(New York) – Kicking off his incredibly slow-paced tour of the New England states, Micah Laaker visited the town of North Tarrytown, better known as Sleepy Hollow, last Monday, better known as Columbus Day. Traveling the long distance of 30 miles via the luxurious Metro North trains, Mr. Laaker had the chance to poke through the centuries old cemetery and churchyard made famous in Washington Irving’s "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

Having long been a fan of the Irving story, Mr. Laaker had bored many a new acquaintance with his long-winded stories of how excited he was to visit the town. Finally arriving at the Tarrytown train station after a cavalier trip northbound out of Manhattan, he took a well-equipped taxi into the heart of the old town. That was to say he took the taxi into the town after several other taxi drivers finally jump-started his driver’s car. Upon arriving at the old graveyard’s entrance, Mr. Laaker was met by a cheerful local board member who encouraged him to see many of the historic gravestones located there. The groaning continued when said local informed him, to his immense surprise, that the historic figures buried there "were all dead." A brief chuckle on the local’s part was all Mr. Laaker needed to make his exit, and he was soon on his way to the tomb of the writer, Irving, himself.

After asking about Irving’s grave’s whereabouts several times, Mr. Laaker finally received pointed directions to the location from what seemed to be a cemetery tour guide. Having already walked a good ten paces away upon gathering the needed information, Mr. Laaker heard the off-the-cuff line, "You know… he’s dead." A loud belly-bouncing laugh erupted from Mr. Laaker, making the guide and several others a little uncomfortable, thus ending the exchange of cleverness.

Having then seen the cemetery and its frequent visitors enough for one day, Mr. Laaker decided to visit the local tavern to hear more folklore first hand. He was greeted upon entering the pub with questions such as, "What are all these drawings of tombstones and stuff in your sketchbook, boy?" and "What are you, some sort of… um, tombstone drawing guy who.. draws, uh… tombstones?" Questions such as these were quickly turned into laughing matters, and Mr. Laaker began bonding with the already well-imbibed locals.

Story after story rolled off their tongues about the town’s past and claims to fame. Sadly, there seemed to be only 3 stories, each told several times. One involved the days back in high school when several of them exhumed a body from the graveyard in a drunken stupor. The next involved urination and vandalization of a bronze statue, again in the graveyard, in yet another drunken high school pastime. The last revolved around that "stupid traitor General Andre," who thankfully was captured by Union soldiers some hundred years back before revealing Northern secrets to the South.

Nonetheless, Mr. Laaker thanked them all for their time and stories and returned back to his big city hovel, eager to continue his long-winded stories of how excited he was to have now visited the town. It was noted that very few listeners were noted to share his enthusiasm. Mr. Laaker is now, reportedly, making plans to return to Sleepy Hollow next All Hallow’s Eve for their yearly reading of Irving’s "Legend" in the old Dutch church in the graveyard.