area is popular for rockhounding, though I’m not sure if you can legally remove rocks from a state park.

I’ve heard there are bears and gators in that part of the state. I was disappointed not to see any, but Charity was relieved. I did take a brief dip in the lake and tried to swim to a nearby island before realizing just how out of shape I am. The water was surprisingly not that cold for October.

Charity’s asthma was acting up from our walk so we decided not to try and find any trails and instead headed back into town for some wine tasting.

Hochatown Wineries

The first place we visited was Girls Gone Wine - a boutique winery and gift shop that’s a perfect destination for any bachelorette party or ladies’ trip experience.

On Thursday we found a winery that was more our speed. Knotted Rope Winery was just a few miles up the road from our cabin in a strip center with lots of other great activities. We actually tried to visit it on Wednesday after Girls Gone Wine, but it was closed early.

I feel like this venue probably gets overlooked when compared to the large, luxurious Girls Gone Wine or FishTales. Knotted Rope occupies a small, nondescript storefront and has limited seating at its tasting bar, but it was probably my favorite of the three.

The girl pouring the samples was friendly and conversational, providing a more personal experience than we got at the other two wineries. Not to insult GGW or FishTales. We enjoyed both, but we definitely felt like we were on conveyor belts there.

Charity sips wine on an outdoor patio in Hochatown. — FishTales Winery.

I also loved how intimate Knotted Rope felt, though we realized when we were getting ready to leave that they actually had a large outdoor seating area in the back.

Soon after, we visited FishTales, which was on the opposite side of Hochatown towards Broken Bow. FishTales was probably my least favorite of the three, but there was nothing actually wrong with it. I wasn’t in love with any of the wines, but the service was good and there was lots of indoor and outdoor seating.

Hochatown Dining and Desserts

Back to Wednesday, after discovering that Knotted Rope had closed early, Charity and I found a cute little ice cream and coffee shop in the same shopping center.

Okie Girls Coffee & Ice Cream isn’t a handcrafted ice cream shop or anything. They just serve up Blue Bell, but they do have homemade waffle cones and an array of toppings, shakes, and sundae options.

We didn’t try their coffee, but they had a large selection of hot and cold coffee drinks as well.

Okie Girls also had an array of delicious cake balls and other desserts that we took back to the cabin.

We ended our night at Abendigo’s Grill & Patio, which we weren’t too impressed with.

One thing that became clear as our trip went on, is that there is clearly a workforce shortage in Hochatown. Unsurprising, considering there’s thousands of visitors every week and around 250 permanent residents. The majority of the restaurants we visited didn’t have table service. You order up front and they bring your food out to you, but you’re on your own for refills. The restaurants that did have table staff were understaffed and had substandard service.

Abendigo’s fell into the latter category. Abendigo’s is supposedly the fine-dinning option in Hochatown, and I’ll agree it was the fanciest. But fine dining is more than appearances.

The service wasn’t terrible. They closed the sections they didn’t have enough staff for, so there was a long wait time, but we found a spot at the bar and our bartender was friendly and kept up well enough.

Our food took forever to come out, however, and when it did arrive it was very disappointing. We both ordered medium-rare ribeyes and I have to say the meat quality wasn’t much to speak of. Half the steak was fat or gristle and it severely lacked in flavor. The side dishes were bland as well, and everything was seriously overpriced.

Perhaps we caught Abendigo’s on a bad night, but considering the price, I probably won’t come back on future trips.

On Thursday we started our day with brunch at The Blue Rooster Restaurant, which also had an hour-long wait time and mediocre service, but I’d be willing to try it again on a future visit.

While we waited for our table, we shopped at the Cornbread Trading Co. next door and loaded up on delicious preserves and found a cookbook filled with recipes for the signature dishes of Oklahoma restaurants. The shop had lots of boutique clothing, spices, jams, pickled goods, and more.

When we were finally seated at the Blue Rooster, we split a large order of fried catfish, okra, and mac and cheese and enjoyed all of it. There was lots of cozy indoor and outdoor seating and the overall atmosphere of the place was wonderful.

On Thursday, in between wineries, we stopped at Hochatown Coffee Central and enjoyed some cappuccinos while we browsed their boutique gift shop. This neat little joint also had rolled ice cream and a bakery, but we didn’t get the opportunity to try any of those items.

Broken Bow Kayaking

Charity and I spent Friday on the waters of the Mountain Fork River, which I have to say was my favorite activity that week.

We aren’t super experienced kayakers. We kayaked the Illinois River earlier this summer and canoed the Kings River in 2021, but other than that, our only river experience is rafting in Tahlequah. I hope to start doing more kayaking because I absolutely love it.

The Mountain Fork was definitely the most scenic of the three and was very different from the Illinois.

It definitely wasn’t city-boy water. Unlike the Illinois, which is mostly rock with very little botanical life, the riverbed of the Mountain Fork was lush with moss, logs, bald cypress and sycamore trees, and river reeds.

It’s perfectly good for swimming, but if you’re creeped out by slimy stuff touching your legs, you’ll want to stay in the boat.

Granted it was October during our visit, but we only saw two other groups of kayakers the entire time we were out there and we had the river to ourselves for almost the entire journey. Well, not completely to ourselves. We shared the waters with thousands of turtles, herons, and even two armadillos that I saw fighting on the shore.

The waters were decently challenging to navigate at times but still very beginner friendly. There are a few shallow rapids where you can get hung up and a two-foot waterfall that could easily catch you off-guard, but thankfully a couple of fellas overtook us not long beforehand and warned us about it.

We floated with Ambush Adventures and found them to be affordable and friendly.

Shuck Me Hochatown

After our float trip we decided to visit Shuck Me Hochatown, a busy little seafood chain with three-star food at four-star prices. Like most of the restaurants we visited, you had to stand in line to order and pick it up yourself at the counter.

The atmosphere was fantastic, however, and felt like a boardwalk restaurant you would find in Daytona. The patio seating and outdoor bar overlook a pond, amphitheater, and corn hole games.

The restaurant is in the same shopping center as Knotted Rope Winery, Okie Girls Coffee, and Mountain Fork Brewery.

On Saturday we returned to The Eat Out to eat brunch and watch OU football beat Kansas. We also met a lot of great people there who bought us drinks and helped us celebrate. We spent the rest of the day back at the cabin, enjoying one last evening in the hot tub.

The Maze of Hochatown

On Sunday we visited Mountain Fork Brewery, which served a better pizza than Grateful Head, in my opinion.

We followed it up with a visit to the Hochatown Maze, which is an absolute must for anyone visiting the town. The 29,000 square foot maze took us two hours to complete, even when working as a team. It’s fully outdoors, which means it can get muddy after a good rain, but we didn’t mind leaping over a few puddles.

You don’t just have to find your way out. That alone could take a while. But you also have to collect a series of stamps that are hidden throughout.

We worked together because we had an appointment elsewhere, but the maze could be equally or more fun for a group to race each other in.

Broken Bow Zip Line

Scott and Charity in helmets on a zip line platform.

The last stop of our Honeymoon trip was Rugaru Adventures - a zip-line company in Beavers Bend State Park. The outfitter operates six lines totaling a half mile.

They claim the experience will last about two hours but unfortunately over an hour of that is just getting suited up, waiting on stragglers, and going through safety briefings. The actual zip-lining experience felt barely an hour, especially since most of the lines are right next to each other with no hiking or climbing necessary till the last leg.

It was still a fun experience, however, and I’d do it again.

All in all, we had a splendid time in Hochatown and can’t wait to go back. It could very well end up being our annual anniversary destination. Whether you’re looking for a romantic getaway, a guys or gals weekend, or a family-friendly summer break destination - Hochatown has enough diverse activities to satisfy anyone and everyone.

Two months later and I miss the hot tub most of all.

Hochatown Honeymoon