Steamy Scranton

Plan one whole day to cover Steamtown, the Trolley museum, and the Steamtown Mall. There is free parking at Steamtown, as well as at the mall. They have created a very attractive walkway that goes from the mall, over the train yard, and by the station where the excursion train leaves. It is a great warm up for what is coming at Steamtown.

McDade Park offers the Lacawanna Mine Tour as well as the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum. You can also picnic and hike over the 200 acres of park, or visit the 120-acre arboretum. This is a nice escape from downtown.

www.phmc.state.pa.us/bhsm/toh/anthheritage/anthraciteheritage.asp

If you just can’t get enough mall shopping, Dickson City, which is a Scranton suburb, has every major retailer and fast-food restaurant you can imagine: Fresno’s, Texas Roadhouse, Don Pablo’s, and Smokey Bones are just a few of our favorites. Quick Tips:="" 1.=""> Steamtown - If you love trains, this should be your first stop. This is a world-class museum dedicated to trains of all types and to the impact they have had on the history and economy of Scranton.

2. Lacawanna Coal Mine Tour - Picture yourself on a car traveling 300 feet into the bowels of the earth and you have an idea of what is in store for you on the tour. Guided by former miners, this will introduce you to anthracite coal mining up close and personal.

3. Houdini Museum - If magic is more in your sphere of interest, this will be of interest. Not only will you learn about Harry Houdini tricks (but not how they were done), but you will also be treated to a magic show. My granddaughters loved it.

http://www.houdini.org/

4. Walk around Courthouse Square - You can do this on your own, or if you pick one of the days when they are offering a walking tour, you can be guided. Either way, it’s a good way to get the flavor of downtown Scranton.

Best Way To Get Around:

You will need a car to get around Scranton. Parking at Steamtown is free, and there is plenty of parking available at the mall at Steamtown as well. Around Courthouse Square you have to just be lucky. Parking is metered and the streets are one-way; we have spent may a minute circling to find a spot. Just be persistent and you will prevail eventually. The Lacawana Radisson also has its own free parking. If you are staying there, you can walk to Steamtown Mall and to the national park. Even Courthouse Square is doable walking. You will need to use a car to get to McDade Park.

The Lackawanna Radisson is more than just a beautiful hotel; it is a piece of Scranton history. Designed by the well-known New York architect Kenneth Murchison in 1906, it was considered one of the finest railroad stations in the country. It was built of the finest materials and done in the French Renaissance style. The marvelous barrel vaulted lead glass ceiling of the waiting room is still there to greet you today. With the decline in rail travel the station fell on hard times but today has been restored to all it former glory.

I had booked an excellent Internet rate of $119 a night for a business king room with breakfast included. Since it was our wedding anniversary, I thought I had nothing to lose by asking if they could do anything for us. We ended up in a beautiful corner, Jacuzzi king room for $129, this is a $179 value and we got the breakfast thrown in for good measure. I can’t sing the praises of the desk staff enough. When we arrived too early to get our room they stored our bags for us and gave us directions to the Steamtown Mall.

Once we had returned, check in went very smoothly. Our room was on the second floor and as we got off the elevator, we had an open view to the wonderful waiting room and the restaurant on the lower level. Our room was at the end of the corridor away from the elevator. It was a large room with windows that looked out of the front of the hotel. The Jacuzzi was through an open door way off the bedroom and the bathroom was off the Jacuzzi area. There was a shower and tub in the bathroom. There was a separate sink area in the Jacuzzi room with a blow dryer and plenty of the Radisson signature toiletries Assira.

There was a robe in the closet as well as an iron and ironing board. The bed was a huge king with down pillows and soft white linens. We had a desk and chairs as well as a large TV in an armoire. The room was equipped with tourist information and a coffeepot. We had everything we could need for an enjoyable stay, including a two person Jacuzzi.

A note about the breakfast coupons, you have your choice from the menu up to $12 each which is more than enough to get anything on the menu. Breakfast was excellent but the coupons imply that anything above your order will go to your server as a tip, don’t believe that for a second. Leave a tip on the table. We double checked with our server and she was very honest in her opinion about the implied tip. On Sunday, brunch is served in the foyer and what we saw of it looked fabulous. Fellow Anglophiles take note, on Saturday afternoons a formal tea is served. I’ll be back!

http://www.radisson.com/scrantonpa

UPDATE: June 2004 Carmen has been awarded the AAA Four Diamond Award rating.

Since this was a significant anniversary, and we wanted to celebrate it with a special meal, we decided to have our anniversary dinner in the hotel. Carmens has some unique seating arrangements. There are booths set in the middle of the room in a circle. The occupants face out at the other dinners. We had breakfast in one of those booths and it is a little disconcerting. For dinner though we had a table along the back wall but at an angle. Our servers for the evening came and introduced themselves; Jay and Sue would have the pleasure of serving us as we began our dining adventure.

The food here can best be described as continental with an American flair. Presentation was outstanding in every course. We began by sharing an appetizer of calamari. It was herb encrusted and drizzled with roasted garlic aioli. This is the best coating I have ever tasted. The marinara for dipping was also exceptional. Along with the calamari, sweet and hot peppers completed the dish. We followed with a grilled antipasto, a combination of summer squash, roasted red peppers, homemade fried mozzarella, air dried Parma ham, imported olives and grilled aged parmesan. Just retyping this makes my mouth water. When we finished this an intermezzo of lemon ice was brought to clean our palate.

For my main course, I had pork tenderloin with Dijon sauce. It was everything I had hoped. Al had the KC rib eye. He ate is so fast I didn’t even have time to get a picture. The meals were served with potatoes and julienne vegetables. We turned down the foccacia bread, which was served with olive oil for dipping. If two or more at a table order the Caesar salad, they wheel over the cart and make it along side the table. It’s fun to watch.

My question all along was would I have enough room to cheat and have dessert. Yes, I would. Even Al had dessert. Their selection is quite amazing and it was a hard choice. Al opted for the tiramisu and I ordered the flaming strawberries. Sue wheeled over the cart and flamed up those berries right before my eyes. When they were liquored up and warm she poured them over pound cake in a large glass and topped it with whipped cream. This was placed on an ice-cold plate that had "happy anniversary" written on it in chocolate. I almost cried. Soon it said "appy aniversar" and then even less. That is one of the best desserts I’ve ever had and certainly the most fun to watch being made.

I laughed when I saw our bill; the dinner cost more than our room. I’m not complaining mind you, it was a fabulous meal and we enjoyed every minute. Service was beyond impeccable. This is a luxury worth repeating.

If you love trains, Scranton is a must-visit location. Steamtown is one of the finest train museums in the world. This is both a visual and a physical museum. You get to climb aboard trains, pull levers and turn handles and pretend that you are the engineer, which will appeal to children of all ages. The museum also includes a roundhouse

If you are patient enough, you can watch them turn the engine. We kept an eye on the progress of the train as we moved from building to building, but missed the actual turn.

Your visit begins even before you enter the museum. In the park area there are plenty of trains to visit and signs to read. I suggest that you begin your visit with the 20-minute show called "Steel and Steam." It is one man’s story of the railroad and the influence it had on his life. His life reflects the lives of many people in the country during the same time. It brings us right up to the decline of the glamour of rail travel with the onset of the diesel locomotive in the 1950s. I found it fascinating, but Al fell asleep.

The museum is set up in the round around the roundhouse. You walk from one area to the next. One section that was of particular interest had statues of people that you might find in the rail industry: a conductor, a porter, the ticket sales people,

tourists, immigrants, and many more. Each had a write up, a display case, and a brightly colored figure. It was very interesting. There was another audio-visual show about the labor issues that have faced both the employees and the owners of the railroads.

You get to climb aboard many of the trains. You can walk through a mail car,

a pullman, and a dining car. This is a very child-friendly museum, as children are encouraged to look and touch and to pull and push levers and buttons. There are park service employees strategically located throughout the museum to answer any questions you or your children may have. They appeared to respond to the enthusiasm of children. There are handicap ramps in most areas and an elevator in the main building.

There is an excursion train ride that you can take for an additional cost. It goes to the town of Moscow. It only operates on the weekends, except in the summertime. There is a gift small store that offers a few items, including T-shirts and books for train enthusiasts.

http://www.nps.gov/stea/

The Lackawanna Coal Mine is located in a beautiful park north of the city of Scranton. You are greeted as you pull into the park by a larger-than-life statue of a coal miner.

The economy of Scranton was built on the backs and picks of these men. The tour here involves actually going down 300 feet into one of the mines.

The tours are done in groups of 10 to 20 people. We arrived at 11am, and we had to wait an hour to go down with the noon tour. While waiting, we had the option of visiting the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum or watching a video about the mine. We opted for the video, mostly because we were told that if our tour was called early and we weren’t around, we would have to wait for the next tour. It wasn’t a bad choice because it quite an interesting video that documents some of the mining disasters that plagued the area.

Finally, it was our turn, and we, along with about 12 others, were directed into our car for the decent into the mine. We traveled 1,500 feet into the mine to a depth of 300 feet. A former miner was our guide, who led us through the shafts with a bit of humor and a lot of feeling for the men who worked here. I wasn’t too sure that I wasn’t getting claustrophobic, but there was plenty of fresh air being pumped into the mine by a huge fan on the surface.

It was quite wet in the mine because the water table is very high in this area and many of the shafts below us were flooded. The temperature in the mine was 50°F, so I would recommend bringing a sweater. If you don’t have one, they will loan you a coat. At each of the stops within the mine, you are encouraged to ask questions. It is light down in the tunnels now, but our guide showed us how dark it would have been before electric lights were introduced. It is hard to imagine how men and even children could have work 12-hour shifts in this dim and closed in space. Some of the miners worked every day in spaces less than 2 feet tall. Needless to say, most miners didn’t live to be old men. It was a hard life.

This particular mine was closed in 1966, when the demand for anthracite coal dwindled. The tours have been running since 1985. Tickets are $7 for adults. The tour lasts about an hour. There is a small gift shop and a snack bar. When you finish your tour, you are given a miner’s certificate stating that you have completed the course of instruction and are now qualified to be employed as an anthracite miner. This may come in handy if the economy doesn’t pick up.

http://www.visitnepa.org/coalmine/