Wide Awake in Sleepy Hollow
It’s not really Bobtoberfest until we get our first haunted attraction in and this past Saturday was it. Kim, Connor, and I made our second trip to Conner Prairie’s Headless Horseman event down in Fishers.
Our first excursion into Sleepy Hollow territory was back in 2010 and we had a helluva good time. Hoping for more of the same, we made the hour journey south and passed through the hallowed gates and into Hallowe’endom.
We had an 8:15 appointment with the Headless Horseman so that left us with a couple of hours to kill before we chanced the losing of our heads.
Luckily there was plenty to keep us occupied until our date with death.
We wandered the grounds and let Connor play some Carnival games. They had a miniature golf hole set up where you had to putt through a pumpkin’s grill, a mallet and bell strongman contraption, pumpkin chunking, of course, but the real highlight was C.R. Ryan Demler’s Magic Show.
Demler was very good. He played well to the audience, especially the kids, and that’s the name of the game at an event like this. Conn got to go up “on stage” and help out with a card trick that amazed the children. Connor, ever the showman, threw the magician a couple of curve balls, keeping him on his toes, which was fun.
Then it was time to get in line for our haunted hayride through Ichabod Crane country.
We took a brief respite in a tent showing Disney’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow, walking in just as Crane began his terrifying ride through the Hollow. Foreshadowing of what we were getting ready to experience? Oh, indeed.
The park was running a bit behind schedule, but we finally passed through at around a quarter till 9. The “actors” were great and we chatted up a young boy and girl in period dress who were supposed to be fluffing the crowd before the hayride. They were good kids and stayed well in character, playing up the “ghost” in The Golden Eagle Inn.
The hayride itself was as fun as I remembered it, even though, I suspect because of all the rain they’d had, they were forced to use two Horsemen to pull off their stunt. Distracting in that there were two very different horses, a chestnut and an appaloosa, being ridden by the stuntsmen. Still, it was a great hayride with plenty of all-ages thrills.
That being said, Connor was a bit disappointed.
He’s 9. He was 7 the last time we were there, so for two years his imagination had added some things to the previous experience, so his expectations weren’t quite met.
Kim and I have decided that were going to plan the rest of this year and each following Hallowe’en to be more of a unique experience and not revisit stuff we’ve hit before. Will make for a more meaningful Witching Season for all of us.
We’ve still more than a week till Hallowe’en and we’ve lots more planned between now and then.
Is there a better time of year?
Nope, I didn’t think so.
