Broken Bow anniversary trip: 2-night plan for the in-cabin version

Anniversaries don't need an itinerary. Here's the in-cabin plan we'd build for our own.

NIGHT 1 Arrive 4 PM. Stop at Hochatown Distilling for a bottle of bourbon and at the Hochatown Grocery for steaks, asparagus, mushrooms, butter, and breakfast supplies.

Unpack slowly. Pour a glass on the porch. Don't check your phone.

Dinner: cook steaks on the cabin grill. Use the cast iron in the kitchen for the mushrooms. Eat on the porch if the weather works, at the table if not.

After dinner: hot tub with the bourbon. Wood-fire if it's lit. Bed by 11.

DAY 1 (the slow one) 8 AM: porch coffee. The light through the pines at 8 AM in any month is the photo. 10 AM: drive to Beavers Bend, walk across the dam, hike Cedar Bluff (90 min round trip with photos). The overlook bench is the spot. 1 PM: lunch at Rolling Fork Takery. Brisket, sides, peach cobbler. Eat at the river-side picnic tables. 2:30 PM: back to the cabin. Pool, hot tub, nap. This is the slow afternoon you're paying for. 5 PM: shower, dress for dinner. 6:30 PM: Abendigo's reservation (booked 2 weeks earlier). Bread service, ribeye, dessert, glass of red. 9 PM: fire pit, last hot tub, stars.

NIGHT 2 / DAY 2 Long slow breakfast in the cabin. Pack at noon. Stop at Hochatown Distilling for one more bottle on the way out.

THE ALTERNATIVE If you want zero leaving the cabin: hire a private chef for night 1, do takeout from Rolling Fork for night 2, never start the car. We can connect you with a local chef.

GIFT IDEAS THAT WORK A bottle of bourbon cream (cabin gift to take home). A photo session with a local Broken Bow photographer (1 hour, $250, perfect for milestone anniversaries). A spa massage at the cabin (Hochatown Massage Co.).

WHAT TO SKIP ON AN ANNIVERSARY TRIP The pontoon day. The big group restaurants. Anything that involves a 'plan.' The point is the cabin and the two of you.