This Is My New Jersey

I have always been interested in history. One of the first dates my husband (then my boyfriend) and I shared was a visit to Jockey Hollow in Morristown. After dating through the winter, we were excited to get outside and enjoy the wonderful history of our unique state.

While I am very late to the party, I recently discovered the television show Turn: Washington’s Spies and I am thoroughly obsessed. Yeah, I know. I’m way late to the game on this one. I honestly have no idea how I missed it when the show was first on television. I already binge watched the first two seasons (something I don’t think I have ever done) and borrowed the third season on DVD from the library. Yes, you may now laugh. We own both a DVD player and a VHS player.

The Irony of Turn

I watched a roundtable discussion with several of the actors from the show and learned something I find humorously ironic; many of them are British! Three of the actors portraying main characters – Jamie Bell (Abraham Woodhull), Samuel Roukin (Lt. John Simcoe), and Burn Gorman (Major Hewlett) – are all British. In one interview, Bell shared he learned almost nothing about the American Revolution in school. I would love to know how they felt playing more than characters in a movie, but real people devoted to a real cause. I also wonder if they ever visited our state. While New Jersey is referenced often in the show (obviously), it was primarily filmed in Williamsburg, Virginia.

However, I wonder if it was fate that I discovered this show now.

As we kick off the quincentennial of our beloved nation, in our beloved state, maybe I was meant to find the show now. I look forward to reading the book the show was based on in the future. However, that won’t be for several months. I’ll explain why in a future post. Stay tuned.

When the weather is finally warm and we have left this last gasp of the cold of winter behind, I hope that we will visit Jockey Hollow again. It will certainly have extra special meaning this year.

If you are interested in learning about all the special events that are taking place throughout Morris County this year, I recommend checking out the Morris County 250 website. The countdown to Independence Day is on! Huzzah!