Princeton, NJ - A Day Trip
Jean-Jacques wanted to take Saturday entirely off and go and do something fun. We thought of places to go and things to see and especially things we never got around to doing while in the Philadelphia area. He had the idea to go to Princeton, NJ.
It was a beautiful day, not too hot or humid, and off we went. It takes about 45 minutes from our home. The drive was pretty and at the end even winding through Lawrenceville, where my Uncle Richard lives. Lawrenceville is so small that I found myself wondering if he lived in any of the houses we passed.
We wandered around the square in Princeton, had lunch at Mediterra sat on the terrace, and looked in the windows of the shops. There were mobs of people. I wonder if it was incoming Freshman weekend. There seemed to be a lot of families walking around with their college aged children. At the DWR store a clerk recommended going to the Princeton University Art Museum.
We walked through campus to find the Art Museum. We thought, this is Princeton so they must have an okay collection. Since we had never heard about the museum we thought it would probably be small and unimpressive. While it was not large it was larger than we thought. There were many galleries on the mezzanine level with a lot of contemporary paintings. We saw work by Soutine, Manet, Lautrec, Warhol, Monet, Cezanne, Diebenkorn, Stella and many others. The Pop Art exhibit had just closed and we arrived too late to go downstairs to the antiquities section. It is really a great small museum that had wonderful works and a very pleasant atmosphere.
Walking around campus was a treat too. The campus is pretty and has some sculptures surrounding the museum. the most interesting was this one of bodies milling around but without heads. I forget to inquire about it when we were at the museum. I am very curious about this one. Does anyone know this sculpture? What can you tell me about it?
All in all I’d recommend Princeton for anyone looking for a nice day trip. Lots of good restaurants, lots of shops - although nothing really stood out, pleasant square to mill about in, and beautiful campus. I bet when school is in session they have a continuous cultural calendar with lectures and readings and discussions and things of the sort. I’m glad we finally went.
August 31st, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Just read your entry about Princeton. It took me back to my college days in Trenton. I loved hanging out either on the campus or on the main street where there were nice shops and restaurants. Back then Princeton was not coed, and there were lots of young,rich, eligible bachelors probably just as happy to see us as we were to see them. I can still see the mufflers the guys wore (orange and black stripes) and if you were dating a Princeton Preppie, you could wear his scarf.
This was emailed to me by my mother who wasn’t sure exactly how to post a comment