A unique, little well-kept secret of a museum that you should visit … because the Jersey Shore is more than just beaches.
Last week, the kids were on Spring Break, and this time, we kept our adventures a little closer to home. We spent a few days down the Jersey Shore, and spent the day in Boston with Sarah and her kids. When we were down the shore, I used the Roadside America app (one of my favorite apps) to see what new and interesting things were in the area for us to discover. Our time last week was equal parts fun, history, and downtime, and our visit to the National Guard Militia Museum falls neatly in the “history” column.
The museum is a little undiscovered treasure trove of history and has been there forever. It, unfortunately, fell victim to the ravages of Hurricane Sandy, taking in over five feet of water and sadly destroying a lot of their historical artifacts, but they have since rebuilt and welcome visitors with open arms. It was such a cool slice of historical awesomeness, I’m hoping more people read this and go check it out.
As soon as we walked in, we were immediately greeted by a friendly host, and he pointed out the different rooms we could explore on our own, in a self-guided manner, and told us to come get him when we’re done (and if we had any questions mid-tour). 
The large room when you enter starts with the story of the early settlers, and you can follow the timeline around the room, reading about the events of historical significance and see their accompanying artifacts. The story continues on through World War II in a room in the back, and the third room is more “present day” events, including 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy, and how New Jersey responded to those disasters. There are some wonderful videos to watch and placards to read, and it was the perfect amount of information to digest, especially if you have kids in tow.
Once we were done with the three rooms, we went to go track down the guide because we were ready to check out their main attraction, and the original reason this museum popped up in the Roadside America app.
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