4 minute read
A truly out-of-the-ordinary getaway
BY BONNIE EISSLER
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Although the word “glamping” was not officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary until 2016, glamorous camping has been around for hundreds of years. However, the privilege of living luxuriously in a tent (more like a mobile palace) was reserved exclusively for kings, queens, sultans, and other high-ranking aristocrats. Everyone else carried their tents and slept on the ground close to the horses, or in the sultan’s camp, with the camels.
Happily, you don’t have to be a member of the royal family to enjoy the luxury of camping in one of the three authentic safari tents at Spoon Mountain Glamping. Owners Ken and Yvette Strange weren’t quite sure at first what to do with several acres adjoining the Med Spa that Yvette had opened in 2016, but they knew that the sunset alone was worthy of a unique retreat where guests could sit back and enjoy that glorious view.
See GLAMPING, page 24
After a few years wondering what to do with this space, the eureka moment came after Ken and family pitched a tent one night and camped out under the stars. Ken recalled how much he’d enjoyed camping with the kids in their younger years, before everyone was glued to their phones, sending texts and playing online games.
He thought how wonderful it would be to recapture those idyllic moments spent outside in nature, sitting around a fire, telling stories and just enjoying being together. “We watched the sun sink down into the saddle between the two hills and decided that this was something to share,” Ken says, “and that’s when the adventure began.”
Ken and Yvette attended a glamping summit in Denver, Colorado (yes, glampers summit too) and “that’s where we met the BushTec people,” Ken says.
Bushtec Safari has won many awards for innovative designs and quality, with products that are built to last. “The same kind of tents used in the Serengeti in northern Tanzania were shipped here from South Africa,” says Ken.
“Everything is selected with the guests’ comfort in mind,” says property manager Yvonne, and that may be an understatement. There are fans and heaters, music and earplugs, towel warmer, bubble bath and plush bathrobes, soft pillows and throws.
For delicious treats, glampers get a small charcuterie board (beautifully put together in a heart shaped wooden bowl by Yvette), Topo Chicos (the signature beverage for Med Spa and Spoon Mountain), cocoa and S’mores fixings. With Med Spa professionals close by, guest can schedule private couples massages in their tents. No one misses having a television in the tent.
Many people ask about the mattresses because they are so incredibly comfortable. “We actually bought them at a high school fundraiser for the Wimberley track team,” Ken says, “Yvette and I lay down on every mattress there to find the ones we liked best.” They bought the mattresses a year before they set up the tents and added the decks and porches, leaving the mattresses stored at the school until they were ready for them to be delivered.
Step outside the back of each tent on to a private deck with a 10-foot-tall wooden fence, a large soaking tub, a romantic seating area, and a small patio table for intimate dinners.
On the large front porch, guests can sip their wine or Topo Chico from the comfort of rocking chairs and enjoy that amazing sunset.
For those who can tear themselves away from soaking in the big tub on the back deck, rocking their cares away on the front porch, or lounging in the hammock outside, there’s also a common area nearby with a spacious covered seating area, large dining table, hot tub and steam sauna.
Philip Sell, an award-winning furniture designer and artist based in Wimberley, made the table, which has a distinctive base of cypress wood from a tree that was uprooted during the 2015 Memorial Day flood.
Photos courtesy Spoon Mountain Glamping.
FYI • Spoon Mountain Glamping, located at 210 Masonic Lodge Road, has been welcoming guests since April 2021. Three luxurious tents – Kingfisher, which is fully wheelchair accessible, Chisum, and Shaka, are on site. To book your stay and to learn more about this unique retreat and each of the tents, visit the website at spoonmountainglamping.com.
