| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| James N. |
Posted - November 22 2009 : 11:38:07 AM
Since I seem to have "hijacked" this thread for my vacation photos, I guess I might as well continue! -
On previous trips I usually saved Tappan for a "final farewell" to this area, due to its proximity to the NYC metro area and this time was no different; but I find I'm not as happy with it now as in the past. In case you don't know it, it's almost ON the N.J. - N.Y. border and just off Pallisades Parkway. It's probably best known for its role in "Arnold's Treason", for it was here that the "unfortunate" Major John Andre was brought, held, tried, condemned, and executed for his part in it. Washington's Headquarters in the recently renovated 1700-dated DeWint House have been well-preserved by the Masons for over a century, and look great. Unfortunately, that's part of the problem, since the small adjoining Masonic Museum is full of Washington and Masonic memorabillia having little or no bearing on the significance of the site; and the unbelieveably well-manicured park it's set in looks NOTHING like a "period" setting. Plus, there is one of the most atrocious and completely laughable "orientation films" I've ever seen, filmed "on-site" and populated by a tiny cast of local reenactors!
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However, most disappointing was this otherwise charming and period-decorated restaurant now called the Old '76 House, but which was known then as Mabie's or Mablie's Tavern, serving as Nathaniel Greene's headquarters; half of which ( 2 rooms ) was subsequently used to house Andre and his guards. Most unfortunately, the current owners have seen fit to raise the prices to an unacceptable ( to ME at least! ) level, and turn the added-on back of it into a venue for JAZZ! The added fact that all the waiters now seem to be the same illegal aliens ( read: MEXICANS! ) I saw elsewhere on this trip compelled me to look elsewhere for dining!
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To return to the fate of Andre, he was duly tried and convicted of spying by a panel of American generals chaired by Greene in the nearby Dutch Church and sent to the gallows erected on a nearby hilltop. Washington refused to intervene or even witness any of the proceedings, including the very well-attended execution; instead asking that the shutters on the DeWint house be closed to insulate him from the commotion outside. The church was replaced in the 1840's by the current one, but its graveyard still has period stones. The then-bare hilltop is now part of a 1930's housing addition, but Andre's monument rests in a circle in the middle of the street. It's said that when he was exhumed in the 1840's to be carried to his final resting place in Westminster Abbey in London, a tree root had completely pierced and entangled his skull making its recovery very difficult!
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I also unsuccessfully attempted to again find the site of notorious "Baylor's Massacre" just across the state line in N.J., but find that area has been engulfed in the same urban sprawl as everywhere else, making recognition impossible!
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![The Mohican Board! [Bumppo's Redux!]](images/wwwboard.gif "The Mohican Board! [Bumppo's Redux!]")
