Blue Jay Farm

Ozark region cabins can be scary, that’s true. There’s nothing to be afraid of at Blue Jay Farms. This was almost the perfect place for me at a time when I needed to loosen up.
There are some a couple things about the site that could use some tidying up but the cabin itself was clean and well appointed. All that and the view was un-​paralleled. Blue Jay Farm is situated on 360 acres. The handful of cabins are located on a terraced side of a hill. Across what I’d estimate to be about a 40 acre lake are steep, tree covered hills that rise about 100 feet.
The result is that from the cabins, you have two views; the lake, and the wall of trees across the lake.
Blue Jay Farms is privately owned and kept by Susie Goodman and Boyfriend Bob, both equally kind and hospitable. There are a few canoes and other boats to row for use by the guests. There are miles of walking trails, a couple caves and a lot of creeks and falls to explore.
Blue Jay Farms is not fancy, if you’re looking for fancy, well, you should go somewhere else. But while I was there, I didn’t much care to act fancy. I welcomed the time to just let go a bit and enjoy a much slower pace and the hosts’ hospitality.
I don’t know the history of Blue Jay Farms but in the cabin was a book signed by many of the guests. It was marked volume 2 and began in 2003. It was neat to flip through the pages and read the notes from previous guests. It was unanimous though, Blue Jay Farms has a lot of happy guests and a lot of return guests — many of the signees remarked that they were on visit 5 or 7 or 10.
On one page was written a note from a man who said he’d visited the place in the 30s and was delighted to have the chance to talk to Susie to fill in gaps he had about the history of the place. Though I didn’t hear the story, I understand it has a long history, and I look forward to hearing it someday.