A Swiss Family Robinson Experience
I have always wanted to have a treehouse. When I was in middle school, a neighborhood friend and I attempted to build one in the gully behind his house. The only success we had was stepping on a nail.
I've lived in many different cities and homes which has allowed me to have many different yards; I have always looked to have a yard where I could build a treehouse, even as an adult with the rouse it was "for the kids". Not once did we find a home with a suitable tree.
If you can't build one, maybe you can just borrow one for a night.
My quest for a treehouse stay was on. I had planned on being the Pacific Northwest for part of the summer this year and knew staying in a treehouse there was pretty easy. But my job search clipped my summer travel wings so a treehouse in the big tall forests of the Cascade or Olympic Mountain ranges was out the window.
My internet search for a treehouse in Florida was quite interesting as the main place to stay in a treehouse was on the Disney property. Although lovely, not quite the experience I was looking for.
I found nestled in the middle of Miami's Little Haiti a permaculture farm which has many unique rooms to rent including the canopy room in a treehouse! I was so excited! My good friend Laura was a willing participant with me on this adventure- after all who doesn't want to stay in a treehouse?
We gathered provisions and set off for our very unique Miami experience. We arrived at the address but saw no farm, just blocks of homes. Our host, Leslie, welcomed us through a gate and we found ourselves in another world. A world with a hobbit like home in a tree trunk, a few grass and tiki huts, plus a glorious tree house surrounded by goats, turkeys, chickens and roosters, pigs, turtles and an ostrich.
Under the treehouse's canopy was a large tiki hut outdoor communal kitchen with full amenities to prepare food. The area around the kitchen contained lots of unique tables for guests to sit, eat, and relax- it even had wifi! There were other guests staying in some of the additional unique rooms. All of us stumbled on this unusual location through Internet searches. We were all first time visitors.
As we first climbed the steep (almost like a ladder) stairs to our room, I kept thinking, “please don't need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night”. It became my mantra for the evening and I was very careful with any liquid consumption.
The room opened up to a queen bed fully draped in mosquito netting- giving me a flashback to our stay in Swaziland. The ceiling was covered with see through plastic panels allowing us to see up and beyond the confines of the tree. The wooden windows opened up fully bringing the outdoors in as well as some of the many cats who lived on the farm. There was electricity and fans, I was sure we'd be comfortable without air conditioning for the night.
After sunset, Laura and I sat on the wooden platform looking out the window, enjoying the stars and moon. The lighting around the farm was quite magical. We could hear the crickets and critters making noises as well as the train and the police using their loud speaker to communicate with people on the streets just outside of the farm. It was quite surreal as the two worlds collided. We felt safe and at peace.
We headed to bed pretty early and were startled awake by a loud thump and scratching noise. Neither of us were sure what it was but we were alert grasping for our phones to use a flashlight. We found a cat trying to get out of one of the windows right next to Laura's side of the bed. We were able to settle down and go back to sleep.
Sleep on a farm can be challenging when there are roosters present. They started, way before the dawn, cock-a-doodle-dooing. It was if one was talking to the other one, and they answered each other back. I wonder what they are truly saying since it wasn't "the sun is up- wake up!", because the sun was definitely not even thinking about being up. After a few hours of this and the sun finally coming up we arose as well.
We freshened up, packed up and went to explore the farm more. We were watching the tortoises move to eat their breakfast when this large rodent like creature with a long skinny tail scurried through the tortoise pen and went to "our" tree. I thought it must have been a funny looking rat, but Laura knew better- it was a baby possum. Oh my, I'm so thankful we saw that in the morning and not the afternoon or evening before!
Sleeping in a treehouse was a really fun, unique getaway. Still wish I had one in my backyard. #23✔ done.
