Well I just completed my 5th Annual Memorial Day Road trip. My lifelong quest to see all the units of the National Park Service has its origins in the Annual Memorial Day trip. So this year I decided to go to New Jersey. I’ve been to New Jersey a few times before but only the parts right around NYC. It is called the Garden State and I wanted to see more of what Jersey had to offer (besides an alcoholic drunk throwing up on a bench in a subway station).I left Friday after work and drove about 4.5 hours to Stephens State Park. Normally I don’t like setting up camp after dark (I like to get the lay of the land) but decided I’d rather be closer to my goal so I have as much time as possible to enjoy Jersey. I headed out bright and early the next morning and my first stop was Morristown Historic Park.
It is divided into two sections and I was at Washington’s Headquarters unit. I had never heard of Morristown but it has a storied history. Morristown is called the military capital of the revolution because of its strategic location, being the source for many essential supplies, and being used twice as the winter headquarters for George Washington. The Ford Mansion was the site of the "hard winter" (December 1779 – May 1780) quarters of George Washington and the Continental Army. That winter remains the coldest on record for New Jersey. Jess and I had just been to Valley Forge which I always thought was the toughest. Not only were the men at Morristown hungry and sick but they had no clothes! Half the time they were on control in just blankets! 
None of the buildings were open so I wandered around taking pictures of the pretty flowers. 
I then went over to the more rural Jockey Hollow unit. I walked along the Primrose Brook trail to enjoy the quiet woods. 
By the time I got done with my hike the Visitor Center was open. It wasn’t much but there was a replica of a soldier’s hut that was pretty cool. 
Behind the Visitor’s Center is the Wick House and Barn. 
Both were restored very nicely. 
My next stop was the Thomas Edison National Historic Site. I didn’t really know to expect so when Jack was directing me there and I saw a massive building with a fence around it, I assumed it was some condemned factory. After seeing a parking sign with an NPS logo I realized this site comprised of Edison’s factory. It costs $7 to tour the complex and it is so worth it. I was so impressed with this site. The staff gives you an audio tour and you can tour all three floors of the factory. 
The entryway had the original time clock that was used by Edison.
The library was huge and even had a bed which Edison used to take naps.
The storage room had a bit of everything, including animal hooves.
The machine shop was my favorite. Everything was restored so precisely that it looked like at any moment the workers would start filing in and fire up the machines. 
I even got to see a phonograph demonstration. The phonograph was Edison’s favorite invention and the one he was proudest of. Can you even imagine a time before sound was recorded?
Other rooms included a drafting room, photography studio and darkroom, instrument room, chemistry room, precision machining shop and much more. 
The third floor had many of Edison’s inventions displayed. Edison is the third most prolific inventor in history, holding 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. This compound basically housed everything from concept to execution and it was amazing to see. 
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