The Return of the Princeton University Art Museum

The Princeton University Art Museum was a such an important part of Ashley's childhood. When she was younger, we became members so she could take art classes with Hope. In high school she visited the art museum on a field trip. Looking through the blog, there was a special trip to parents and alumni to participate in an Art and Spirituality Day that took us to the museum.

The museum shut down during the pandemic in order to be knocked down and rebuilt. Though we knew it was coming, the pandemic meant we didn't have a chance to say adieu. The university had cool programs planned, including watching curators preserve mosaic floors that were cemented into the floor of the old building. Instead they put on masks and silently moved the artwork to safety. The building was razed, and in its place, a new building was raised.

While it was closed, a pop up gallery appeared on Hulfish Street with newer artwork, temporary exhibits. I often stopped inside, but it was no competition for the real one.

A couple of months ago the university announced the museum would reopen on Halloween with a 24-hour party from 5 pm on October 31 to 5 pm on November 1. We knew we wanted to go. We just didn't know Don's schedule.

I arrived around 8 pm after the final day of digging at Fort Mifflin. Don arrived an hour later after work. The new museum is much larger. I'm sure there are official statistics. It now includes a restaurant (which accepts reservations). Most of the artwork is on the second floor. The first floor has a temporary exhibit space, a giant lobby, and a gift shop. The third floor is home to their offices.

The place was hopping! I was surprised I only bumped into one person I know (Jennifer), but looking at my FB feed, others were there. Our visits either did not overlap, or we were looking at artwork when we passed each other.

I felt as if I was visiting old friends in new places. I recognized some of my old favorites, just in new places. Monet's Water Lilies. Peale's giant portrait of General Washington. Medusa. They are back! 

I know the museum is physically larger, but I felt as if some sections were smaller. There felt like less Impressionist art (my favorite). Plus the artwork is mostly on one floor instead of two. On the other hand, the Princeton Collects room felt much, much larger. 

They held a contest inviting people to dress as their favorite piece of art. I saw a "woman with a pearl earring" and a "General Washington," but this woman painting a copy of a Mary Cassatt painting and then climbing inside it was the best! Later we saw someone else carrying a painting she made as if she was the wall. Still creative.

I was a little disappointed in my lack of creative juices. I should have been able to come up with something. Instead I wore my Pillsbury Doughboy sweater, a nod to the cooler temperatures.

We look forward to returning on a day when the sun is streaming through the windows and there aren't crowds lined up slowly climbing the stairs. On that day I'll look around and imagine the place crowded with people of all ages -- from infants to senior citizens -- many in costumes, most in groups welcoming back their "old friends" as they make new ones.

2025 Thompson Street

Bordentown's Thompson Street has been a favorite part of my Halloween traditions since the mom of one of Ashley's friends introduced her to it in 2016. The tiny street once housed workers in the town's fishing industry. A road of small houses that would normally be overlooked turned into THE place to visit during Halloween. Organized by people who worked in the theater industry and lived on Thompson Street, each year the street would come up with a united theme. The leaders would help the less theatrically inclined with ideas. Themes included Wizard of Oz, Under the Sea, Nightmare Before Christmas, Fairy Tales, and (my favorite) Alice in Wonderland. I've blogged about it each year. Last year's post is HERE.

In 2019 the organizers took a year off due to a major home renovation. 

We all know what happened in 2020.

The post-pandemic years have been rebuilding years.

A week before Halloween Don and I took a stroll down Thompson Street with Dave, Scottie, and their dog Buddy. They live nearby and were curious, too. Scottie said they used to keep the theme under wraps until the Mischief Night, the night before Halloween. I can't imagine how they did that since it must take awhile to set it all up. Perhaps that was possible in the pre-social media era when it was simply a block party for the town.

This year's theme is witches. There are witch hats attached to the utility wires across the street. The lead house was working on their dry ice smoke (which looked intimidatingly real on the cross street). 

I don't know if we'll be able to return in the next couple of days. Hurricane Melissa is working its way up the coast. The 30th is calling for a couple of inches of rain. Any decorations up might not survive the winds. Halloween is usually too crazy to visit, though we have which involves parking a few blocks away and following the crowd.

Here are a few pictures in case I don't return in time:

I returned on November 1st to see how it grew. One of the neighbors said Thursday's storm blew a lot of the decorations around. They had a great crowd on Halloween -- he gave away 1,000 pieces of candy. Here are a few more pictures:

Fort Mifflin Archaeology Update

This October was stunning in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The sun was out. The foliage was better than I ever remember seeing. The nights are cool, but once the sun comes it feels as if God is smiling on all of us. Digging at Fort Mifflin on Fridays has been the perfect excuse to be outside. 

I returned for two more Fridays and will go back this Friday to wrap up the project. The public portion of the dig is over until March, but I've proven myself solid enough to be invited back to wash artifacts, fill in the holes, and do whatever else is needed in order to put the site to rest.

In four weeks we have dug past the 20th century reenactment bullets and landed in the War of 1812 by way of some buttons. As we are on the banks of the Delaware River, we are reaching the water table long before we will ever reach bedrock. Our first job on day one was to bail out Test Unit (TU) 1. That unit proved too muddy to continue.

Within moments of digging on my first day, archaeology buddy Dan discovered a brick. Then another one. Then another. It seemed to be forming a border, or what archaeologists call a feature. Two weeks later the unit had been expanded into a partial unit (#6) to see how the bricks expanded. 

A week later (week four) the feature was thoroughly examined and they started to dig below it. Slow progress, but hard to move faster with a varied volunteer team. Other TUs went deeper in the same time.

After much studying the conclusion is the rectangular spot was not a small garden or an outhouse, but the place where a cannon stood as decoration in the 1970s and 1980s. The same cannon is now inside the wall closer to the buildings, atop a new brick platform. A place that is easier for visitors to access. I wonder if this is the cannon we heard being demonstrated on our first week, or if they use a different cannon for that.

The more dig sites I go to, the more varied my experiences. Newlin Grist Mill is mostly rocks. Fort Mifflin is mostly mud. The mud is hauled on a cart to barnlike structure where it can dry out overnight, or over the week. It doesn't look like much, but treasures including those buttons have been found.

The Friday volunteers are mostly recently college graduates who studied archaeology, leaving me as one of the old people along with the leaders. They are hard workers who stay past 4:30 and love every minute of the mess. I've heard the Saturday volunteers are mostly people without experience in archaeology. I'm learning to admit I can't lift buckets as heavy as the young 'uns, and that's okay. I can divide full buckets into two half buckets and move quicker. 

The planes still look close enough to touch. I wonder if anyone is looking out their window and seeing us digging in the dark and wondering what is going on. Likely, though, they are landing too quickly on the other side of the fence to give us more than a passing glance.

I returned on Friday to a washed out dig site. Thursday's storms left flood zones, or as Dan said "it is living up to its Mud Island nickname." Dan couldn't make it this week. Wade, Mark, and I sifted dirt that had been sitting out drying since last weekend. Even a week later sitting inside the artillery shed, it was still heavy. We jokingly referred to the experience as "Max's Fitness Program" in honor of our leader. 

By 3:15 we stopped sifting even though there was still a bit left to do. Instead we helped Max haul everything up a rickety flight of stairs to the upstairs storage room -- a space sporting a new roof thanks to a storm that tore the old one off last spring. We piled it all up. We'll return in March and pick up where we left off.

The holes still need to be filled. With a tarp and dirt, I mean, and not with the water that is currently filling the holes.

My first bone find!

The finds were nominal. We discovered a couple of pipe stems, some glass, nails, and bricks, but no buttons or coins. Wade, Mark, and I stood the whole time and tried to keep our spirits up as we worked. The weather was colder -- 50s, feels like 40s, and very windy. When we stepped outside the planes seemed twice as loud, but we were protected from the elements inside the shed. 

Washed reenactment artillery

Pipe stem, partial bowls were also found

Midday, was more flooded
when we arrived

Our biggest challenge of the day was trying to reach the inside of the port-o-potties. The closer ones had 2-3 inches of water inside. The further ones had several inches of water to slog through in order to get inside. At the end of the day Max said Fort Mifflin has received funding for indoor plumbing next spring. Yay! With the semiquincentennial taking place next year they should receive more visitors.