09/03/2026
A new chapter at the Wayside Inn. 🤍
For more than two centuries, the Wayside Inn has stood at the heart of Middletown, welcoming generations through its doors and holding countless stories within its walls. Today, we’re very excited to share the beginning of its next chapter.
After spending the past year bringing new life, incredible food, and a true sense of community to Clem's Kitchen, Bill and Amanda Whitson have officially taken over management of the entire Wayside Inn operation.
For Bill and Amanda, this is about much more than managing this historic property. It’s about caring for a place that means something to the community they love.
Amanda’s roots here run especially deep. She grew up in this area as Amanda Clem, the name that later inspired Clem’s Kitchen. Years ago, she also had the opportunity to work under longtime Wayside Inn owner Leo Bernstein, who took her under his wing and taught her so much about events, business, hospitality, and bringing people together. That experience left a lasting impression, making it especially meaningful for Amanda to now help lead the place where she learned so much.
If you’ve met Bill and Amanda, you know the heart they bring to everything they do. They believe in teamwork, community, and creating places where people genuinely want to gather.
And that’s exactly what they hope to bring to the Wayside Inn.
The goal is to honor everything that makes this historic place so special while giving it its heartbeat back. Clem’s Kitchen will continue serving the food and hospitality you’ve come to know and love, while the entire team looks ahead to more events, celebrations, music, gatherings, and reasons to fill these old walls with people again.
We hope you’ll join us in congratulating Bill and Amanda Whitson on this exciting new chapter.
And if you’d like to celebrate with us, join us tomorrow night, September 4th from 6:00 to 8:30pm for Boots & Biscuits - with food, drinks, line dancing, and local vendors throughout the Wayside Inn. It’s just a little glimpse of what’s to come, and one of the many gatherings we plan to have here.
The Wayside Inn has a lot of history behind it. We can’t wait to show you what’s ahead.
