OH in Sleepy Hollow: That Headless Horseman's kinda hot.*

Magnet #604 - Sleepy Hollow, NY

Yes, it exists. Yes, they totally renamed North Tarrytown to Sleepy Hollow, NY, back in '97.

They say "in honor of" Washington Irving's Legend of, but really, it was to help add to the commercial viability of the area.

Actually, Sleepy Hollow's just one of many locations under the Historic Hudson Valley domain, an organization which has managed to keep me coming back a few times over the last several years.

So, that whole Sleepy Hollow renaming thing seems to have worked out well!

After all, who doesn't want to visit Sleepy Hollow to check out where the Headless Horseman rode? Or visit Sleepy Hollow Cemetery? According to my friends who went yesterday and bought this magnet for me (yay!), everyone's interred there! People like Andrew Carnegie to Elizabeth Arden - that place is like the Hollywood Forever cemetery of the east. Creepy!

Well, it was probably creepier there than the Legend Nights at Philipsburg Manor, that I mentioned yesterday. Remember? It was the "wander the mysterious grounds and interact with witches, pirates, and spooky apparitions" thing?

Ummm, yeah. I hate to say it, because I know all those performers out in the cold, and the organizers, probably worked their hearts out on Legend Nights. I think we just had our expectations a little high.

I know I was on maximum scare alert for the hours leading up to it - and not just because a seven-year-old promised me she'd scare me before the night was up. But, we really thought it was going to be superduper scary. Well, I did, anyway.

In the end, me, the fraidy cat wasn't scared at all. It probably had more to do with the disenchanted, mocking teenagers behind me mocking the ghosties in the barn, than anything else. Obviously, the nights are definitely a family-friendly, kid-focused night out.

I was a little sad not to be able to hear the tale of Ichabod Crane as told by Jonathan Kruk. I think had we been able to start at the beginning, I would have loved to watch and listen. But, he was the first stop, after a hike around the lanterned lake, and the most crowded. So, we pushed forward.

There were random ghosties hanging in the barn and some scary ghosties over water. And random pirates and witches and I think lanterned Tories. (Or maybe they were pirates, too?)

But the highlight of the night was the pasture where a penned up Headless Horseman (two, actually) was riding with his jack o'lantern in hand. That was actually kinda cool, especially when he'd appear from the far end of the pasture and come galloping right up to the fence.

So, I suppose the evening was a success - after all, we did see the Horseman ride. A few times.

Though, I'm still puzzling over how my friend thinks that the Headless Horseman's kinda hot.

It's the Great Pumpkin blaze, Charlie Brown!

Magnet #603 - Jack O'Lantern Blaze

Fun. The most fun you can have with pumpkins (real and fake) and some lights.

We went to the Jack O'Lantern Blaze a couple of years ago, and it's grown over the last five years. Always a sell-out, and they're up to something like 4,000 hand-carved pumpkins!

It's kinda like the Christmas lights in Tanglewood, only here, you're on foot, walking down a darkened path from one Jack O'Lantern display to another.

Outside. In the dark. With scary sound effects.

I'm not gonna lie. I was a tiny bit creeped out, despite the fact that we had a little five-year-old running around with us.

What? Pay attention. I said:

Outside. In the dark. With scary sound effects.

Which makes me kinda worried about tonight.

Tonight, we're going to Legend Nights. It's the part where we're going to "wander the mysterious grounds and interact with witches, pirates, and spooky apparitions." Freaky.

I just know I'm gonna get freaked out. Something's gonna come out from behind and scare the pants off of me.

It won't help that at some point, I'll be holding the hand of a seven-year-old, either. She's probably going to be having the time of her life. Watching me run away from scary creatures will provide all the entertainment she'll need.

I'm just sayin.

Outside. In the dark.

And I'll be the scary sound effects.