My girlfriends and I enjoyed a weekend at the farmhouse and loved our time there.
This is a more rustic vacation than, say, a beach trip. Floating on the river, the opportunity to ride horses (which we did not do), living in a large and comfortable farmhouse--particular kinds of pleasures. If you live in St. Louis, the farmhouse is only 90 minutes from town--far enough to feel away from home, but close enough to be convenient. Tracey is a laidback owner and easy to work with. Contract was clear, house was as promised, no surprises.
There are horses roaming, picnic tables outside for casual dining, a well tended hot tub, and picturesque views. There were seven women and enough beds for all (including a pull-out bed in the couch), which is pretty terrific (six beds in four rooms. One bed is a king). The two full bathrooms are beautifully renovated, and there's a laundry room if needed. We would have loved a second couch in the living room, but we pulled some comfy rocking chairs in so everyone could visit in there when it was too hot to be outside. We did a float trip, which was affordable and easy, with KicknK transporting us to and from the river for $25 each. Do be sure to bring your own bottled (or bottles for) water, especially if you plan to spend many hours being lazy on the river. The kitchen offered enough supplies (plates, pots & pans, etc) for us to make a nice breakfast and we used the grill outside for a great dinner. There is a dish washer in the kitchen.
We visited in summer, and it was hot, but large trees in front provide ample shade on the side of the house where are the picnic tables. Harder to sit out back since there's no covering behind the house. The house had enough window AC units to keep cool, even at night, which was a relief.
Wifi was included and was strong enough to allow some of the ladies to video chat with their children back home (very important and therefore appreciated). TV was an older CRT model, but we never even turned it on (I spotted a DirecTV satellite, so I presume it has the basic set of channels).
We didn't get to visit the winery just down the road, which is too bad. KicknK seems to have their base of operation next door, so people will come and go--the farmhouse is less private than the cabin, in other words--but folks left us to ourselves.
All in all, we were pretty pleased. Affordable, enough stuff to do, comfortable home, lovely rural setting.
