Colonial Manor...

Back in the early 1980's our entire family would vacation at this place called Colonial Manor. The place reminds me of the movie Dirty Dancing. It was the same type of family resort. My grandparents found the place and we went every summer. These pictures I found on the Internet. I hope to find some from our actual stay there. This is the Main house. All meals were eaten there. Meals were at set times and they would actually go around and ring a bell to tell you that it was time to eat. A waitress would walk from building to building with the bell and you could see children following her in hopes of getting a chance to ring it. The porch was lined with rocking chairs and you could always find the elderly sitting there, rocking and waiting to eat. The grounds were beautiful with different buildings/houses for sleeping. It was family run with some outside wait staff. Across the street from the Main house was the in ground swimming pool equipped with a slide and diving board. The memories are so vivid that it feels like yesterday. Our family spent most of the day at the pool. Next to the pool was a building called the "Canteen". There you could get a cold drink, candy or an ice cream cone. At night it turned into the "hang out" They played cards,Bingo, etc. I know that someone in my family has a picture of my grandparents in there playing cards. I can remember the time that I actually won Bingo...I was so excited. Behind the Canteen was a tennis court. We all fooled around on that, trying to pretend we were playing a game of tennis while my Uncle was actually wanting to play. Past the pool there was a barn. The barn contained games like table hockey and others that I can't remember. Behind that there was a nature walk that to me was spooky but that we always explored. In front of the Main house was a beautiful, huge lawn. There were Adirondack chairs so you could sit under the trees. I remember learning how to do needle point with my Grandmother. We would sit under the trees and work on what ever project she was working on. The drive to Colonial Manor seemed forever. It was only a couple of hours but in cut kid time it felt like forever. The road trip there was fun. We packed coolers of sandwiches and drinks and would stop and eat at a rest stop. I can remember one trip in particular. We were in Mom's station wagon and equipped with a CB. It was huge but we were able to commute back and forth between cars. Our name was powder blue because you guessed it, the car was power blue in color. When we were hungry we would call the other cars and tell them that we wanted to stop. It was so much fun. I remember the excitement of turning down the road that Colonial Manor was on and seeing the sign. We all were so happy. The grounds also had shuffleboard. Games and games were played there. Competitions between family members were had ...oh the fun! I know that we have pictures of us playing. I want to look for them. Up the road a ways there were country stores. We went all the time. We would walk there and stop by each store. There was one store that had rock candy and tons of other things. They also had a section of clothes that were worn on Little House On The Prairie. They had Laura Ingalls type bonnets. I wanted one sooo bad...never got one but we did leave with rock candy...yum! We had so much fun up at Colonial Manor. Unfortunately it doesn't exist anymore. It was sold years later and I believe is a Church now. I think the grounds were sectioned off and also sold. Colonial Manor for me was the highlight of my summer. The memories are still so real and I will cherish them forever.
Happy 4th of July...Enjoy and cherish your time with your family.

~Christine