Weddings are such busy times, especially when you’re bunking in with the groom’s mother. My family is spread across North America. it’s rare that we are all able to get together so it was such fun to see my sister Shirley (mother of the groom) and her daughter Becca and son Zan (the groom), my sister Tracey and her daughter Whitney from Moncton, and my wonderful daughter Gillian from San Francisco.

In my last post, I was at Pearson Airport about to board a plane for New Jersey. In keeping with the tone of this trip, this final flight was not without drama.

Shortly before take-off it was announced that a suitcase had been checked but its owner had not boarded. All the bags in the hold had to be “sequenced” to find and remove the orphan suitcase. Then, praise be, I was finally on my way to Princeton.

The wedding day was hot and sunny. The celebration was held at an indoor/outdoor venue which was perfect – if you were too hot, you could go inside. If it was too loud inside, you could go outside. The ceremony was very brief, the food excellent and plentiful, the band LOUD. Here’s a selection of photos from the wedding.

This is my favourite photo of the night, taken at the Photo Booth.

The weather continued fine for a few days. Shirley took me on her favourite walks, one through a nearby planned community called Constitution Hill. It seemed to be part luxury development and part summer camp.

The story of Constitution Hill is deeply rooted in US past, for the land was originally owned by William Penn, the Quaker who founded Pennsylvania in the 1600’s. Constitution Hill derives its name from the fact that New Jersey’s first State Constitution was signed where this current stately home now stands.

The grounds were developed into housing in the 1980s by Perry Morgan, a descendant of Junius’s. The design is residential cluster, or open space development. The homes are lovely but the feel, to me, is a little high end summer camp-ish. That said, I would live here for the tennis courts and swimming pool and landscaping care. See for yourself.

New Jersey is called the Garden State for good reason. It is green and lush, and even within Princeton there are large public green areas. Adjacent to the Constitution Hill neighbourhood is the Greenway, a large tract of protected undeveloped land. It is also called poetry place, as dotted along the walk through the space are poems, most lamenting the way the modern world has impacted nature negatively.

Another favourite walk is in Rosedale Park, a county supported green area. A path takes you around Rosedale Lake where people fish and children play. It is an oasis of green in the midst of semi-urban Princeton. Here area some photos from our Rosedale Park walk today,

Tomorrow we are going into New York. Looking forward to a completely different experience then! I hope you’ll stay with me.