Walkabout

Looking at Nassau St. through the FitzRandolph Gates, Princeton University. BTW, this is the best photo I have ever taken. I snapped it on the fly with my wonderful Sony fonecam. I love it so much I had it enlarged and even had it made into a jigsaw puzzle. It's been kicking around my Drafts box for awhile so I'm delighted to be able to work it into a post.

We managed to squeeze many activities in our NASCAR-style, holiday weekend tour of two cities, including holiday feast, hoops games, hot tub time, family brunch, walking campus tour, Italian feast, shopping, walking casino tour, another family brunch, more hot tub time, more shopping, and a final birthday dinner.

Whew!



... If your life's journey takes you to Princeton, I highly recommend ditching your car and walking  through town and campus as long as you are carrying enough quarters for the 2.083333 cents per minute meter parking (Hurry!) and are feeling lucky.

(For the parking garages, first upsize your comprehensive vehicle insurance, downsize to a subcompact, and bring a king's ransom but not your firstborn child.)

The Web site walkscore.com rates Princeton's walkability at a respectable 68. (For comparison, New York scores an 85.3, the most walkable city in the nation.) You can check out your own city's walkability factor/explore criteria here:

http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/

When walking in Princeton, be sure to wear comfortable shoes or else be prepared to twist an ankle on the borough's ubiquitous but tree-root-tossed sidewalks. But don't despair if your Jimmy Choo heels break, because you can always buy replacements somewhere on Nassau St.

You must also be careful not to tread on any of the numerous ghosts of famous Princeton residents: John Witherspoon, Richard Stockton, Woodrow Wilson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Albert Einstein, Paul Robeson, etc. You also don't want to crash into and injure any current celebrity homies such as Joyce Carol Oates, Jeffrey Eugenides, Ben Bernanke, Paul Krugman, Michael Graves, Trey Anastasio (visiting?), etc.

Look, anyone you pass on the street (dead or alive) might be a past or future Nobel or Pulitzer Prize or even Oscar winner. In fact, it may be a bit demoralizing walking around a town where everyone else is doubtless smarter than you (unless you're used to it because you live with a rocket scientist). Still, it may be a town best visited after being recognized for an achievement more impressive than successfully transporting a poppyseed roll across four state lines.

http://www.princetonboro.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princeton,_NJ 

Check out the Traditions section of the Wickedpedia page and this Daily Princetonian link to learn about the legend of the FitzRandolph Gates:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princeton_University#Traditions

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2004/05/14/10570/








... Another city scoring above-average on the walkability scale is Bethlehem, Pa., rating a 60. While its downtown has some steep hills, its historic architecture dating from the 1700s is an ideal excuse for slowing your pace. The city is extending its bike and foot concourse called the South Bethlehem Greenway; plans are to link it with the nearby Saucon Rail Trail.

http://sauconrailtrail.org/

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2013/04/south_bethlehem_greenway_to_ex.html

http://www.bethlehem-pa.gov/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem,_Pennsylvania


I haven't yet traversed the greenway but I can tell you the nearby casino's indoor perimeter is a pretty good track for doing laps after you've lost all your money and are waiting for everyone else to lose theirs too so you can finally return to the hotel and soak in the hot tub again.

I don't know why I bother visiting casinos. Maybe for the free parking. As you know, the only thing I've ever won was my husband's heart. Ok, also two school board elections and a pencil sharpener in second grade, so I've long since used up my winner's quota. And I should definitely never ever gamble in Princeton, right?




Ok, so I started this post intending to write about walkability and ended up rambling. I think that means I should put my feet where my mouth is. Or something. Whatever. You too.

























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