A college town worth visiting, indeed
Newsday recently ranked Princeton as a "college town worth visiting." They included some sights and scenes on and around campus for potential passersby to enjoy.While we wholeheartedly agree Princeton is, yes, a very nice town (wouldn't have it any other way!), their "tour guide," as it were, was a bit inaccurate and misleading at times. We decided to amend a few things, just to clarify for any potential visitors Princeton might have in the coming months.PRINCETON, N.J.: Princeton University, 100 Nassau St., 609-258-3060 princeton.edu (Well they got that right.) ON CAMPUS England's King George II chartered Princeton, and its ivy-covered neo-Gothic buildings resemble Oxford University. (Resemble? Alright, I've been studying abroad in Oxford for a couple of months now, and I can assure you that it is, in many respects, a cheap American knockoff of Oxford. Sorry to burst your orange bubble. But hey, it's still nice neo-Gothic architecture, for New Jersey! And the people smell better.) You can explore the 500 acres by free Tiger Transit shuttle, bike or on foot. (Free TigerTransit - just in case you so happen to fancy a trip down to the beautiful grad student apartments. Also, enjoy waiting twenty minutes for the bus standing in the cold. Take it from us, feet are all you need.) Don't miss Firestone Library and the elaborate FitzRandolph Gateway. (Walk out through the gate. I dare you. No, but, in a fun way, like, "I dare you!!") The oldest building, Nassau Hall, was once the Continental Congress capitol and bears a cannonball scar from the American Revolution. (That is factually accurate.)FALL CAMPUS TOURS Depart from the Frist Center at 11:15 a.m., 1 and 3:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Information sessions at 10 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10a.m. Saturday. (A couple of things to ask your knowledgeable tour guide: Do you have fraternities and sororities? Where's the medical school? What's this I hear about cases of a public masturbator? I hear Forbes College is nice - can you take us there?)EXTRAS Attend a Sunday Mass at the ornate chapel. (Alright! A nice suggestion.) Until Jan. 10, see the exhibit Ancient Ivories of the Bering Strait at the university's free Art Museum, which houses 72,000 works. (Another nice suggestion, I'm impressed.) For football fans, the Tigers play rival Yale at Princeton Stadium on Nov. 14. (They were on such a roll.)OFF CAMPUS Charming Nassau Street has restaurants, shops and 18th century houses. (Well, Nassau Street certainly is charming. Check out Palmer Square in the sunny afternoon for our growing collection of homeless. Also be sure to try our fine dining, with a grand total of around 5 restaurants - that is, 5 restaurants that aren't BYOB. And all the shops, well, good luck shelling out some Benjamins for a scarf at Ralph Lauren.) The historical society in Bainbridge House offers Sunday walking tours of the town ($4-$7, 609-921-6748, princetonhistory .org). Morven Museum and Garden, once the home of Declaration of Independence signer Richard Stockton, is a decorative arts museum ($4-$5, 609-924-8144, historicmorven.org). (I have no idea what these things are. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt here.)STAY Across the street from campus, the Nassau Inn is near Palmer Square shops and restaurants; rooms have 18th century decor ($159-$399, 800-862-7728, nassauinn.com). (And, by "decor," they mean no central air conditioning and ancient mattresses. So.)