The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Angels Take Manhattan
Satisfied with our Connecticut venture, we decided to head west for the Hudson River Valley. Our destination was one I wanted to go to ever since moving to New York - Sleepy Hollow.
As a child of the 80s/early 90s, my parents invested in loads of audio cassettes to keep my brother and I occupied during trips. We logged enough miles and listened to those tapes often enough to memorize the stories. The Glenn Close version of Sleepy Hollow was one of the best - seriously, listen to it on YouTube before it gets taken down!
As we headed up to Sleepy Hollow, Kate spotted a pumpkin sale outside St. Mary's Church in Scarborough. It was early Sunday morning, so we had a little fun posing with the pumpkins and left before parishioners started showing up.
A few minutes down the road, a blue sign welcomed us to Sleepy Hollow. We'd told Kate an abbreviated version of Washington Irving's tale, so we all had the opportunity to geek out when we found "Katrina von Tassel's" grave.
Catriena Van Tessel is Katrina from the story in name only. The character may have been based on Mrs. Van Tessel's niece, Eleanor Van Tassel Brush. Meanwhile, Ichabod Crane's moniker was borrowed from an army captain Washington Irving had met in New York.
As we walked through the rows of tombstones, Lis deciphered the old Dutch and Kate and I the Latin. At the grand monument near the top of the cemetery, we were surprised to be able to make out the Manhattan skyline, miles down river.
Since we needed to be back to Danbury in time to drop off our rental car and take the train back to the city, we abandoned the idea of doing the western side of the river and West Point, in favor of driving up to Beacon. It was a slightly gray day, but the trees were brighter than the ones we'd seen the previous day, so the drive was pretty and relaxing. We had brunch in Beacon before returning to Danbury, saying goodbye to our rental, and catching the train back to the city.
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