We value our longtime families and friends who return to Quimby Country time and time again. Quimby’s would not be what it is today if it were not for the commitment and love of these amazing people. Equally, Quimby Country would have a hard time continuing into future generations if it were not for the new families who discover Quimby’s and fall in love with all that it represents. In the past few seasons there has been a steady welcome of new families, both in the shoulder season and in the high season – which we are so thankful for.

Below we have shared a few reflections from a handful of new families that joined us this past summer.

As one new mother shared, “Our family loves to travel and adventure together, but there was something unique about the way Quimby’s created a true vacation for our entire family. To watch our seven year old son create new friendships, and independently fishing down on the dock, biking through the woods with new friends, and emerging from the woods with a terrarium, so confident and excited, it just doesn’t get better. Watching the pure fun and joy on all the children, and adults 4-94, dancing, during family Olympics, or just around the campfire. For us, it is these wholesome and authentic experiences is what life is all about!”  -Sarah S.

A new father shared, “Quimby Country was discovered quite by accident by the Pitts family.  Having to make a last minute change to our trip to Rhode Island due to my mom’s health, we were without a “home” for our summer vacation. A google search led us to Quimby’s website and we immediately fell in love.  Thanks to so some finagling by the Devlin’s, they squeezed us in at the last minute and the love affair quickly continued.

We loved everything about Quimby Country: meeting new people, the beauty of the woods and lakes, the old fashioned fun, the freedom and independence for our five children, the freedom from the internet for all of us (!), the delicious food and all the new memories that we made.  Quimby’s provided us with a week-long respite from the same old same old and allowed us to enjoy each other in a way that we don’t always get to.  Thank you, Quimby Country!” –Tim P.

A mother reflects, “My 8-year old son Harry, 4-year-old daughter Annie and I arrived at Quimby Country after dark on the first evening of the last week of Quimby Country’s all-inclusive family camp this August.  We were simultaneously greeted by Gene and Sister (the Devlin family’s dog), several folks who were on their way out to the rock for a campfire, and the crisp air, all of which was a great relief to me, a complete stranger to the northeast.  I’d found Quimby Country through a random web search inspired by my hope to escape the brutal central North Carolina summer heat and relax with my children in a place that was fun for all of us.  In the months after making the reservation, an extremely busy time for me at work, I dreamed about how wonderful the week at Quimby Country was going to be – I built my expectations up unreasonably high.

Boy did Quimby Country (and by Quimby Country I mean the place, the activities, and especially the people) turn out even better than my dreams.  My husband Dave was supposed to meet us at Quimby Country at the end of the week, but I quickly realized that he could not miss more days at this place, so he took the next flight up that he reasonably could, a great decision.  

It is so hard to explain the magic of Quimby Country to people who have not been there – how to describe the conditions that lead to such deep experiences of adventure and contentment, newness and utter comfort?  A few memories jump out – the first morning, when we sat down at our sweet little table and I realized that someone else had cooked an incredible breakfast and all I had to do was choose . . .  building a fire in our cabin wood stove in August . . . watching our son solo paddle a standup paddle board across Little Averill Lake . . . walking to the Lodge for early morning coffee and dodging a gaggle of intrepid tiny bike riders . . .  the delightful ease with which my own children joined (or tried to join – Annie’s still learning to ride a bike!) the bikers on day two . . . morning warmup dances before Quimbledon and family Olympics . . . sunrises . .  . sunsets . . . campfire singing with the littlest kids while the bigger kids camped out at the rock . . . walks, swims, paddles, games and conversations with so many lovely people we had never met before . . . 

We’ve been home for more than a month now, and talk about our time at Quimby Country, within our family and to our friends and relations, almost every day.  At our weekly family meeting, our centerpiece is birch bark we picked up on a hike to the rock.  Harry and Annie have altered favorite songs to include the words Quimby Country in the lyrics.  It really is the best trip we’ve ever had together, and it’s hard to imagine ever topping it.  Thank you, Quimby Country – and particularly Gene and Lily – for such a marvelous week, the memory of which lingers and continues to fill us with joy. – Erwin B.