Sleepy Hollow, NY — knot so loud

October is one of my favorite months because of foliage but also HALLOWEEN! I enjoy everything Halloween. I have gone to Salem, MA several times - known for their history of witch trials and the setting of a Halloween favorite movie, Hocus Pocus. I’ve never been to Sleepy Hollow so I knew I would want to visit this ‘Halloween’ town someday! My little family made the trip one weekend, only 2 hours from our Eastern corner of CT.

Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown was the setting in the gothic book of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” wrote by Washington Irving. The Headless Horseman was a character in the book. Disney made the movie, “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad” and Tim Burton directed “Sleepy Hollow” starring Johnny Depp in 1999 based on the book.

*The headless horseman plaque in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.*

The first stop was Sleepy Hollow Cemetery before it got crowded since we went on a Saturday. I had read that the weekends in Sleepy Hollow are typically busy just like Salem! We arrived right as they opened (8:30am-4pm on weekends) so we had no problem finding a parking spot in the small lot of the cemetery. The Sleepy Hollow Cemetery had been around since 1847, so it was a beautiful historical place to walk around. There were super friendly volunteers and self-guided maps available. The map guided us to the Irving family plot where the author, Washington was buried. There were several other historical sites to see in the cemetery but we only visited Irving and the wooden bridge.

*Washington Irving’s headstone is marked with the two American flags.*

*Saw many beautiful mausoleums in the cemetery.*

*It was a beautiful fall day to walk around.*

The bridge that was described in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” does not exist. There are two bridges that are worthy to see. One is a rustic wooden bridge which was from Washington’s era which is in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Easily found with the map provided. It was a gorgeous spot especially with the surrounding trees and the river. The second bridge is a modernized structure built in 1930’s outside of the cemetery’s entrance, on Route 9. The bridge spans over the stream mentioned in the book.

*The rustic bridge in Sleepy Hollow cemetery.*

*A bystander was nice enough to take our family photo on the bridge.*

*The other bridge on Route 9, outside of the cemetery’s south lot entrance.*

Also not far from the bridge on Route 9, is where the Headless Horseman sculpture is. It is an 18 foot tall sculpture created by Linda Perlmutter. It was beautiful to see. Located on the grassy island directly across from Philipsburg Manor, another historical site that was mentioned in the book. Unfortunately, it was closed at the time of my visit.

We circled back to see the Old Dutch Church. Now, I had some confusion with whether the church was open for public tours. My husband had to stay outside with our pup. What happened is that I saw a large number of people going in and out of the church, so I walked in. There was a man at the door who said something to me, but I couldn’t lip read as he was wearing a mask (required to wear inside the church). I did my typical nod (the one that I do when I feel awkward that I couldn’t understand what someone was saying to me). I walked in the church, I was distracted by the beauty of the historical church interiors then that’s when I realized I’ve accidentally joined a tour group. I quickly made my exit!

*This interior definitely reminded me of that scene in the Johnny Depp movie!*

After exploring these sites, we drove over to the downtown area. There weren’t many shops to visit. It was cool to see the orange street signs with Headless Horseman logos on them! While we were waiting at an intersection, an ambulance drove by us, the Headless Horseman design was on the rig! We visited two fire stations (the Central Fire Headquarters and Rescue Hose No. 1). At the Central Fire HQ, they had creative Halloween decor out front (see photo below). It also was cool to see Engine 87, the black and orange apparatus. They were actively out on a call so we couldn’t chat with the firefighters or see if they sold some cool merch!

*Of course, the fire dog had to pose with the truck.*

*Loved this Halloween decor at Sleepy Hollow Fire HQ!*

*Engine 87, the orange and black apparatus.*

*The town hall shares the building with SHFD, spot that cool Sleepy Hollow stained glass above the door!*

If you drive all way through downtown to the round-a-bout, Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse is perched right there on the waterfront. I tried to find Westchester Riverwalk which is the best spot to see the lighthouse. There was a huge construction zone around the lighthouse (new condos/apartments) so we couldn’t get close enough. The photo below shows how close we were able to be.

We made our way to Tarrytown, less than 10 minutes away. Tarrytown had a larger downtown with shops and many, many restaurants. It was lively with many people milling around. We got hungry for lunch so we stopped at The Taco Project. The only downside was the 30 minutes long wait for our food, but it was so worth it. I got the grilled chicken/avocado/onion/lime tacos. My husband got the steak burrito. We LOVED the food, it was delicious! The restaurant was on the corner so we sat at one of the outdoor tables overlooking the street. It was an ideal spot for people-watching!

*Outside of The Taco Project restaurant.*

*One of historical buildings in Tarrytown.*

My pup had been with us on the trip, she was behaving so well that we decided to reward her by visiting the pet shop “Bark and Meow”. The shop was filled with necessities for pets such as collars/leashes, food/treats, toys and more! We got a bag of treats and two cookies (one was Halloween themed and the other was Sleepy Hollow themed). We received friendly customer service in the shop! If we ever make our way back through Tarrytown, we will stop by this shop again.

Tarrytown had an excessive amount of mansions, including Lyndhurst and Washington Irving’s Sunnyside home. Now, remember we had our pup with us. I fully expected to not tour the mansions but thought we would be able to walk around on the grounds. We pulled in Lyndhurst entrance, and there was a $10 parking fee. We didn’t know if it would’ve been worthy of $10 to walk around the grounds (it was barely visible from the entrance). We passed on that and headed to Sunnyside, the home of Washington Irving that had been restored. Once we got there, it was similar to Lyndhurst - Sunnyside sold advanced tickets online and we weren’t allowed to walk around on the grounds. The house was not visible from the parking lot. The last stop was the 1860’s octagon house, Armour-Stiner. It is opened for tours but you need to buy tickets in advance online as well. We were able to sneak in the parking lot and see the beautiful, jaw-dropping and stunning home! It is a private residence so I had to make sure we went during one of the tour hours. I felt bad doing this but it was so worth it to see my first octagon house!

*Took my breath away! Only can imagine how beautiful it is inside.*

I was surprised (and super bummed) that we couldn’t enjoy the grounds of all of those mansions. We also wanted to see Kykuit in Sleepy Hollow but that was closed. I hadn’t realize it was common in Westchester county to pay. I was thinking it’d be similar to Vanderbilt Mansion and FDR Mansion in Hyde Park, NY where you could at least walk around the grounds but pay a fee for the tour inside. Guess I should’ve done my research online first!

Overall, it was a fun day for us. We enjoyed seeing most sites from Washington Irving’s book and Halloween. We didn’t get to enjoy everything that Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown had to offer, especially their Halloween events. Many of them were canceled for this year, but be sure to look into that for next year (2022)! As hard as it is to say this, it might’ve been best if we left the pup home to be able to tour all of those mansions and enjoy the experiences/events in Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown.

Hope you have a fun Halloween or heads will roll!