Monday, March 26, 2012

Road Trip Part 2 - Princeton!

Back to our Spring Break road trip -- (you can read about our DC adventure HERE), next up was Princeton, NJ!  Our future home!  On the drive from DC to Princeton, we were very anxious and excited, pretty much every emotion you could think of, we I had.  This was going to be our new home, and it was all so new, and FAR away!  (John did fly up for his job interview but pretty much just saw the airport and the office.)  

Well, as we rolled into downtown Princeton, we were VERY pleasantly surprised!  
The downtown was alive with families, dog-walkers, stroller-pushing moms, and Princeton students....there were cute boutiques, local restaurants, & beautiful churches and plazas!  It was adorable, quaint, and picturesque.  






We stumbled upon delicious bakeries....


an amazing Italian market....



Lots of good shopping spots....

 

 

 

 

And a street named for John (!).....
It was meant to be ;)


After strolling around downtown and having lunch at Olives (we loved it!), we made our way to our hotel to check in and freshen up.

Next up was dinner, and we decided to head back to downtown to find a fun spot to eat. 
We were in the Mexican mood (let's be honest, we are almost always in the Mexican mood), and settled on a cute little BYOB restaurant called "Taste of Mexico", where we dined on fresh, authentic, and plentiful platters of Mexican goodness....

delicious tacos for me :)

The next day was spent driving all around Princeton and the surrounding areas (we drove for probably 5 hours!), exploring neighborhoods, apartments, town homes, and houses.  We were able to narrow our choices down to just a few places, and decided that we would probably have to come back again in May to finalize a place to live.  We really enjoyed getting to "know" the city and the area, and overall, we were very impressed.  There are beautiful parks, lakes, jogging/hiking trails galore; shopping centers with all of our favorite chain stores and restaurants (Whole Foods, Target, Trader Joes, Pottery Barn, PF Changs, Panera etc.), and also fun/local shops and eateries that we can't wait to check out once we move.  

Of course, the prestigious Princeton University is there also, and it is an absolutely stunning campus.


During our drive, we needed to stop for gas, and got to experience having our gas pumped for us for the first time!  It was so weird!  It sure will be nice in the Princeton winters to be able to stay in the car while someone else fills up the tank :)

 

After spending the ENTIRE day exploring the area, we were pooped, but managed to get ourselves cleaned up and headed out to a famous pizza place in Princeton - Conte's Pizza :)

 
It did not disappoint!


The next morning (our last day in Princeton), we had 2 more appointments to look at town homes in downtown, and then grabbed a delicious lunch at Hoagie Haven.

 

 

 

 
It was such a beautiful day!  We had the BEST time in Princeton, but it was time for our next stop....
NYC!!

On the train to NYC!!

Stay tuned for the next post on our Big Apple adventure :)

XOXO
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!

9 comments:

Sienna said...

so excited for the nyc posts, i just moved back from there a month ago. princeton looks gorgeous..so do you!

Annie said...

Looks like you guys will fit right in there in Princeton. Seems like a fabulous town with lots to do, places to eat and shop!

Amanda English said...

Sounds like it was a successful trip!!! Moving to a new place is so exciting! xoxo A-

Drew {Coral Cafe} said...

Wow! You guys are really going to love it there, I can tell! So excited for you two and this new adventure you're taking!

Liesl said...

I know some of those landmarks! So glad you had so much fun in Princeton, and loved looking at all your pictures! :) Can't wait to see pictures from your NYC adventure...we'll totally have to meet up in Princeton or the city once I'm out there this summer! So happy for you both...and you are so cute together!!! <3

Glitterista said...

Princeton looks like such a cute town and you had a fabulous trip with your husband! :)

Erica said...

love, love, love this! growing up there, i never had to pump my own gas which was normal to me. the first time i ever had to do it myself was when i was a junior in college at west virginia. i had to ask my roommate for help! haha

looks like you had a great time! isn't princeton fabulous :)
xoxo

Anonymous said...

These photos are gorgeous!

Ellen said...

Emily! Looks like you are going to love living in Princeton! I totally understand what it is like - moving to a new city. It can be overwhelming at first, but we have LOVED exploring LA and there is never a lack of fun things to do! That will be so awesome to be a short train ride away from so many fun places! I'm sure this will be a time of your life that you will look back on and cherish. Happy anniversary by the way!!