The Leagjeld family—Ted, Sue, along with son Dan and wife Donna have run Driftwood for 40+ years. As surrounding resorts abandoned the family focus, they held fast; Driftwood has more activities for kids than any other lakeside resort I've seen. Days begin with rides, on ponies and in a 1929 Chevrolet fire truck, followed by regular lunch trips to a nearby island on a double-decker paddle wheeler. Each week concludes with a staff revue or guest talent show in the resort's little theater.

My wife and baby boy joined me for the visit to Driftwood; I think all three of us were relieved to enter the dining room and spot half a dozen high chairs amid a couple of peas on the floor. Having family, a stigma at other establishments, places you right at the center of things here. The food is old-fashioned—pancakes and eggs for breakfast, roast beef or turkey with trimmings for dinner—but it's tasty and reliable, and the service, mainly by European music students spending a summer abroad, is spirited and attentive. When we left our son's spoon and bowl behind after lunch one day, there they were at his place setting, clean and shiny, that evening at dinnertime.