Colonial Princeton, NJ - take that, Colonial Williamsburg, Va!

A couple dressed in the style popular around the

American revolution.

Having recently returned from my first visit to Colonial Williamsburg, I decided to try to come up with colonial sites to visit in my home state of New Jersey, to assuage the let-down of leaving that truly charming town.  Once I started to tote up the sites, I realized that New Jersey has an amazing colonial heritage still standing and open to the public.  Of course there is Burlington, and Trenton, and Princeton, and Mount Holly, and, and, and!  

I realize how remiss I have been in taking my home state for granted.  There are so many wonderful historic houses and sites around, I am going to make a list (and check it twice) as well as mark up some maps to try to come up with some itineraries for myself and Chir.

Tomorrow, we finally go to Olden House and its grander older sibling, Drumthwacket, on Route 206 in Princeton.  Olden House, a four-room farmhouse which was built between 1759 and 1765 by John Hill, is named after Thomas Olden, a tailor and farmer who purchased the house from Hill in 1772. His father was John Olden, one of the six early settlers who established the Quaker community of Stony Brook. Charles Smith Olden, one of Thomas Olden‘s grandsons, who was born here in 1799 was responsible for beginning the construction of the mansion Drumthwacket in 1835.

I have spent more than 35 years in this area over the course of my life, but not once have I visited Olden House or Drumthwacket.  I hang my head rhetorically in shame.

Next week will be Morven, also in Princeton, built in 1758, which has an amazing history peopled with fascinating characters, including a woman George Washington himself called "The Muse of Morven" in honor of her poetry!

Ice and Roses

Our second snow this fall greeted me this morning . . . big, fat, sploshy flakes tumbling down and laying a temporary white cover over everything, including the last buds and blooms of my roses, including a juicy red Eden bud that will probably never get to open, and this lovely pink Eden bloom, capped with ice and snow, but still breathtaking.

Our first snow was in October, just after the much-vaunted and quite terrible Hurricane Sandy storm blew through, toppling trees and branches right and left.  I wonder if this winter will be like last year's - heralded by Autumn snow, but snowless itself.  I hope not.  It's not that I want to be inconvenienced, but Winter without one substantial snow storm seems somewhat pointless.  I want to be able to build one snowman, and fulfill my typical winter resolution.  I would prefer it snow heavily on Friday evening, so Saturday morning would find everything under a blanket of sparkling white snow, and that it melt away Sunday late afternoon and evening, leaving Monday morning traffic unimpeded.  Not that I'm picky or anything.