Saturday afternoon was rainy and overcast thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Hanna hitting even up in Pennsylvania. But we had the perfect solution! A tour of an old coal mine - you don't need sunshine to journey a mile under the Earth!This mine is near Scranton, PA, so I got to see where "The Office" is supposed to take place. The city actually had to move the original Welcome to Scranton sign off the highway and place it in the local mall, since too many fans were pulling off to photograph it - a traffic hazard since there is virtually no shoulder along that road.
These tracks lead down into the mine.
Our ride to get down the tracks We rode down into the mine until it leveled off. Then we got out and walked through various chambers of the mine hearing about how hard and dangerous the work was -- and dark! There were lights in the mine due to the tour, but it was still dim. The tour guide turned off the lights once for effect and just had his helmet light on to demonstrate how little light the workers have. The mine has anthracite coal, which is the hardest type of coal. Most anthracite coal is in Pennsylvania. Mining started here in 1860 and stopped in the 1950s.
