Other Wonders from Travels Home

Hello, tender friends!

As a follow up to last week’s post, here are other wonders from our trip.

On the drive up from Virginia to New Jersey, we stumbled upon Buc-Cee’s, a store I had just learned about at a church sermon.

This place is like its own city, is an American consumerist’s fantasy, and was very Texas. Chipper greeters say, “Welcome to Buc-cee’s!” when you enter, and the size and scope of everything overwhelms you. I told Anthony that the company must be Texas-owned, and I looked it up when we left and saw that it is.

Then we made it up to Jersey.

The wedding was amazing, and while the bride and groom requested no photos during the ceremony, I managed to get this shot of rhr gorgeous stained glass at the rehearsal.

And here is the happy couple just before heading in to the reception.

The wedding was very Jersey, and I realized how much I’ve missed living in a state where people don’t wear cowboy boots to weddings. Please don’t take that as snobbery because it’s not. I just grew up with formal events being more formal, and I miss that. I was gobsmacked the first time a friend showed me a picture of how people were dressed at a wedding near where we live in Virginia.

After two nights in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, we headed to visit Anthony’s family in Delaware. New Brunswick, New Jersey was on the way, so we stopped at my undergrad alma mater.

There, more magical Jersey things happened.

On the walk from parking to College Ave, two firemen yelled, “Hey kid, do you want a hat?” and gave Cubby a fireman’s hat, which he used to collect acorns along the way.

Then we headed to what was Au Bon Pain when I attended Rutgers and is now a Panera. As soon as we walked in, the cashier looked at Anthony, who was wearing an Eagles jersey, and said, “No, man, you can’t come in here.” Anthony smiled.

“I miss people talking crap about football straight to your face,” he said. They both laughed.

I walked Cubby and Anthony down past various dorms. The campus was quiet because it was 9 AM on a Sunday and Rutgers is a party school. But I passed two girls headed towards the honors dorm, where I lived my freshman year. They smiled at me, despite my age. I smiled back. I felt a kinship with them even though I’m 20 years older.

I told Anthony, “Something happened to time. I feel really young right now. Everything feels the same as it did when I went here.”

But that moment comforted me. College kids are doing the same things I did back when I was in college and the world is going to make it even though it’s tempting to feel like everything is falling apart every few years. I texted two friends from college and said, “I just passed two girls outside our old dorm and felt like we would have been friends with them if time collapsed.”

Then we visited Anthony’s family in Delaware, then took Cubby to Philly. It was his first time even though my sister has lived there for over 20 years. We saw some of the staples.

The Liberty bell

Reading Terminal, where he insisted upon buying a rock crystal. I told him he could choose between buying a crystal or buying lunch, and he opted for the crystal.

China Town (that’s my sister on the right)

City Hall (only from the outside. We didn’t do a tour, but my favorite part has always been the gargoyles anyway.)

Then we visited friends of ours who live in West Chester, PA, before heading home. They were just finishing up building their sukkah. If you’re not familiar with a sukkah, it’s a temporary shelter that symbolizes what the Israelites lived in after they left Egypt. Jewish people and Christians who are into the Hebrew roots of Christianity build one each year to celebrate Sukkot. It reminds us that God protected the Israelites in the wilderness and that relying on God is more important than material security.

After seeing our friends in PA, we packed up the car and headed back to Virginia.

“I don’t feel like going back there,” Anthony said.

Backing out of our friends’ driveway, I agreed.

But alas, we have returned to Virginia and been busy back at work.

Okay, that’s all for today, tender friends. Thank you to the new subscribers, and thank you for sticking by!

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