Trask Avenue

Blair Hall at dusk

Poor planning combined with ungodly Friday evening traffic, that’s what it was. After a light supper-type meal at a diner to the north, the lovely Ms. Trask and I headed back south. We blasted past the homestead, cruising straight into Princeton which is as fine a place as any to wander in these parts. Especially on a temperate May evening. Especially in search of ice cream. And especially when in the mood for a bit of shooting (the photo kind, not the gun kind). Full disclosure: the ice cream was her sparkling idea and the shooting my less inspired one, although I could not let her scoop alone. I have my moments of gentlemanly behavior and they often coincide with ice cream.

The sky was still relatively light when we left the diner giving us (I thought) plenty of time to grab a tasty cold treat and then amble about pointing the Nikon in various directions. But the road gods had other plans. What should have been a 20 minute ride turned into a 60 minute one. I know, this should be expected in New Jersey on a lovely Friday evening. In truth it should be expected in New Jersey on a crappy Monday afternoon, a horrendous Sunday morning, and a god-awful Wednesday night. I don’t know why I was surprised. Perhaps the pressure of the sun slipping below the horizon got to me.

Not surprisingly Princeton was bustling. It is a smaller town than many folks realize. When filled with students, visitors and nomads it can seem even smaller. So yes, parking was a big issue and with dusk rapidly approaching I longingly thought of my tripod sitting at home. Like I said, poor planning.

Princeton has three notable homemade ice cream shops and an award winning cupcake joint, so there’s really no chance of making a bad decision. Unless you pick no dessert which would clearly be the delusional choice of a crazy person. So we settled on Halo Pub which is not a pub, at least not by strict British standards (i.e. no booze). I had a small draught of coffee ice cream (yes, they call it a draught) and the lovely Ms. Trask threw back something in the chip mint family. Fortified we headed to the campus of Princeton University with the light disappearing faster than Congress at the start of their August recess. As busy as the town was, that’s how quiet the campus was. Here is some of what the Nikon saw.

Witherspoon Hall (on the left) at dusk

The reflecting pond in front of Robertson Hall (to the left and out of the frame)

Robertson Hall (no longer out of the frame) with Ai Weiwei’s “Circle of Animals” on display

The Ram from Ai Weiwei’s “Circle of Animals”

The lovely Ms. Trask, all fuzzy from ice cream and no tripod