Return to Briarcliff Manor: Taking a Closer Look at Rabourn Theater’s Hometown

My husband and I recently took our second-ever road trip to Briarcliff Manor, NY. With high foliage on the horizon, I thought it would be the perfect time of year to take a drive up north and visit the setting that inspired the Rabourn Theater Series, and its neighboring town of Sleepy Hollow, which I also reference briefly in the series. Some of you may remember the blog post I wrote last year after our first adventure to Briarcliff Manor, how I’d never actually seen the town that became the battleground of the Rabourn and Nathanson families until long after I started writing the series. I was looking for a prosperous, quiet neighborhood for my characters to live in and my research brought me to just the right place. It’s amazing how easy the internet makes it to learn the ins and outs of a place you’ve never been to before. But nothing can take the place of experiencing it firsthand.

I let Bill choose the first stop point, and we found ourselves on the main street in Tarrytown, just outside of Sleepy Hollow. There are gift shops, antiques stores and restaurants, quite a busy hub of activity. We didn’t stay long. I’m not typically one for big crowds and especially now, during the pandemic, I’d much prefer to be in a big open space where it’s easy to maintain our distance.

The flow of traffic continued into Sleepy Hollow. Granted, we’re only a few weeks away from Halloween, but with museums and gifts closed and so many events cancelled this year I was surprised to see such a large group of people. Bill and I found a trail to walk away from the crowd and afterward, I thought it might be fun to grab a bite to eat at the restaurant that inspired Hannah Rabourn and Evan Masters’ lunch date in An Amorous Dance, Bridgeview Tavern. I didn’t actually name the restaurant in my story, but I did research it and thought the fireplace would create a perfect ambiance for the board chairwoman and stage manager as they consider taking a second chance on each other. It’s also where they “had their first date” many years before. It overlooks the former Tappanzee bridge, which makes for some interesting trivia as Hannah and Evan converse during their lunch date. I was really hoping to check the place out for myself but the line outside was even longer than it was last year, as you can imagine, and we drove on. I must admit, I didn’t envision the tavern to be quite so popular in my mind. Though I imagine a man who thinks as highly of himself as Evan Masters does would probably have dinner reservations!

Our adventure actually began, as far as I was concerned, when we arrived at the Pocantico Lake. We’d stopped there briefly last year but the sun was setting and we only had time for a quick photo before getting back into the car. This year, we had time and beautiful weather on our side and we enjoyed a peaceful walk with a spectacular view. With only a few parking spaces available to it, the lake trail remains rather exclusive and it connects to the Pocantico River trail, the river spilling into the lake. I can easily imagine the people who work at Rabourn Theater coming here when they need a breath of fresh air. I can’t think of a more relaxing place to get it!

Driving into Briarcliff Manor, was, in fact, a breath of fresh air as well. Having just left the solitude of the lake, we were already feeling relaxed but driving along the local streets, we were assured that we had well and truly left the crowd behind us in Sleepy Hollow. Having arrived by way of a different route last year, we basically stayed on the main streets and I was so excited that I was actually seeing Pleasantville Road (where Rabourn Theater is supposed to be) that I barely gave any thought to taking a cruise through the residential part of town. It’s every bit as quaint and affluent as I imagined it to be and I was very excited to conclude that it is indeed the perfect setting for my well-to-do, small-town-bred characters to live in, as well as the perfect setting in which for their playhouse drama to unfold.

Since the restaurants in Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow were so crowded, I thought it might be fun to have dinner at The Patio, a restaurant on Pleasantville Road, Rabourn Theater’s fictitious home. I’ve referenced it in several of my stories and many of the main characters have dined there, including Alicia and Hannah in An Amorous Dance and Chris Gordon and Victoria Morrow in A Sultry Performance. I loved the idea of eating where my characters eat and I’ve researched the place so many times I had a pretty good idea of what they had to eat. I’ve often observed in the books I read that characters tend to eat a pretty rich diet of food and we stayed very true to that idea, me ordering a grilled cheese with french fries and flan for dessert, Bill having a waffle with sausage and ice cream. The meal was delicious and definitely gave both of us a greater understanding of my characters, and their indulgences. 😉

Like with my debut series the Pinnacles of Power, I chose to set the Rabourn Theater Series in a real town, one that has served as inspiration for me as well an excellent point of reference. Not being so familiar with the town of Briarcliff Manor when I began writing, I got to know it as I was creating my series, forever linking the two things together in my mind. Briarcliff Manor will always be Rabourn Theater’s home to me. Visiting that home is a walk inside my imagination, and I can’t wait to see what it will unlock next!