CHESTER, Vt. – In the heat of the summer last year, AJ and Katelyn Lucas, along with their children, heard the news that they had been selected as the new innkeepers at the Fullerton Inn in Chester, Vt. The couple was thrilled to leave Texas behind and return to their New England roots. The storied inn, dating back to 1885, has had its fair share of innkeepers, stories, and memories from guests that faithfully still make the pilgrimage to the inn in hopes that it will continue for the next generation.
AJ Lucas, with a culinary background, is hard at work getting his footing with the locals, and testing and creating a menu that is peppered with a balance of creativity and farm-to-table creations. Katelyn Lucas, with a marketing background and eye for décor, has her work cut out for her in making the inn a modern and welcoming environment, while not getting too far from the roots of the inn that so many locals have come to love.
The new innkeepers have been hard at work with corporate events, hosting chamber events, and even a surprise visit from Santa this past Christmas season. What happens in the quiet that is now at the inn? You can almost hear the wheels turning, maybe a new menu? Maybe some new décor? Maybe an eye toward the next generation that may soon love the inn that has quietly and unassumingly kept travelers and locals fed and housed in the arms of an old faithful inn that may still, under the watchful eyes of the Lucas family, indeed have another few generations in her.