Since loving the outdoors and loving sleeping in the outdoors are two different things, there are cabins. The Apple Ridge Cabins down in the Hocking Hills area are just the right amount of rustic with the right amount of hot tub. The cabin also came with owner, Jack. A regular visitor guide full of inside Hocking info — and he wasn’t wrong once the entire weekend. From recommending restaurants to mapping our hikes, you knew you could trust a guy who installed a Plexiglas window after falling through it from out of the loft. Back to the cabin — the simple, loft-style gem I stayed in last weekend boasted a kitchenette equipped with mini fridge/freezer, microwave/convection oven, stove and arguably most important — a coffee maker. The fact that we shorted out the circuit the coffee maker and microwave were plugged into was not Jack’s fault. Moving out to the porch, there sits a gas grill, chairs for lounging and ah yes — the hot tub. Already heated and kept clean, the hot tub is — as I’m sure for many — the selling point. Was the grill a bit soiled, yes — as were the chairs. But we’re talking the great outdoors here, so a little extra soot keeps it natural. There was a privacy fence behind the hot tub, not to mention a hill and woods, so seclusion was optimal. Heading in to retire for the evening, the bathroom was clean with ample linens and the queen size bed made the climb up the loft well worth it. Minutes away from main attractions like Old Man’s Cave and Cedar Falls, Apple Ridge Cabins are exactly what we were looking for: convenience and comfort. It was no five star hotel, but that’s not the point, now is it.