Pamela Kruger

We're finishing up a week's vacation in Vermont. What a blissful place. During the summer, it is incredibly quiet and peaceful. You won't encounter the throngs you find at beach towns; and virtually every town has exquisite scenery.

One of the highlights was a day we spent in Woodstock. Our first stop was at the village green where we had a picnic lunch while we listened to a local band perform. The music was so-so, but sitting in the grass in the middle of this picture perfect New England town, on a beautiful summer day, we all enjoyed ourselves.

Our next stop was the Billings Farm, a working dairy farm and a museum about agricultural life in Woodstock. It has an interesting history: George Marsh, the original owner of the farm in the 1800s, is considered one of the first environmentalists in the U.S. Frederick Billings, who bought the farm from Marsh, set out to turn the farm into a model of responsible stewardship.

His granddaughter, Mary, married a Rockefeller, and together they turned the farm into a national historical park of which the Billings Farm is one part. (The park is billed as the only national park that tells the story of conservation history.)

When we visited, the farm had all sorts of activities for families. There was a demonstration of how cows are milked. There was an art project in which kids learned how to make dolls out of corn husks. And there was a tour of the 1890 farm house, the highlight of which was the fresh ice cream sold right outside.

We only skimmed the surface of this wonderful place. I'm told that the tour of the mansion is terrific.

But we wanted to spend the rest of the day swimming. We drove to Woodstock's Farmer's Market to pick up a picnic dinner. The gourmet market, just on the outskirts of town, had a selection that rivalled our local Whole Foods. Then we drove to Plymouth to the lake inside the state park.

This lake has a large beach, with boat rentals, a concession stand, a playground, and lots of trees and picnic tables. We arrived there late afternoon, just when it was clearing out. We stayed until past 7 p.m., swimming, eating, playing frisbee, and generally enjoying ourselves.

My husband and I pulled our chairs up to the water's edge. Staring up at the mountains, while our kids happily splashed around in the water, we knew we were having one of those perfect family experiences.

"Can we do this again?" our 10-year-old said, as we loaded up the car to leave later. "That was so much fun!"