Summit, New Jersey

After a tour of their home -- on the first floor of a 120-year-old Victorian manse -- we walked to and had a great lunch in the downtown district.  Brian and Michelle thrilled us with stories of their honeymoon on safari in South Africa and reminded us why we love meeting people and maintaining friendships.  Good friends who share our sensibilities are, I believe, a way of living more lives than just the one we've got. Thanks to Brian and Michelle, I feel that I have, in some small measure, been on safari myself.  I doubt I'll ever watch the sun rise over an African savannah, listen to elephants walking past my tent, or enjoy high tea in Cape Town, but it sure feels like I have.

I don't understand why people make fun of New Jersey. Summit is one of the prettiest towns I have ever seen. Quiet streets shaded by enormous hardwoods; giant homes right out of Ragtime; tidy, old fashioned store fronts selling everything from European cheeses to brocade ribbons -- and a train station with a commuter line into Manhattan are a far cry from the squalid garbage dump accessed by turnpike that has become the cliche.  So, after spending a gorgeous summer day in that pretty little place I would have mistaken for Chapel Hill, I've decided that New Jersey's awful reputation is perpetuated by the residents of these charming little towns -- so that they stay charming little towns.  Everyone knows that as soon as the secret of your little Eden gets out, thousand flock there and Eden is no more -- just ask the original residents of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Ocracoke, North Carolina, and Sante Fe, New Mexico.

New Jersey is beautiful; just don't tell anybody. -- And maybe someday you'll get to live there -- if you're lucky.
 
 

March 22-25, 2001 Highlights A.J.'s Deli Washington's Headquarters New York City "Teaching Literature Online" Summit Diner Updated 4/7/01 © Canada 2001

Summit, New Jersey A conference on teaching literature brought us to New Jersey, where were were able to do a little sightseeing and hook up with our friends, Brian and Michelle Carpenter, who were kind enough to put us up for a few days. After arriving on Thursday afternoon, we joined Brian for lunch at one of his favorite restaurants, a great little place called A.J.'s Deli in Summit.  After lunch, Lisa and Essie returned to the Carpenters' apartment to rest--and rest they did.  Essie eventually fell asleep, and Lisa had the chance to curl up in a cozy, beautiful Victorian living room and read The New Yorker.  Meanwhile, Brian and I were soaking up the history in nearby Morristown, where General George Washington's headquarters had been from late 1779 to 1780 in the midst of the Revolutionary War.  We started with the museum, where we saw a number of artifacts from the time: rifles, swords, cannon, and the like.  My favorite items were the powderhorns, made from the horns of cattle.  To identify their own horns, the soldiers had carved designs--maps, pictures, some of them quite ornate--all over the exterior.  Later, we visited the Ford Mansion, the actual site of Washington's headquarters.  For the family of five who lived there, the two-story house probably did feel like a mansion.  When Washington moved in with his officers, however, things got crowded.  The Fords were crammed into two rooms, one of which had to serve as both bedroom for the widow and living room for the family.  We saw these rooms, as well as the numerous others that served Washington and his crew: the room where the men discussed strategy, for example, and the kitchen where some two dozen went to eat.  Throughout the house were scattered some interesting campaign beds--wool- and linen-covered cots that the soldiers could fold up and carry with them on military campaigns. The next day, we took a train into New York City and spent a fantastic day taking Essie through FAO Schwarz, eating pizza, shopping, and visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  On Saturday, Brian drove me down to Rutger's University in New Brunswick for my conference.  In addition to giving a presentation called "Teaching Literature Online: A New Twist on Student-centered Learning," I attended several sessions and picked up some ideas for my own teaching. Before climbing into the van for our long drive home on Sunday, we joined Brian and Michelle for breakfast at the Summit Diner, an authentic and locally famous diner in town.  Although the food was good, it was no better than the outstanding meals that our hosts had been preparing for us during our stay: chicken curry, shrimp and orzo, and pork loin with roasted potatoes and tomatoes.  Brian even made us homemade ice cream on Saturday night.  Indeed, their hospitality was one of the highlights of our stay.