Eastern Nebraska Glamping at Kimberly Creek Retreat
Glamping is like camping in luxury. It’s a step up from a “regular” cabin. You are away from the real world, but you’re not leaving all the comforts of home. Glamping at Kimberly Creek Retreat is luxurious compared to regular camping. Your sleeping arrangements include a comfortable bed with clean sheets. The bathroom includes a toilet, shower, and sink. In the kitchenette, you will find a small fridge, a sink, a convection oven, and all the kitchen utensils you would need. Outside, you get a fire ring and a propane grill for cooking.
“Do these cabins have air conditioning?”
Air conditioning is the most important need for Kate when she travels. A convenient bathroom is also up there. Camping is no exception. She had been tent camping once before, in high school with friends. She had a miserable experience because it was hot, humid, and she had to drive to a bathroom. Kate can look back and cherish the memories she made with her friends. She laughs about it now. But she never wants to experience tent camping again.
How about me? I will tent camp in most weather. The only thing stopping me from camping is extreme cold or a tornado watch.
We had researched Glamping after Kate watched a show about glamping. Soon after, a friend told her about Kimberly Creek Retreat. This was perfect. A little getaway where we could have the outdoors when we wanted and then relaxing in a comfy bed with cool air. We wanted to find a weekend getaway to take in the early days of Covid restrictions around Kate’s birthday. Finding something fun and different without breaking the rules.
Kimberly Creek Retreat has many cabins and domes. No two glamping units are exactly alike. There are also trails to walk on the property plus a grotto to enjoy. They finished a new building recently called Pete’s Place. This is a day-use building for parties and gatherings.
Kimberly Creek Retreat is a few short miles southeast of I-80, Exit 426 in Nebraska. Turn right at Round The Bend Steakhouse, turn right again at the farmhouse on the right. Drive across the creek and turn right to the resort.
Staying at Kimberly Creek is easy. Making a reservation can be trying because it is so popular. So book your stay at least 2-3 months out. All is not lost if you hope to stay soon. Kimberly Creek Retreat will announce re-openings in the event of a cancellation. So follow them on Facebook or Instagram! Their social media presence will inform you if you want to go glamping now.
Once you have set your reservation, Kimberly Creek Retreat will send all the normal emails and communications you expect from a vacation spot.
Checking in is easy. Upon arrival, send them a reply to the text they sent you that morning! The camp staff will meet you at your unit and show you around your unit plus answer any questions you may have. Then they let you enjoy your getaway.
Checking out is also easy, but you won’t want to. Send them a text when you’ve closed the door.
Now let us tell you about our trips to this place. Yep, we have been there twice already!
Queen Dome Trip - July 2020
Our first trip to Kimberly Creek Retreat was to the Queen Dome. The dome has two levels and two queen beds. It’s a good size for two adults or a family of two adults and two kids. One side of the dome is clear allowing you to sit and look out at the scenery. When you are ready for bed there is a privacy curtain so you don’t feel exposed to anyone outside of the dome. Though, we never felt like anyone would be that close to our dome (except for wildlife!)
On our way to our retreat, we stopped for lunch and wine at Cellar 426.
Cellar 426
Cellar 426 is a winery near Ashland Nebraska. They have several varieties of Nebraska-grown wines and a tasting room. The tasting room has a limited but delicious menu that pairs well with the wine selection. We chose a charcuterie board. This board included nuts, olives, dried apricots, crackers, cheese, and summer sausage. We chose a flight of wines to get a good idea of the offerings at Cellar 426. Our wines at Cellar 426 were Summer Blush, Wild Rose, 2 Hearts 2 Souls, and Petite Pearl. Neither Kate nor I took a pic of the other flight card.
Grillin and Chillin
We took full advantage of the gas grill at Kimberly Creek Resort, cooking two meals outdoors. We didn’t want to heat the dome during the hottest part of the day with the convection oven. We brought hamburger patties, hotdogs, and ingredients for walking tacos. Our experiment with the walking tacos failed. We talked over a new plan while trying to scrape the cheese from the foil. We will have the perfect walking taco the next time we try it!
Smore’s
Glamping is still camping. Since it’s still camping: that means S’Mores! The outdoor fire rings at Kimberly Creek Retreat are propane-fueled. They are easy to use if you’re not accustomed to building a fire with wood. Kate even felt like she could work it, though she always had me light it. She stood 10 feet away to keep safe.
Nebraska’s State Parks near Kimberly Creek
Exit 426 is not only the exit for the city of Ashland. You will have access to many of Nebraska’s best state parks. Mahoney State Park, Platte River State Park, and Schramm State Park are accessible from this exit.
Other nearby attractions include the SAC Museum and The Wildlife Safari. For those who enjoy golf, you can go to Quarry Oaks and Iron Horse.
Covid-19 limited access to many of the facilities at Nebraska's parks in July 2020. We visited the falls at Platte River State Park and climbed the tower at Mahoney State Park. The tower at Mahoney is always a favorite because you can see for miles in all directions.
Round the Bend Steakhouse
Nebraska small-town bars have a lot of charm. Round The Bend is in South Bend, Nebraska. The bar and grill sits on top of a hill south of Interstate 80. It is the home of the annual “Testicle Festival”, where they serve up Rocky Mountain Oysters. It is also a great landmark for your upcoming turn towards KCR. Kate dined on a shrimp dinner and I devoured the burnt ends.
Ranch Trip - March 2021
We knew we wanted to go back in a cooler month. Like I said, booking can be a challenge for this popular and relaxing destination. We started planning our return trip in January 2021. We were able to reserve The Ranch cabin in March. It is fun to go to the same location and have a different experience as far as trying out a new unit. Since we had stayed in a dome prior we knew we wanted to stay in a cabin this trip. This cute and cozy cabin includes two queen daybeds, a rollaway bed, a large table, and an electric fireplace that warms the cabin quickly. This cabin is large enough to sleep 6 people. Of course, it also had a kitchenette and a spacious bathroom. Oh, and air conditioning!
Glacial Till Tasting Room
After we had our reservation set, we looked to fill our trip with more memories. Kate and I are big fans of Glacial Till wine and cider. We had discovered their wine and cider at Fermented Fridays a few years ago at their winery. Fermented Fridays is an outdoor music event held on Friday evenings all summer long in Palmyra Nebraska. We had always wanted to visit Glacial Till's tasting room in Ashland Nebraska. Glacial Till's tasting room does not disappoint. We were socially distanced in a large room with comfortable furniture. When we chose our flights, they let us mix and match wine and cider. We also chose a charcuterie board. It was a wonderful complement to the wine and cider offerings.
Rain and Frozen Food
Kimberly Creek Retreat had added a scavenger hunt map since our last stay. We had gotten excited to try it out, though the weather was threatening to rain. After checking in with staff, we heard the drops get louder and louder. We decided we weren’t going to get to do the scavenger hunt that evening. We had a contingency plan in place for indoor activities. More on that later.
We knew rain was in the forecast and there was a good chance we would not want to use the grill. That meant we needed a game plan that involved food we could cook in a countertop convection oven. So we stopped at Costco for frozen taquitos and baby tacos! Do these pair well with Glacial Till wine or cider? To be fair, those foods would be better paired with Bud Light. But we dined on our frozen goodies washing them down with our Glacial Till cider anyways.
Games!
While we wanted to try outdoor activities, that rain in the forecast made us think that wasn’t going to happen this trip. The Ranch Cabin has a lot of floor space. We thought it would be a good place to play some games. Kate brought a childhood favorite: Bozo’s Grand Prize Game! This game involves throwing ping pong balls into buckets. I am an uncoordinated 45-year-old man who needs glasses. I also made up “drinking game rules” to go with this game. Mistakes were made.
We also brought a Friends tv-show-themed ball-throwing game. We just played that one for fun. No drinking game rules for this. But no shortage of laughs!
Gah! Time Change!!!
Checkout at Kimberly Creek Retreat is at 11am. We are not morning people. We almost overslept since our bodies thought we had another hour. We threw our clothes into our bags, packed up the car, and straightened up the kitchen in record time!
Memphis? Nebraska? What? A Stop at Don’s Bar
Some enterprising youth from Wahoo Nebraska recognized the pandemic as an opportunity. They took it upon themselves to visit every one of Nebraska’s towns and cities during the pandemic. You can follow them on Facebook at Visit531Nebraska and their new adventures in Iowa called Visit939Iowa.
One of the places they visited was Don’s Bar in Memphis Nebraska. The kids from Wahoo had posted pictures of Don’s Bar on social media. Those pictures guided us to this bar because the urinals in the men's bathroom were beer kegs in a previous life. We decided it might be a fun place to eat after our stay at Kimberly Creek Retreat.
The bartender tried to interest us in a beer or a bloody mary on Sunday at 11:30 am. Small-town Nebraska has at least one thing in common with Las Vegas! Since we needed to stay productive that afternoon, we chose non-alcoholic beverages to go with our lunch.
As much as I would love to take Kate on a traditional camping trip, I’ve been warned I won’t like “tent Kate”.
We are happy to meet in the middle with glamping at Kimberly Creek Retreat.
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