An Extravaganza Adventure!!

The first destination on our Halloween Extravaganza Adventure was Sleepy Hollow/ Tarrytown New York where we happily made The Castle Hotel & Spa our home away from home❤️

Exterior Opulence

Interior Opulence as well!!

Of course a girl always needs proper accessories.. Bow wool gloves, Chanel Sunnies, & Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte for good measure!! LOL!

Frolicking on the grounds of our Castle in the lovely foliage

Next stop a Tarrytown Holiday Parade

Snacks for the show!

A Vaca to Sleepy Hollow is not complete without a visit to "Blaze" a spectacular display of Jack- O-Lantern ( works of art!!)

Yes, this clock really worked!!

Welcome!! But look out for...

THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN!!!!!

After running into you know who, we

decided to retrace his famous course

It was really beautiful albeit a bit eerie as the sun began to set!

Look familiar? If you are a Dark Shadows fan it should, Lyndhurst Estate was the setting for the infamous Barnabus..

And speaking of Barnabus,here we stumbled upon his Crypt!

What Sleepy Hollow retreat would be complete without a lantern lit cemetery walk at midnight of course!!!

Next stop on our trek was a quick visit to our hometown where we visited Roba's Pumpkin Patch

Picked pumpkins right off the vine!

Played in the Hay

And enjoyed just being with each other

Had to make a hasty pickup of my absolute fav pizza in the world!! Brownies Famous Pizzeria❤️

Our next home away from home was the Historic Peabody House in Salem,Ma

We boarded our Haunted Harbor Cruise & had a visit with a real witch!!

Connor seemed to have found a few .. Ahem... Friends ONBOARD!!l lol!!

After his creepy encounter he thought it best to stay inside the ship & have his face painted as a dragon in hopes to scare away any further Fiends, um, I mean friends!! Lol!!!

Poor Brittany, blissfully unaware of her creepy visitors quickly approaching from behind!!

Here we have "Witches" being accused on the streets of Salem in a historical reenactment

We then got the opportunity to serve on the jury of poor, innocent, Bridgett Bishop ,whom we acquitted, but was not that fortunate during the real trials and was the first of the accused witches to be executed during the hysteria

Who better to run into on Halloween than Salem's own Master of Ceremonies... The Warlock of Salem, Christian Day

Connor ready to Trick or Treat!!

Brittany ready to hit the streets of Salem for goodies as well!!

Our last stop was Amish Country Lancaster, Pa where we visited Hershey Park

Stayed at the Red Caboose Motel

Yes, we slept in an authentic historical train car!!

Enjoyed the magnificent views from high atop a farm silo ( it was hard not to photograph all the Amish we encountered, but we behaved and respected their religious views on not being photographed. But it was fun eating dinner with them!! )

Final celebration of Halloween, Trick or treating at Dutch Wonderland and riding all the unique rides!! We had a stupendous October & hope you did as well!! TTYL❤️

"Autumnal Accoutrements Amore"

We are enjoying all the splendor of the season & hope you are as well.

 

One of my favorite outings this time of year is the pumpkin patch natch'! Brittany & I are waiting until we get to PA before we hit the patch, but Daddy & Connor just couldn't wait & ventured to our local pumpkin patch!! So naturally a Jack-o-Lantern was in order!! 

Along with carving a pumpkin comes pumpkin seeds & roasting pumpkin seeds is so easy, not to mention yummy!!!

My recipe is super simple:

Rinse your seeds in a colander

Spread seeds out in a single layer on baking sheet

Spray sheet & seeds with Olive Oil

Dust seeds with finely cracked Sea Salt (to taste) 

Optional: Also dust with your fav spices (garlic powder, chili powder, Old Bay, etc) I use Bob's Big Boy Seasoning & it's delicious!!!

Place sheet in oven @ 350 degrees for approx. 35 mins ... Then ENJOY!!

And, what would be better than watching  a fav scary movie (Child's Play was our choice) in the warm cozy glow of your hand picked, freshly carved Jack-o-Lantern. While enjoying fresh roasted pumpkin seeds & sweet warm mulled apple cider!!

Another super simple recipe, this time for warm mulled cider. All you need is Fresh Apple Cider of your choice and Williams-Sonoma Mulling Spices.

Pour desired amount of Apple cider in a sauce pan, then add a tea ball of the mulling spices, heat to desired temperature *remember to let the spices steep in the cider for at least a few moments. Pour into vessels of your choice & taste the season!!!! (although truth be told Connor much prefers Hot Cocoa!! LOL!!)

These are just a few of the traditions we do to celebrate the season & make happy memories to share for generations to come. What are some of your traditions? I'd love if you shared!! TTYL❤️