C'mon, Summer!

All you seasonal purists, please cut me a little slack here. I know it’s not really summer until the solstice on June 21st, but Memorial Day weekend means “summer” to me. I’ll be firing up the grill and, I hope, attending my town’s Memorial Day parade and commemoration.

Most sites on the PA Trails of History will be open on Memorial Day (be sure to check the schedule). And Memorial Day kicks off the annual Blue Star Museums program, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and the Department of Defense. Participating museums offer free admission to active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day to Labor Day. PA Trails of History sites offer military families free admission year-round, and we are pleased and proud to participate in the Blue Star Museums program again this summer.

Andrews Sisters Tribute Show at PMM this weekend

In related news, First Lady (and First Tourist) Susan Corbett's Facebook page included a post yesterday afternoon encouraging people to visit the Pennsylvania Military Museum this weekend for "World War II Revisited," which features encampments, tactical demonstrations, and "Letters from Home," an Andrews Sisters Tribute Show.

A dining car place setting from a past era at the Railroad Museum of PA
photo "credit" Amy K Fox

My Google Alerts (when I finally got around to checking them this week) had several items related to Trails of History sites as destinations:

• The Allentown Morning Call recommended that folks visit the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania’s new exhibit, “A First-Class Restaurant on Wheels: The Story of the Railroad Dining Car,” and have a meal on one of the dining cars across the street at the Strasburg Rail Road before spending the night at the Red Caboose Motel, where they could have breakfast in yet another dining car.
• A “pedal-by” of Cornwall Iron Furnace is on the itinerary for June 14’s Round the Valley bicycle ride fundraiser to benefit Pennsylvania Wounded Warriors Inc. and Lebanon Valley Bicycle Coalition.
• Last week, participants in the annual Buick Driving Enthusiasts National Tour stopped by the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum as part of their day in exploring Route 6 in Potter County.
• Earlier this month, Visit Bucks County announced the Spring 2014 Tourism Grant Program awardees, and both of Trails of History sites in Bucks County were on the list. Washington Crossing Historic Park received $25,000 and Pennsbury Manor received $15,000 from the grant fund, which is generated by a portion of the county’s lodging tax. Congratulations!

For information on events and programs this weekend on the Trails of History, check out the program listings for May.