The Inn at Long Last
The Inn at Long Last – Chester, Vermont
15
JULY, 1993
The Inn at Long Last is a mythical place. It doesn’t exist. Oh, it did at one time, and physically it still stands on the idyllic village square in Chester, Vermont – but it’s now called the Fullerton Inn. But on one day and night in mid-July 1993 The Inn at Long Last gifted my wife, Lori, and me with cherished memories that will last forever. Our visit occurred during an epic Eastern US road trip. That trip was made possible because we were young, newly married, pre-children, with plenty of time and money, and a love for food. All of those enablers have since changed… but we still love food! 🙂
Driven to the Inn at Long Last by a cookbook
Thirty years is a long time for my aging brain cells to recall where the idea came from. All the non-camping lodging places we stayed at on that trip were discovered in the ‘Country Inn and Bed & Breakfast Cookbook.’ Yep, really! The January 2000 edition of the cookbook can still be found on Amazon. We had a general idea of where our route would take us, and Vermont was a priority. The quant, small Vermont town of Chester had caught our attention in some manner, and the cookbook had an entry for The Inn at Long Last. A telephone call was made – no internet, personal computers, or cell phones in 1993 – and the proprietor, Jack Coleman, confirmed we were good to go. A stay at The Inn at Long Last was added to our agenda.
“I decided to make up a new name, one expressing my long, if secret, desire to become an innkeeper: The Inn at Long Last. The dream was that guests too, would come to think of it as a place that they knew must exist somewhere – a place of serenity, beauty and warmth in a world needing more of all three.” – Jack Coleman
“Breakfast… at Long Last” – The Inn at Long Last cookbook
Sitting next to the front desk at the Inn at Long Last was a small book stand. I noticed it after breakfast and as we were checking out from our stay. Jack Coleman still had his chef’s coat and hat on as he personally handled checkout. You see, we had learned that Jack did everything at the Inn, including memorable conversations with guests. During a chat with Jack in the Inn’s library, the previous evening, he shared that morning was his favorite time, with breakfast being his ‘healing time.’ Just by chance, I asked Jack about the cookbook, and in particular, if the recipe for the heavenly granola we had experienced at breakfast was shared in its pages. Jack said, “why, yes it is, and more good ‘stuff’ too.” I bought a copy, and it remains a cherished treasure.
Jack’s reflections throughout the cookbook are priceless
I didn’t realize it when I bought the cookbook, but each recipe is accompanied by a short ‘story’ written by Jack. Those reflections are as wonderful as Jack’s recipes. For years we regularly made batches of Jack’s granola. It was as delicious as at the Inn. Somewhere along the way, it seemed more convenient to pour our breakfast cereal straight from a box. Sad. Then the cookbook was lost in a ‘black hole vortex’ that somehow swallows anything that sits around too long in our house. A few years back, I made an effort to find the book, wanting to reminisce about that time long ago. I came up empty. I searched the internet in the hope of buying a replacement but it appeared the cookbook was a limited edition, personally published project. That made it even more special. Fortunately, Lori took over the search and located the priceless keepsake.
“I’m not a great cook, not even a very original one. But I deeply love morning and its own special meal. And so I want the start of each day here to be what folks dreamed they would find someday, somewhere.” – Jack Coleman
Our experience at the Inn at Long Last
Our stay at the Inn at Long Last came halfway through an incredible two-week Eastern road trip. The trip started with ‘Christmas in July’ at Pinehurst, compliments of my parents. The trip ended with a week of waterskiing and debauchery at Dale Hollow Lake. In between was a swing up the east coast that led us to Chester, Vermont. The Inn at Long Last sits on a postcard-style Vermont town square, complete with a gazebo. Clear, blue skies, sunshine, and 70-degree temperatures added to the fairytale-like ambiance. We visited the Chester train station, went for a bike ride, bought maple syrup at a roadside stand, and visited a General Store that could have been from the 1800s. Our room was bright, airy, and comfortable, complete with a too-tall feather bed. It was a magical stop on our trip.
One of Jack’s Stories – on a ‘sabbatical’ as a roughneck miner
“The sheer grandeur of sunrises should prompt humility. It doesn’t always work that way. The most spectacular sunrises I have seen came day after day when I used a one month vacation in 1976 to work as a roughneck on a drilling rig in New Mexico. We left Grants in darkness each morning for the one-hour drive to the rig in the uranium fields. From the back of our pickup truck, I had unobstructed access to the slowly brightening sky. Either God or the New Mexico tourist office manufactures clouds out there quite unlike those anywhere else in the world. Each is carefully tailored to catch all the shifting morning colors with mystic light and shadow. The skies blaze with a fire reflected on every puff in the sky.”
“But I never heard anyone of my fellow crew members comment on this display, new and grander each day. Indeed I wasn’t even sure that these men, tough outdoorsmen who drifted from drilling rig to cattle ranch to the rails as the spirit moved them, saw what was up above. On one of my last days with the crew, I asked them whether they had caught that morning’s fireworks. They looked at me as if I were a mite touched. To a man, they had seen it and been as impressed as I was. “God damned pretty, that’s all I can say.” And all the time I’d thought the show was for me alone.”
The library and the garden
The main attraction on the lower level of the Inn was the library. It was spacious, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with the ‘classics,’ all of which Jack Coleman had read. It was his personal library, but he gladly shared the books with his guests. Many were valuable first editions. There was also a bar and fireplace in the library. It was a very comfortable space to think and relax. Jack suggested we check out the garden in the back as the afternoon wore on. It was more of a ‘working’ garden than the flower variety, with growing herbs for meals. Dinner and breakfast were served in a lower-level dining room. The food was elegant but simple and delicious. Good wine was plentiful.
Library at The Inn at Long Last
“What a heaven-sent morning! Totally clear blue sky, soft sunlight, mist here and there in the valley. Spring’s palette of fresh greens everywhere below. And, except when the balloon’s hot air was being added, total silence. I learned later that, back at the Inn, Chef Michael Williams was cooking breakfast for everyone that had come to the takeoff. But it wouldn’t have registered with me even if I had been told before we left the ground. My head and heart were already up in the air, where parts of them remain to this day.” – Jack Coleman
Conclusion – The Inn at Long Last
I’m reaching an advanced enough age to get curious about the many interesting people I’ve met along the way. As I was doing research for this article, I wondered about Jack Coleman. From our brief interaction with him, it was apparent there was much more to his story than being a humble innkeeper. I did some digging and discovered that there was definitely more to Jack than met the eye. Sadly, he passed away in 2016 at the age of 95. His obituary in the Chester Telegraph sheds more light on Jack’s exceptional life and his impact on the local Chester area. I found another article about Jack written by United Press International that was even more fascinating. You can read it here. It’s well worth a read! The Inn at Long Last is gone now, as is Jack Coleman, but they both left an indelible mark on me.
Jack Coleman in front of The Inn at Long Last – July 1993
I am a ‘content creator’ with a passion for backpacking, creating videos, photography, and writing – with a healthy dose of all things outdoors on the side!
