Starr Style

Rock & Roll Road Trip – Upstate New York

That morning we all left Kingston and picked up 28 headed to the little village of Pine Hill.  Back in the mid-70′s, my parents, Joan and Ingvald, purchased a parcel of properties there which included an inn, an annex to the inn and a small motel.  For 2 years they commuted up and down from Long Island working on renovating the inn.  In the summer of 1977 the doors of the historic Colonial Inn opened for business once again.  This was before the B&B became popular in the USA and before Bob Newhart portrayed Dick Louden, the New Yorker that escaped the big city to become an innkeeper in Vermont in The Bob Newhart Show.  Yes, I would say my parents were ahead of their time!

Main Street, Pine Hill – it never changes…

The Colonial Inn c. 2012

Joan and Ingvald enjoyed many years as the owners and innkeepers of The Colonial Inn.  In the early 90′s, they purchased a smaller B&B and motel not far from Pine Hill in the little village of Fleischmanns.  They sold the Pine Hill properties separately.  First the motel, then the inn and after Ingvald passed away in 1995, the annex.

Lasting friendships with the owners of the inn and the annex were forged.  And even now, if we find ourselves in upstate New York on our travels, we always take a side trip to Pine Hill to check up on The Colonial Inn.

Denis and Val with Steve, an old family friend and the now owner of the Colonial Inn

Denis and Val with Richie, our friend and owner of the Annex which he is converting to B&B Suites.

Starr and Val at The Colonial Inn.

We bid Val farewell and began on the long and winding road home to Atlanta…