One of the nicest things about traveling is being able to come home again. I have recently returned from three of the most gorgeous places on earth: California, Hawaii, and Vermont. But at the risk of sounding like a brochure for the local Chamber of Commerce, I have come back with a renewed appreciation for the Garden State and especially for our own little slice of beautiful earth right here in Plainsboro and West Windsor.
While all states are suffering to balance their budgets in these tough economic times, the Golden State’s budget woes run longer and deeper than most. Schools, infrastructure, government, parks, police –– all have taken a major hit. I would still love to live in California again some day, but not unless I had a huge pile of money to smooth out the edges.
Hawaii is a truly lovely place but so far away from everything but itself. The weather is unparalleled, and the scenery, both natural and of the human kind, are breathtaking. But talk about expensive. I kept thinking I was in a foreign country with an exchange rate and surcharge every time I made a purchase. Both Kauai and Oahu are small enough that I think I would get island fever after a while. And I’m not enough of a surfer to make it worthwhile.
Vermont is also lovely in a completely different way, but for this Garden State girl, also too remote. The summer weather is very friendly, as Katie is happily discovering while there on her internship, and the people equally so. But the thought of winter there scares me, and I am not enough of a skier to make it worthwhile.
Which brings me back to the place we have called home for the last 14 years come August. Enough time to arrive in town with a three-year-old and fret about which nursery school she should attend and then watch her and her friends graduate from high school this year. Enough time to run into one of those friends last night and blink in non-recognition. As the words from Fiddler on the Roof’s “Sunrise, Sunset” go, when did she get to be a beauty? When did she grow to be so tall?
It’s also amazing to realize that also come August, it will be eight years since I started writing this column in the WW-P News. Eight years of “living out loud,” as columnist Anna Quindlen would say, eight years of chronicling the lives of my children and our community and growing with both. My first column was titled “Loving it Here,” and it carried my observations about why I was falling in love with where we had chosen to live — even though it was not my beloved San Francisco.
Eight years later, not very much has changed and at the same time, of course, everything has changed. What hasn’t changed, though, is my love for our towns. Why? Here’s a list of my top reasons for Loving it Here. Still.
1.) It’s hard to beat San Francisco and Honolulu for proximity to airports, with 20 minutes in each town, but 45 minutes to Newark and just a little bit more than that for Philadelphia is pretty darned good. And what other places have a choice of two more airports – LaGuardia and Kennedy-four in all, for flights to all parts of the globe.
2.) Easy access to New York, Philadelphia, and the entire Northeast Corridor. The more I travel, the more I appreciate our proximity to these bastions of culture, good food and good times. I recently researched what it would require to take a train from Burlington, Vermont, to Princeton Junction. Though the price was right ––58 dollars one way –– the 11 hours was completely unappealing.
3.) The new Plainsboro Public Library. As a book aficionado, I love the open air design, the spacious feel, and the community spirit. It’s a gathering place for people who love to read and to see and be seen by local literati.
4.) The Plainsboro town center. Granted there are still too many vacancies in the area to be completely happy, but we seem to be on the right track. And that whole Market Street area is a food lover’s dream. I am a regular at A & G Fine Italian Foods, East Asian Fusion Restaurant, Positano, Sugar & Sunshine Bakery, and It’s a Grind. The question is not how lucky can we get, it’s how fat and happy we can be.
5.) The West Windsor Farmers Market is a Saturday habit and getting stronger every year. The fresh produce is delectable, the baked goods out of this world, the meats and cheese enticing, and the people you meet are outgoing and interesting. It’s like a taste of Europe and a very neighborly experience.
6.) Al’s Sunoco on Princeton-Hightstown Road. Do I have to tell you how many times over the last 14 years these folks have bailed me out on one car issue or another? Whether it’s their truck coming out to rescue me through a call to AAA or one of their friendly and knowledgeable mechanics fixing a tire, light, or engine on one of our cars, it’s service with a smile. Al himself has owned the business for years and years, and it has that family feel; it’s the Mom and Pop of service stations and you know you can rely on him and his people.
7.) Cranbury Plainsboro Little League, West Windsor Plainsboro Soccer Association, Pop Warner Football, Lightning Lacrosse, and all the dedicated coaches who have given all three of my children their expertise and time and taken the burden off me to do the training for which I am eminently unqualified.
8.) The West Windsor-Plainsboro News. Most newspapers seem to be getting thinner and thinner, but our hometown goody feels more substantial every year, and I am proud to be a part of it. Of course I may have a personal bias as a regular contributor, but to me, it is the best source of local news we have. The website, www.wwpinfo.com, is updated constantly and is a timely and spot-on place to go for the news that affects your family and community.
