www.privateairny.com
|
81
Private Air Summer 2026
PASSPORT
TJ has always loved nature, history, and a good story.
When I suggested a trip to Missouri's Ozark Mountains,
he immediately began researching the region. By the time
we landed, he knew enough about the area's history to
serve as our unofficial guide.
What neither of us expected was that Big Cedar Lodge
would become less about what we did and more about
what we remembered.
e drive into the resort feels like a gradual shedding of
the outside world. e highway narrows. Forests of oak,
pine, and cedar close in around the road. e Ozarks
begin to rise unexpectedly from the landscape. en, after
a final curve, Big Cedar reveals itself.
American flags flutter in the distance. Timber-framed
buildings emerge from the hillsides. e arrival lodge,
built of native stone and massive beams, feels more like
the entrance to a grand national park than a luxury resort.
Inside, expansive windows frame the landscape beyond,
pulling the outdoors directly into the space.
We were handed a map.
en another realization hit.
Big Cedar isn't a hotel.
It's a world.
M
y youngest son was
accepted into college
at sixteen.
Like most parents, I was proud.
But beneath the excitement was
another realization: childhood
was ending. The little boy who
once needed help tying his shoes
was preparing to begin a life that
would increasingly belong to him.
Before that chapter began, I
wanted one more adventure
together.
Not a graduation trip. Not a
celebration.
Just time.
