Two Days in Scarytown

After visiting and spending time in Tarrytown, we have decided that the area should be renamed Scarytown. Not every port, town or marina can be spectacular or exciting and we found this to be the case in Tarrytown. The marina restrooms were clean and the diesel fuel was reasonably priced and that pretty much sums up the high points of our Tarrytown adventure. Of all the marinas/docks that we have visited in our ten plus years of boating with the big boys, I don’t think we have ever encountered a marina staff less willing to assist us or less knowledgeable of the surrounding locale. If it had not been foggy and raining heavily on the morning following our arrival, I think we would have moved on, but since we could not see across the river due to the fog, we decided to stay put another day before heading to Kingston.



Two completely different “residents” make Tarrytown scary…one is fictional and one is much more subtle. Tarrytown's positive claim to fame is American author Washington Irving. It was in Tarrytown that Washington Irving became familiar with the nearby town of Sleepy Hollow with its quaint Dutch customs and local ghost stories. From these stories, Irving created Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. In 1835, Irving purchased a "neglected cottage" and its surrounding riverfront property in Tarrytown, New York. The home named Sunnyside is visible from the Hudson River just before approaching Tarrytown.

The second factor that makes Tarrytown scary is infamous Sing Sing Prison that is located several miles from the center of town. I always thought that Sing Sing was a fictional prison but it is live and well and living in upstate New York. In fact, the prison is not really in the town of Tarrytown at all but in the municipality of Ossining, NY. Originally the prison was named after the town of Sing Sing but then the town opted to change its name so that the residents would not be thought to be imprisoned. The phrase “to be sent upriver” was derived from prisoners being convicted in New York City and being sent up the Hudson River to Sing Sing Prison which is located immediately on the shores of the Hudson.

However and most importantly, we met the crew Of Mr G from St Petersburg, Florida who docked next to us. It is our hope to see Lenore and David often in the future as our paths cross while traveling on the Hudson and the Erie Canal.