"The Charbor Chronicles": Weekend Visit # 1: Trenton

In the early part of this weekend, my girlfriend and I paid a visit to a couple of places which we rarely ever get to visit.

The first such place was Trenton, the capital city of the Garden State of New Jersey. My girlfriend said that she had come here once before to get her citizenship. As for me, I had passed through Trenton numerous times. However, I had only really actually paid a visit to this city once before. That was a long time ago, probably either in the winter of 2001-02, or 2003-03. We visited the State Capitol building itself, as well as the Old Barracks, where rebel soldiers were stationed during the American Revolutionary War for Independence.

Friday last was a beautiful day. One of those truly beautiful spring days not to be missed.

Yet, I had worked the previous night, and so had needed to get some sleep until around noontime, when I woke up. Once I did, it seemed like my girlfriend and I were beginning to have a lazy day. And as I said, this was such a beautiful spring day, that it felt like it would be a real shame to waste it. So maybe somewhere between 1:30 and 2pm, we decided simply to go out for a drive in the nearby countryside.

For many people unfamiliar with New Jersey, or perhaps familiar only with certain unpleasant parts of the Garden State, it might come as a surprise that there are parts of the state that are rural and largely farmland. Yes, this state is sandwiched between New York City to the northeast, and Philadelphia to the west. Yes, this is the most densely populated state, and so some parts of it are not particularly aesthetically pleasing. I am familiar with parts of the state like that.

The New Jersey Turnpike is one such highway, traversing from very crowded (and not particularly pleasant looking) suburban communities with shoulder-to-shoulder housing, and then through whole sections with warehouses and power plants and other industrial eyesores. The Garden State Parkway is perhaps not quite as extreme, although it too traverses some similar terrain through unappealing landscapes, at least in certain parts of the highway. Also, comedian George Carlin once joked that he always had to check his brakes after driving through New Jersey, because of the excessive presence of tolls that existed on both sides of the Parkway and Turnpike. The Parkway, however, has made some significant alterations which have improved matters, so that you do not have to stop nearly as frequently as you once did.

Still, these are not particularly pleasant roads to drive on. But in the western part of the state (aside from the region around Philadelphia), a different reality exists. Some of the most pleasant memories of family weekends from childhood included driving through the countryside in Sussex County, in the northwestern portion of the state. Similarly, west of our hometown of Hillsborough (technically, in fact, beginning with the western portion of Hillsborough), the landscape become quite pleasant to drive through, especially on a beautiful, sunny day such as what we had on Friday.

And so we drove through the countryside at her behest. Mostly, just to get out of the house and do something. She was tired, and so she did not want to walk. A drive seemed like it would be a fitting compromise. So we drove, and I began to notice that we were getting close to Trenton. Before long, we were only a few miles away, and I told her. She did not object, and so we headed to the capital of New Jersey, in what was a bit of a surprise.

First, we went to the Trenton Battle Monument, which suddenly loomed clearly straight ahead of us. So we headed there and I snapped some pictures (see below). Then, we headed to the State Capitol Building, and the Old Barracks, which is right next to it.

While I might not add Trenton to the list of most beautiful cities which I have ever visited, it had some real highlights on this day, in this visit. This was particularly enhanced by the spring blossoms, as well as the incredibly accommodating weather.

Of course, I took some pictures. Take a look below.

Enjoy.