May The Fourth Be With You

With Cartoon Network cramming its programming blocks with Star Wars today, we thought it might be an opportune moment for a quick tour of the real highlights of Independence Day. We don’t have any Revolutionary war sites in Verona, but MyVeronaNJ.com has visited several places in the last 18 months that had critical roles to play.

Closest to us are the Dey Mansion in Wayne and the Ford Mansion in Morristown, two of the many places that George Washington stayed as led Colonial troops against the British. We particularly liked the well-informed National Parks Service guides at the Ford Mansion and nearby Jockey Hollow, who brought the deprivations of the winter of 1777 to life. The New Jersey State Library system has a series of pamphlets on the Revolution in New Jersey, which you can download here.

During last year’s winter break, MyVeronaNJ.com offered some tips for a long weekend in Boston. Even elementary school kids can get a charge from walking the narrow pathways that Paul Revere and the Bunker Hill soldiers walked.

But the best Fourth of July experience is probably a trip to Philadelphia. As we told you last summer, the city is an easy day trip from Verona, and the National Parks Service has made visiting easier with timed ticket to Independence Hall that you can reserve online.