Day 10: Breakfast with Lizzie, Sleepy Hollow, and Philly: Night 1Wew We

We woke up Friday morning with no axe wounds, thankfully, and headed downstairs for breakfast. The breakfast was wonderful: eggs, fruit, potatoes, and johnny cakes, these little pancakes made of cornmeal. We also made friends with the cook, Dave, who informed us that he had never seen a ghost in the entire time he had worked there, despite claims from every other employee that they had had ghost encounters. We stopped at the gift shop for some souvenirs (the array of Lizzie gifts was pretty amazing, I was very tempted by the Borden bobblehead), stopped by the nearby cemetery for some pictures and more gravestone rubbings, and were on our way to Philly.

We had considered making a side trip along the way to check out the Cottrell Brewing Company in Connecticut (our good friend Eric's last name is Cottrell), but visits were appointment only and Brian hadn't been able to get ahold of anyone at the brewery. On our way he called and Brian asked where we could buy the Cottrell beer. We were directed to a wine shop in New Haven, CT (home of Yale) and made a stop there, purchasing not only Cottrell, but some other regional beers at great prices. We continued on the road (Connecticut was not very exciting, and I am still distraught that Stoneybrook, home of the Babysitters' Club, is not a real town, although Stamford, the city where they went to the mall, is), and stopped again in Sleepy Hollow, New York, home of Washington Irving (and his characters Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman). We drove along the route of the Headless Horseman and Ichabod Crane, and saw an awesome Headless Horseman statue, the bridge from the story, and Washington Irving's grave (though we didn't do any rubbings this time; we saw on a sign that rubbings can damage gravestones. Who knew?). Quick side note: at one of our bathroom stops on the way, we saw a guy with an actual tape player Walkman. Brian was very amused. After the millionth bathroom break of the day (McDonald's sweet tea on road trips=bad idea), we hit the last leg of the trip to Philly, arriving at the Sheraton to see our lovely room and the not-so-lovely lack of free WiFi (though Brian was able to figure out how to use his AT&T account to get it). We went out to dinner at a place recommended to us by my friends Rich and Janice and by my cousin Elizabeth's uncle (I don't remember his name, but I appreciate his good ideas), Monk's Cafe. Monk's is a Belgian restaurant known for its extremely extensive beer list. We had wonderful beer there, including a house sour ale that may be my new best beer ever, along with mussels, Belgian fries, and burgers. Though lobster rolls are still my favorite food from this trip, Monk's was by far our best meal. After Monk's, we checked out another nearby bar called the Nodding Head Brewery for more local beer (good, not as good as Monk's, but the collection of bobblehead dolls was amazing), then called it a night.