Hi Everyone,
Well, its that time again when we wait in excited anticipation for scary ghosts and goblins to start roaming the chilled, October night skies. The darkness comes earlier and earlier each day. And before you know it, its the witching hour, Halloween.
Bill and I love Halloween. The pumpkins get carved into smiling (or scary) jack-o-lanterns. The bowls get filled with treats for the kiddies and we hope we won't be tricked. Our neighbor down the street decorates his house with dozens of witches and pumpkins and all sorts of lights to celebrate this spooky season. Its just an exciting and fun filled time of year.
And of course, it wouldn't be Halloween without the traditional ghost story. Now in my last blog I said I would have a scary story to tell you. I searched and searched the web for great Hudson Valley stories to tell you and then said to myself, "Hey Joe. How about the true story that you and Bill experienced 6 Halloween's ago"?
So I have decided to tell you about this memorable night.
On the night before Halloween, Bill and I had decided to take my sons Zack and Ben out to dinner and to the haunted hayride at Pennings farm. The boys were so excited to be spending the night at the Inn. We finished our dinner and then went on the hayride. It was very scary and well worth the wait to get in. Afterwards, we returned to the Inn for some snacks and cider. Two of our favorite guests were staying with us. Rick and Carol just happened to be civil war reenactors and were regaling us with scary stories. Then Bill started telling us all the history of the house which is now the Inn at Stony Creek. It was built in 1840 and then added onto in 1860 by the two Sams, Gardiner and Houston. We were certain that one of these two men was still occupying the house.....in spirit that is. But we were never quite sure which one. And then the lights went out. We had a power failure.
We quickly lit some candles and made sure everyone was alright. Well, this certainly added to the suspense of our stories. Bill continued with his tale. He told us that there was a small family cemetery about a quarter mile from the Inn that he had always wanted to visit but just either never got the chance or could never get anyone to go with him. We all jumped at the chance, well almost all of us. Our guest Carol was the one who convinced us that this would be a great time to go. It was pitch black and chilly, but we got in Bill's car and off we went. We got there in about 10 minutes. The cemetery was off the road about 50 feet in a small patch of woods. It was so dark but we had brought flashlights with us. We went in to the first row of headstones and saw dates from back in the 18th and 19th centuries. Very old stuff. Well, we had seen enough. We were ready to go back to the car. But all of a sudden, Bill started walking to the back of the cemetery. We called for him to stop but he kept on walking shining his flashlight straight ahead. Suddenly, he stopped and called us to come to him. He said "look" and the beam of light was shining on a tombstone. The name on the tombstone was Sam Gardner. We turned around and ran out of the graveyard. We were convinced that Sam Gardiner had caused the power failure at the Inn and guided us to his grave site. When we got back to the Inn, Bill said he had felt compelled to walk to the headstone, almost being drawn to it. Needless to say, none of us slept very well that night. But at least we know which Sam decided to stay at the Inn. Oh, don't get me wrong. He doesn't hurt or scare anyone. He just wants to make sure his house is in good hands.
Well, I hope that I haven't spooked you too much. After all its just a story....or is it? So, get ready to carve your pumpkins and set out the treats for all the little kiddies who come knocking at your door. Just be sure that it IS a little kiddie under that mask........BOO.
Happy Halloween everyone.
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