Due to its relative proximity to my domicile, this was merely a day trip. And this time I had a couple friends with me for the ride. Welcome to Sleepy Hollow, made famous by Washington Irving's short story The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow.
Go figure, the trip didn't go completely smoothly. That my transit route took us through the Holland Tunnel (from my numerous trips to Long Island over the years) was an active choice on my part as I'm already with the traffic patterns there and, based on the map, looked to be relatively straight forward. What I hadn't realized was just how much of Manhattan I was still contending with. I also didn't realize that I was going to be going through Yonkers. At least I didn't get lost.
One glitch actually worked out as a blessing in disguise. For various reasons that are neither germane nor to be taken as an opinion, I don't generally carry much change on me. Especially change for parking meters as I can typically avoid them. Of course, that wasn't the case for Sleepy Hollow in late October and my ignorance of both the real layout of the town (maps only tell you so much) was on full display. Thanks to an unintended later start than intended (just because my alarms are set and go off doesn't mean I necessarily immediately power up to them) and a need to answer nature's call, finding quick parking became something of a priority.
Thankfully, one spot proved immediately available. As already noted, I didn't have any change for a parking meter. It turned out that neither did either of my passengers. Thankfully, a nice couple who were walking their dog had some quarters and gave them to us. They'd already left before I discovered that the parking meter didn't work.
Of course, about an hour later we stumbled across the municipal car park. And it was full. No surprise on that last.
It's also no surprise that Sleepy Hollow fully played up on their ties to Washington Irving's story. The image of the headless horseman is emblazoned on all the street signs, etc. It's even on the fire trucks from both fire departments.
Between one of my friends having difficulty with walking longer distances and hills, and the later than intended start, I didn't get to explore as much as I would have liked. That didn't stop me from finding a location in town that is described by Washington Irving in the story, and serves as visual proof I was there.
I still haven't figured out what so caught the attention of the chap behind me.
The transit back took longer than the transit out. Yet another glitch. Because I know that trying to take the George Washington Bridge cannot be accurately described without "cluster" being attached to one of the words, and my familiarity with the Holland Tunnel, I tried setting my satnav to take me via that route. The result was that I ended up in Brooklyn and no where near the tunnel.
Ultimately, we were able to re-traverse the tunnel and I was able to get everyone home safely.
I think I'll try again next year. Only either alone or with different passengers, and maybe a little earlier in the month. Although I have no doubt that Sleepy Hollow is like Mars in that it'd be a nice place to visit any time of the year, I also suspect that October is the best month considering the obvious tie-in between The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow and Halloween.
by Rev. J.T. Smith
