Tarrytown, Dad? Tarrytown, Dad.

Alongside the Christmas decorations going up in New York’s Westchester county this Sunday was a gentle dancing breeze and an ample dose of sunlight. It was a glorious autumn day that felt more like spring, a perfect day for a walk in the woods. After a quick ride north from New York City, the Z-unit hit Tarrytown, New York for some familial fall fun.

Sitting pretty between Irvington (named after author Washington Irving) and Sleepy Hollow (named after author Washington Irving’s short story) , Tarrytown is a quaint town that feels miles and miles from Manhattan. It is also home of the gorgeous Lyndhurst mansion, once the estate of Jay Gould, the dapper finance hotshot. The grounds, which included a separate bowling alley and observatory, were used in the filming of the Gothic television cult classic Dark Shadows.

Although most anything would look beautiful in the foreground of such a delicious blue sky, the mansion was certainly so.

The castle is right on the Hudson river, on which the northbound commuter rail, Metro North, originating from Manhattan’s Grand Central Station, crawls along.

The Croton Aqueduct Trail sits upon an old aqueduct which used to bring water to NYC. It was in use until 1955. These structures along the trail were used to aerate the water on its trip south but now serve as large mile markers.

Summer and autumn’s timing was a bit off this year so likely winter’s will be too. Many trees still had bright foliage and the rustling leaves under my feet sounded more like October than December.

Of course food was in order after our hike. We hit a Mexican restaurant called Tomatillo in Dobbs Ferry, where the tofu-lin burrito and a mango marguerita hit the spot.