Honestly I had no idea what to expect, and I was completely blown away by the experience. Just to set the stage my husband, Alex, and I took our 12 year old and 9 year old twins who are VERY active children. Taking a "relaxing" vacation is almost comical. However this was different, at one point I looked at Alex and said, "I should have brought a book." We had a lot of downtime while the kids were off playing and participating in various activities that we were just left to rock on the porch. 

One of the most special things about the Mayan is that it was built in 1931 and purchased in 1951 by Don and Judy Hicks. Don and Judy had 10 children and to this day many generations of the Hicks family run the ranch! Because of the family history you can just feel the love and consistency of the experience. Many people told me they have been visiting the Mayan for 20+ years with their families! It's one of those gems that you continue coming back to year after year. 

LODGING

The ranch is all-inclusive which includes ALL meals, activities and drinks (sodas, beer & wine). Here are the room rates:

Adult: $200 per day

Teen (13-19): $100 per day

Child (3-12): $80 per day 

If you think about how much you spend for a 2 night family vacation including lodging, meals (groceries and eating out) and activities....this is an AMAZING deal in my opinion! We stayed in Cabin #5/6 which had 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms...perfect for a family of 5! They don't show lodging options online, you basically tell them how many you have in your party and they'll book you a cabin large enough for everyone. 

ACTIVITIES

Everyday the front office publishes a print out with all of the day's activities so every day is different! Here are some activities that they offer throughout the week.

-  Two trail rides per day

- Archery

- Trick Rope Show

- Hiking to REAL dinosaur tracks including a T-Rex track

- BB Shooting

- Trick Rope Show

- DJ/Dance

- Longhorn photos where you get to jump on and take a pic

- Western Bingo

- Two Step Lessons

- Fossil hike 

- Fishing

- Swimming in the Medina river

- Pool 

- Roping

- Basketball

- Star Gazing with a professional (Eddie Star who brought a HUGE telescope)

- Sand Volleyball

- Hayrides to see wild life 

- Western town to play in

Our children made friends quickly with the other families and played 24/7 with the other children. There is also wildlife grazing freely around the property including peacocks, sheep, goats and donkeys. 

There is also a western saloon on the property which was a find spot for the adults to hang out at the end of the day. During our last night we gathered with some lovely ladies from England and group from France and did some line dancing! 

FOOD

This was one of my favorite parts of our vacation because we didn't have to think ONCE about snacks or meals. It's amazing how much work physically and mentally goes into planning, prepping and cooking while on vacation. Even if you're eating out there's still the logistics of what time to get there, will there be a wait, etc...and it's especially hard with young kids. Our kids loved seeing the schedule every day that displayed what time breakfast, lunch, snack time and dinner were at. 

Breakfast: You have the option of riding a horse to a cowboy breakfast or taking a hayride to a traditional cowboy breakfast with a chuckwagon. They served homemade buttermilk biscuits, eggs, bacon, grits, potatoes and a meat dish. Fresh coffee and orange juice were also served.  

Lunch: Lunch is in the dining hall which in itself is adorable and reminds me of an old time summer camp. The Hicks family purchased the property from the Girl Scouts so it actually did used to be a summer camp! 

Dinner: Our first night (Friday) we had a Mexican Fiesta in the large covered pavilion and our meal included enchiladas, tacos, beans, rice and dessert. There was a DJ playing Tejano and other fun music! Saturday night we took a hayride to "Hicksville" which is the most adorable little western made town that my kids LOVED playing in. There were picnic tables, live country music, and ribs, brisket, homemade bread, potato salad, beans and brownies were served. The meal was DELICIOUS! 

Normally they would have done smore's on the campfire but because of the dry weather there was a burn ban in place. 

We will definitely be returning next year! It's a good vacation spot to visit in the cold months too because there are lots of activities and areas to roam even if you aren't swimming. The ranch is also just a 2 minute drive from downtown Bandera which has an adorable Main Street with a cute general store and one of THE oldest honkytonk bars in Texas. I walked in to Arkey Blue's Silver Dollar and was in absolute awe. Don't sleep on grabbing a jar of sweet and spicy pickles from Fickle Pickles and visiting a few antique stores.