Getaway to Woodstock Vermont with the family

This Rural Vermont town combines a Rockefeller mansion, a National Park forest, an historic prize winning farm, outdoor adventure and top-notch shopping and lodging for a winning combination.

A Vermont town fit for a family vacation
Woodstock isn’t the stuffy place a lot of people think it is. A bold statement, but true.  I just spent a weekend traveling there with an 8-year-old and we stayed at the Woodstock Inn & Resort, one of those wonderful places with great rooms and all the facilities one could ask for. Right in the middle of town, it’s just around the corner from the main street and boutique shopping.

Billings Farm Museum is perfect for kids
There is so much to do in this town that a weekend doesn’t seem long enough to do everything at the leisurely pace it deserves. Take the Billings Farm and Museum, for example. A farm since the late 18th century, it led the way in farming innovation through the 19th and into the 20th century. Lovingly maintained as an operating farm, it retains that by-gone charm of a New England farm, where visitors can still pet the cows, say “baaa” back to the sheep and learn hands-on crafts.

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park for exploration
Across the street, the mansion, gardens and forests of the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park likewise have lots to explore. Take a hike with a Park Ranger and learn about one of the country’s first ecologist millionaires, admire the formal gardens or arrange to visit the treasures of the mansion. This is also a great place to take a hike or walk along the preserved old carriage roads that wind through the woods.

Golf and swimming at Woodstock Inn and Resort
The Woodstock Inn & Resort has a beautiful golf course that is open to visitors, as well as inn guests. It lies in a secluded valley close to town, and is busiest in the morning. In the afternoon it seems like the few golfers have it all to themselves. The inn’s indoor pool, also open to the public for a moderate fee, is at the end of the golf course.

And the Vermont Institute of Natural Science for learning about raptors
Just down Route 4 in Quechee is one of my favorite places, the Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences (VINS). This new facility gives more space and opportunities to an organization that devotes itself to the saving and rehabilitation of injured birds, especially raptors. Birds injured by autos, firearms or other accident are shipped here from across the U.S. to be saved. Those that are able are re-released into the wild, those that cannot be released are kept here. Kids love their live bird shows.
Nearby Quechee has the dramatic gorge that runs right under Route 4 and trails lead down into the floor of the gorge. Nearby North Hartland Lake has a beach and kayaking at with an entrance fee of only $2.00. 
 
Text and photo ©Stillman Rogers 2009