Princeton

Last Sunday, I tagged along with Vincent when he drove down to Princeton to work at the Seton Hall men's soccer game against Princeton university. Neither of us had been there before, but we had been told it's a cute town that we would enjoy visiting. That was an understatement!

The day could not have been better. The weather was beautiful, that perfect combination of fall approaching while summer still lingers. As soon as we turned onto campus, I felt like I was at Duke, with the forest trees protecting the street from the outside world only to reveal a little oasis of collegiate gothic buildings. I remember hearing somewhere that Duke blatantly copied the architecture of Princeton, but it was odd to see it in person.

The sports fields and facilities were immaculate and I was instantly jealous of their use of contemporary architecture for the sports buildings. I feel that too often college architecture plays it safe, so it was refreshing to see these newer buildings taking advantage of contemporary styles, materials, and forms. I also appreciated that not all of the facilities were exactly the same. It was clear all of the buildings were part of a larger complex, but each had a unique function expressed through its form, solid/void relationships, and materials.

After the soccer game ended and Vincent had finished his work (unfortunately Seton Hall lost), we headed over to Palmer Square, a cute block of shopping, restaurants, cafes, etc. We quickly learned, however, that we had come during Jazz Fest so the entire area was packed with people and vendors. By some miracle we found parking and set out to find a decent restaurant nearby.  We ate outside on the patio of the Yankee Doodle Tap Room, listening to the wonderful jazz music being performed on the lawn next door and watching all of the people stroll by.

As Jazz Fest came to an end and vendors packed up their tents and trucks, we wandered around window shopping and taking in the local history. Once the daylight started to fade, we decided it was time to return home to a cranky pup and needy kittens. All in all, it was a remarkably pleasant day!