NYC Update Vol. 3: Washington Crossing
Greetings,
First of all, some housekeeping from Vol. 2:
1) Dad, welcome to the list. Isn't it nice for me to include my own father now that we've reached the third installment?
2) How do "Mary's Bakery and Bill's diner compare to Taylor's Bakery and Sahm's around the corner from the old homestead in Fishers?" Well aside from the first name vs. last name thing, I can't really say. We haven't been to those places in Wharton. We have been to Scalici's in Randolph which has the greatest calzones this side of Sicily and the Golden Moon in Randolph which is a Chinese place (take-out, we didn't actually dine in of course), and the Cold Stone Creamery, also in Randolph, which is almost the exact distance from our house as the one was in Fishers. The best pizza we've had so far was from Tuscano's. We've also been to the Dunkin Donuts down the street, which is run by a team of Indians, who are overly efficient, in my opinion. Jimmy and I went in there for a donut (or five) on a Saturday morning. This was mainly to have some man-time, and we weren't in a particular rush. It's Saturday, the one day when there is absolutely no reason to rush, right? There were about seven people working behind the counter -- contrast that with the fact that Jimmy and I were joined by one other individual to comprise the total customer base. Anyway, they went to work in furious fashion, several of them pointing and cheerily screaming "What do you want? Can we help you" as if they were trading stocks on the New York stock exchange floor and if I didn't order my donut in the next 1.3 seconds the entire free market system as we know it would implode under the weight of my inefficiency. We will have to find a different Dunkin Donuts (there are, by law, 11 Dunkin Donuts locations per square mile in suburban New Jersey). Perhaps one run by some less-efficient folk, like the Italians. Not the ones here in Jersey, but the ones I hear about in Roma.
3) What about pictures? Well, we have none…so far. But when we get them, I will send them, promise.
Now on to Vol. 3…..
We went on our first little adventure this past weekend, which consisted of a drive down to Washington Crossing State Park, on the Delaware River about 90 minutes south of our house. This, as you astute readers have probably already guessed, is where George Washington and some other guys dressed up, got in a boat, and posed for a painting. So, you know we had to check that out! But seriously, it's a neat little park and our resident history buff, James R. Watson III, was in his glory. I think James was most impressed with the site's museum -- I will say his knowledge of the inner workings of 18th century weaponry was a bit alarming. Oh, that and his sister Maggie's use of the world "cool" approximately 22 times. "That cool Daddy?"
The park was very simple, with several miles of hiking trails, and a few houses on the property that were used by Washington and his men as they assembled after the crossing, before marching to Trenton (just a few miles away). The crossing took place on the evening of December 25, 1776, and involved 2,400 men and their artillery, horses, and other accoutrements. It took over 8 hours for the entire group to cross -- the river is about 300 yards wide at the spot where they crossed. As I stood there, pondering those icy events of the past and watching Maggie and Annie fight over which one would get injured first, I wondered, if Washington crossed the river on the 25th, why did it take him 8 days to go 15 miles over to Princeton and fight that battle? Well, I can tell you, it's the traffic! (rimshot! Thank you I'm here all week, tip your waitresses).
My son would like me to tell you that (since he hated that last joke as much as you all did) the real reason it took so long is that Washington and his 2,400 troops fought two battles at Trenton, crossed another river in the middle of the night on New Year's just when then the Brits reinforcements thought they had him trapped, then marched to Princeton and won a battle there, too. Ten very pivotal days in the history of this country's birth. Yet, as evidenced by this park relative to say Gettysburg, the Revolutionary War doesn't seem to get the publicity that the Civil War does. Maybe it's because the Civil War was about slavery and the Revolutionary War was about drunks who didn't want to pay taxes? I don't know. Probably a debate for history majors (i.e. it's not that interesting). Bottom line, Washington Crossing is a neat little park -- we took a lot pictures which I will pass along soon.
In the afternoon, we drove to the lovely town of Princeton. What a great place! Pretty town, nice quaint campus, definitely a place worth visiting. The streets were lined with dogwood and tulip trees and there were little stores and shops - very clean, very nice. Quaint keeps coming to mind. What a strange word, yet appropriate to describe Princeton. As we were standing there, it was hard to imagine that a half an hour northeast of us was Newark, which contains all that is wrong about New Jersey, and here we were in a great little town that could've been located anywhere in the country. Needless to say, and in spite of this feeble description, which bears resemblance to a 6th grader's essay on his summer vacation, I was impressed by Princeton.
Anyway, this little trip was pretty simple, but we thought that if we could handle this, then we could take the next big step for this coming weekend's adventure. I won't spoil the surprise, but again the young Mr. Watson is planning the trip, so that should provide some clues.
Take care,
Jim
P.s. Reege, you owe me $5 for my successful inclusion of the word "accoutrements"
First of all, some housekeeping from Vol. 2:
1) Dad, welcome to the list. Isn't it nice for me to include my own father now that we've reached the third installment?
2) How do "Mary's Bakery and Bill's diner compare to Taylor's Bakery and Sahm's around the corner from the old homestead in Fishers?" Well aside from the first name vs. last name thing, I can't really say. We haven't been to those places in Wharton. We have been to Scalici's in Randolph which has the greatest calzones this side of Sicily and the Golden Moon in Randolph which is a Chinese place (take-out, we didn't actually dine in of course), and the Cold Stone Creamery, also in Randolph, which is almost the exact distance from our house as the one was in Fishers. The best pizza we've had so far was from Tuscano's. We've also been to the Dunkin Donuts down the street, which is run by a team of Indians, who are overly efficient, in my opinion. Jimmy and I went in there for a donut (or five) on a Saturday morning. This was mainly to have some man-time, and we weren't in a particular rush. It's Saturday, the one day when there is absolutely no reason to rush, right? There were about seven people working behind the counter -- contrast that with the fact that Jimmy and I were joined by one other individual to comprise the total customer base. Anyway, they went to work in furious fashion, several of them pointing and cheerily screaming "What do you want? Can we help you" as if they were trading stocks on the New York stock exchange floor and if I didn't order my donut in the next 1.3 seconds the entire free market system as we know it would implode under the weight of my inefficiency. We will have to find a different Dunkin Donuts (there are, by law, 11 Dunkin Donuts locations per square mile in suburban New Jersey). Perhaps one run by some less-efficient folk, like the Italians. Not the ones here in Jersey, but the ones I hear about in Roma.
3) What about pictures? Well, we have none…so far. But when we get them, I will send them, promise.
Now on to Vol. 3…..
We went on our first little adventure this past weekend, which consisted of a drive down to Washington Crossing State Park, on the Delaware River about 90 minutes south of our house. This, as you astute readers have probably already guessed, is where George Washington and some other guys dressed up, got in a boat, and posed for a painting. So, you know we had to check that out! But seriously, it's a neat little park and our resident history buff, James R. Watson III, was in his glory. I think James was most impressed with the site's museum -- I will say his knowledge of the inner workings of 18th century weaponry was a bit alarming. Oh, that and his sister Maggie's use of the world "cool" approximately 22 times. "That cool Daddy?"
The park was very simple, with several miles of hiking trails, and a few houses on the property that were used by Washington and his men as they assembled after the crossing, before marching to Trenton (just a few miles away). The crossing took place on the evening of December 25, 1776, and involved 2,400 men and their artillery, horses, and other accoutrements. It took over 8 hours for the entire group to cross -- the river is about 300 yards wide at the spot where they crossed. As I stood there, pondering those icy events of the past and watching Maggie and Annie fight over which one would get injured first, I wondered, if Washington crossed the river on the 25th, why did it take him 8 days to go 15 miles over to Princeton and fight that battle? Well, I can tell you, it's the traffic! (rimshot! Thank you I'm here all week, tip your waitresses).
My son would like me to tell you that (since he hated that last joke as much as you all did) the real reason it took so long is that Washington and his 2,400 troops fought two battles at Trenton, crossed another river in the middle of the night on New Year's just when then the Brits reinforcements thought they had him trapped, then marched to Princeton and won a battle there, too. Ten very pivotal days in the history of this country's birth. Yet, as evidenced by this park relative to say Gettysburg, the Revolutionary War doesn't seem to get the publicity that the Civil War does. Maybe it's because the Civil War was about slavery and the Revolutionary War was about drunks who didn't want to pay taxes? I don't know. Probably a debate for history majors (i.e. it's not that interesting). Bottom line, Washington Crossing is a neat little park -- we took a lot pictures which I will pass along soon.
In the afternoon, we drove to the lovely town of Princeton. What a great place! Pretty town, nice quaint campus, definitely a place worth visiting. The streets were lined with dogwood and tulip trees and there were little stores and shops - very clean, very nice. Quaint keeps coming to mind. What a strange word, yet appropriate to describe Princeton. As we were standing there, it was hard to imagine that a half an hour northeast of us was Newark, which contains all that is wrong about New Jersey, and here we were in a great little town that could've been located anywhere in the country. Needless to say, and in spite of this feeble description, which bears resemblance to a 6th grader's essay on his summer vacation, I was impressed by Princeton.
Anyway, this little trip was pretty simple, but we thought that if we could handle this, then we could take the next big step for this coming weekend's adventure. I won't spoil the surprise, but again the young Mr. Watson is planning the trip, so that should provide some clues.
Take care,
Jim
P.s. Reege, you owe me $5 for my successful inclusion of the word "accoutrements"
posted by Watts at 8:24 PM
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