The Horseshoe Curve's Interesting Facts & Figures

The Horseshoe Curve is located at Kittaning Point, at the base of the Allegheny Mountains and opened on February 15, 1854, engineered by J. Edgar Thompson. The curve's length is 2375 feet; degree of curvature is 9 degrees; central angle is 220 degrees.
The elevation of lower (east) end of the curve is 1594 feet, upper (west) end is 1716 feet-122 feet total elevation climb. The grade is 1.8% or 1.8 foot rise per 100 feet.

Some other interesting facts:

• Wagon transportation from Philly to Pitsburgh took about 20 days. In 1834, the same trip via train, canal and the Allegheny Portage Railroad (to cross the mountains) took about 4 days-when the canals were not frozen.
  
  
• By 1852, train could cross the state but still were dependent on the Allegheny Portage Railroad, which didn't operate at night.
  
  
• The addition of Horseshoe Curve in 1854 made passengers travel the entire route by trail, and the time was reduced to an average of 15 hours.
  
  
• The construction of Horseshoe Curve was done by about 450 workers, many of them from Ireland, and the work was done entirely by hand. Workers were paid 25 cents per hour for a twelve hour day.
  
  
• The curve was on the list of 12 key industrial sites targeted by Nazi saboteurs who were captured at tow sites on the US coast in June 1942.
  
  
• Famous people who traveled the curve were: Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter and dozens of vaudeville stage and screen stars.
  

The Regency Beauty Insititute

Are you thinking of getting your degree and yet you worry that you couldn't afford it because of expensive tuition fees? Well, that depends on what school you are eyeing at. But if you would like to consider any Regency Cosmetology Schools that is nearest to your area, you couldn't afford to miss this chance on what they offer to their students.

The school offers financial aids to students who qualify, and you can get started by filling up your information online on their website. You can also check their numbers to contact, so no worries!

It should be much easier for you to locate them because they continue to expand their campuses in many states in the US.

This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com or contact Regency Beauty Institute – 3583 Alpine Avenue NW – Walker, MI 49544

High Strength Fasteners

Being a traveler myself, I am actually keen in seeing many things I get to visit. One of the most exciting place I visited was the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco and I couldn't really imagine that those TC Bolts used on the bridge must have been so tough, huh? And of course, you would probably have analyzed that these small high strength fasteners that are being used to make our bridges sturdy for many long years are yet "too small" to be recognized, and yet are the vital components of bridges where many vehicles would pass through every day. So, I think they shouldn't be opted out when you see a big bridge next time, don't you think? :)

I am sure if you are an engineer, or part of a construction team, you would surely know what I am talking about.
I believe that for any construction needs, structural bolts are highly considered as well. And in order to have those strong and sturdy infrastructures, every kind of bolts that fasten them depends on the quality and industry grade materials they are made of that will be considered.

The Horsesoe Curve National Historic Landmark

A visit to the Horseshoe Curve can be enjoying and entertaining where you'll get to witness one of the world's most incredible engineering feats and experience the challenge of Pennsylvania Railroad workers overcame by completing rail tracks through the rough terrain in the Allegheny Mountains.
It's one of the few places in North America where the public can view a working railroad up-close.

Going up the curve can be in 2 ways;-Ride the funicular,-an incline plane that will take you from the visitor's center up to the train tracks of the curve, or choose to walk the 194 beautiful landscaped steps to the tracks for a front seat view of a train man's wonder. There are benches and tables available to watch the passing trains leisurely! ;).

The Horseshoe Curve was opened in 1854 that revolutionized rail travel and cleared the way for westward expansion of the railroad. As of today, more than 50 trains each day can be viewed and photographed.

Don't miss the Visitor's Center to view the descriptive displays that will help you better appreciate the work involved in building such a marvel and which houses a gift shop of souvenirs for every railroad buff.

The Horseshoe Curve is located at Kittaning Point at the base of Allegheny Mountains.

Ever heard of the Valence Group?

No, I’m not talking about the outlaw from the movie “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”, a 1962 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring James Stewart and John Wayne. I am talking about a chemical investment bank that calls itself the Valence Group (pronounced as Vay-lence) that offers advisory services when it comes to chemical mergers and acquisitions to investors which deals with businesses or investments more relatively involved with chemical elements and the like.

One good thing to know as well is that the team is composed of highly trained industrial specialists that are well experienced in their specialized areas, whether local or globally due to the fact that it has contact bases in various locations like Shanghai, London and New York.

That being said, most of its clients have different specialized sectors, which also creates unique characteristics requiring specialized chemical advisory services as well.

Get to work with a team that has first-hand transaction experience, and I'm sure you will be pleased!

The Railroaders Memorial Museum

The museum is located in Altoona, Pennsylvania and is the best place to learn a lot about the life and the essential contributions of railroaders to American life and industry.
It is dedicated to revealing, interpreting, commemorating and celebrating the significant contributions of those railroaders way back in the time when life in Altoona revolved around the railroad.

The museum building has 4 floors but only the first 3 floors are open to the public, the 4th floor being used only for special events and where some offices are also located.

Before checking what's inside the museum, ne sure you have your copy of the museum's guidebook (free) which has a detailed map about the museum and can guide you through 3 floors of exhibits. The guidebook is available at the lobby.

So, once you're in the museum lobby, you will see a life-sized replica of the K-4 #1361 that was made as a tribute to the 6,000 steam locomotives built in Altoona, and the workers who built them. It's here where you'll start your journey where the sounds of steam engines turn you back to the days when rail was king.
The museum is housed in the historic 1882 Master Mechanics Building which was once a home to the extensive testing labs of the "Pennsy."

In the museum is also where you can see the historic rail cars in the yard which includes the historic Mountain View Observation Lounge from the famed Broadway Limited.

Be sure to visit the Norfolk Southern Theater located on the 1st floor for some historic films. On the 3rd floor is where you can take advantage of the Railroaders "Call Board" where you can look up information on more than 18400 railroaders.

If you are heading to Horseshoe Curve as your next destination, you're pretty much close from the museum.
From the museum's parking lot, turn right and go 2 tenths of a mile to 17th street. Turn right to 17th Street, go one block then turn left to Margaret Avenue. Go 2-tenths of a mile, and Margaret flows into broad Avenue. Continue for 1.6 miles and turn right to 40th Street.
Follow the "Heritage Route" and Horseshoe Curve signs 3.6 miles to the Curve.

E Cigarette By Blu Cigs

I suppose many people today have heard about electronic cigarettes (e cigarette), and as a matter of fact, they are now becoming popular particularly to those who want to quit smoking the traditional way and yet can't.

If ever you are thinking of getting it or trying, better yet check Blu Cigs. They are actually famous online, so it will be easy finding them. To some, it would probably be suprising to know some facts about the features, and the total product itself.
You might want to give it a try with a premium starter kit.
By the way, there are new flavors added as well, so better check it too. It's made in the US, so if you are US based, you can just say; - if it's "Made in the USA", it must be good! ;)

Golden Dragon Acrobat Show @ Longwood Gardens

It's nice to be back once again at Longwood Gardens! Every trip visit that we do going there is always worth it. This time, it wasn't just a visit to the gardens smelling the flowers, but to watch the Golden Dragon Acrobat Show at open-air theater in the gardens as well.

The show didn't start until 1pm. While waiting, we visited the topiary garden and had some fun taking photos of the roses fully in bloom!
Thank goodness for our ever reliable tripod cam as well. We managed to take both our photos together;).

The Golden Dragon acrobats had a spectacular performance! It was indeed a show of breath taking skills and spell binding beauty combining them with acrobatics, traditional dance, spectacular costumes and ancient contemporary music.

The show lasted for an hour 1/2 and we can say it was really worth the watch. Photography wasn't allowed during the show, but I was glad I was able to sneak some quick shots without the flash! :)
After the show, I bought a souvenir (hand fan) that looked simple but elegant...perfect for hot summer days!

Herbal Potpourri & Other Products

I would be treating this post as sensitive as this might not be good for some readers. For adults who use these party enhancers, I would encourage them to be responsible enough with their actions if ever they use them. 

These products are actually available from Herbal City LLC online which offers herbal products such as the K6 herbal incense and spiritual powders.

Although these products are said to be legal in all 50 states of the US, it still involves responsibility when using them. The herbal products are said to be mood enhancing that help people feel great against stress, depression, and ideal for night life people as well.

If you are interested, you can check the site and see their products.

Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

This country estate and museum is considered to be a premier museum of American decorative arts because it houses one of the most important collections of Americana in the country. No wonder why, because in here was the former home of Henry Francis du Pont,-known to be an antiques collector and horticulturist.
The museum is named after the 6th-greatest city in Switzerland, - "Winterthur".

There are about 90,000 art collections placed and displayed in 175 period-room displays in which these collections spans more than 2 centuries of American decorative arts from 1640-1860 which also include pieces of American furniture and fine art.

Winterthur is beautifully nestled amidst a 1,000-acre preserve of rolling meadows and woodlands in Delaware's Brandy Wine Valley on route 52, minutes from I-195 and less than an hour south of Philadelphia.
Part of the acre is a 60-acre naturalistic garden with magnificent specimen paintings and various displays of colors.
Amidst the majestic oak trees is a garden that is called "Enchanted Garden" or "Enchanted Woods" that is good for exploring mystery and discovery.
In here is where you can touch and see objects from the past, who made them and who used them. Smaller kids can enjoy visiting here with the garden reflecting as a fairy-tale garden in the eyes of the little ones.

Online Reputation Management

Gaining a good reputation is not easy, but regaining back a destroyed reputation is much more difficult to do and imagine, particularly if your online reputation in the business industry has been crushed! The most painful thing to bear is when those bad reports against you are not true. So, you would be crying out for help and you would start to wonder which or who will you turn to?

But aren't you glad there is a company who offers internet reputation management methodologies to customers that really need them? That's one benefit of the internet. As long as you found the right company (thank goodness for Google researches too!) and credible services that are trustworthy, you are good to go.

If you are a frequent online shopper, you can also be at risk of being a victim of some fraudulent sites. Talking about free shipping deals for instance can be quite confusing to many shoppers if they don't seem to do a comprehensive research about their activities they have to do online. Just by looking at a company that offers a "free" service can still be tricky...so watch out before you give into it.

If you are a victim of fraud, you might want to check on the given link(s) on this post and don't hesitate to report your case. It always pays to be open about your experiences against fraud because the more many will be aware of your experience, the more people would be willing to help and be warned as well.

A Valuable Feedback For Damires Hills Resort - (Reposted)

A few days ago, I shared a post regarding the place in my facebook account (Notes). But since it was only limited for some viewers, I thought of reposting it here again on my blog.
So here it goes:

It has been 5 months since my last trip going to the place with my family. I could say it was still more fun than a disaster, but who wants a fun with some disasters in between??...right? But providing a valuable feedback particularly for the employees and the management of the place would certainly be a challenge to accept and do something about it, both for the positive and negative feedback.

We hope that by now, there will be more improvements on the place including the management service, and facilities that need more attention for the security of the visitors.

I and my husband travel a lot, and we come to Philippines every year (my home birth) for a vacation for a much needed R &R (rest and relaxation). In the course of our travel to various places both Philippines and the US, plus some other countries we've been to, we are quite vocal about sharing our trip experiences to places we visit, whether for pleasure or business.

Okay, so here was our ordeal.

On the early morning of November 1, 2011, I tried calling Damires Hills Resort to ask if they were open on that day. I got the contact nos. from their Facebook page. As I dialled the first number, (it was a cellphone number) and after a few rings, I heard somebody was on the line, but she didn't say anything. So, I then proceeded to ask; - "Hello, good morning. Is this Damires Hills Resort?" ... it was a long pause then suddenly she hanged up the phone on me! I didn't mind about it, but actually if I dialled the wrong number, she should just simply answered back "wrong number"! So, I dialled the other number, (it was still a cellphone number) and I was answered by a guy this time. So I asked the same question to confirm if they were open and he confirmed they were open. I asked if the zip line was open that day and he said yes, zip line was open for business that day.

So, I and the group (there were 10 of us who went to the place), proceeded to the place and arrived there at around close to noon time. We got a family room that was on the second floor of the building close to the bar area and the pool. I couldn't recall the name of the room. I then asked the receptionists there (there were 2 ladies and 2 guys) if we can do the zip line but they quickly answered the zip line was NOT available because the one in charge was on a day off!!! So, who the heck did I call on the phone who confirmed me that zip line was open?? I felt so disgusted! Why? Because it was the main reason why I wanted to visit Damires Hills Resort in the firs place...to try the zip line! So I was thinking, does the word "collaboration" exist in the management? A good business continues to thrive when all people that work in it carry good rapport in working together to achieve goals of the business. But it was not the time for me to be so upset! I thought there are still some things to enjoy about...the pool!

Here is the good part, talking about positive feedbacks! ;)...The food was superb! We love the food, and the waiter who served us did a good job! We should have gotten his name! I think we gave him a good tip though ;). The pool was clean, the ambience was awesome! The view surrounding the pool was lush and green...very nostalgic! But the "not so good ones"...those stone slabs patch beside the pool are slippery when they get wet. I slipped couple of times and I saw some did too! These are obviously dangerous for smaller kids who would become out balance and might bang their heads on the stones! Now, that would be worst if it happens and the resort would end up answering someone's dear life.

Our room has also some lights where switches are nowhere to be found! It looked a li'l bit funny, but when we asked one of the guys there to switch on the lights of our room for us, he couldn't find it too! {sigh!}

Our room has stairs that got so wet after our bath in the pool because there were no dry stair mats provided and they are so slippery to walk on to it going up and down. My husband was so unlucky to experience stepping on one slicky step on the stairs, so that he slipped on his left leg and landed on his back couple of stairs going down! He was able to grab the stair rails to protect himself from falling down to the bottom of the stairs. However, he got some scratches on his left ankle, and red streak marks on his behind (butt area). He was fine after he regained his balance but had back pains after that.

How could you imagine if someday, one person will fall down that stairs with head down and hitting it on the pavement? Those are just BIG liabilities you could NEVER ignore!

After the incident, I demanded to speak with the manager or supervisor to report about what happened but one lady told me they are not around because they are on day offs due to the holiday! I find that unreasonable because whether it is a holiday or not there should always be one on duty!

A resort business always needs to be equipped with functional, complete and secure facilities as well as a manager or a supervisor that monitors everything else under his care...that's what you call efficiency in service! It's one of the key you need if you want your business to thrive longer.

In America, all resort businesses and public attractions are highly efficient. As a frequent traveler, I've experienced being checked by a manager or a supervisor asking if I find everything okay, and would always take time to come see me every 15-30 minutes and ask what else do I need and if I am okay. Every room is provided with feedback brochures and suggestion boxes too.

I am from Janiuay and I am always proud of promoting anything that Janiuay has something to be proud of! Don't feel bad about the negative feedbacks! I know that would be helpful for your management. I and my family are still looking forward to visit you one of these days again, hopefully with better facilities and services.

Thanks for letting us visit! We are looking forward to tell you "Job well done"! in the near future :).

Alkaline Ionized Water

You would probably wonder what is all about it means once you have read my title post above. Some would perhaps say it's more on scientific explanations which I would agree. But did you know there are more to know about it?
I am quite surprised as well when I have read these valuable information and why I consider it essential not only in animals but to human health as well.

If you are familiar with water filters, then you're really closer to the idea now ;). You see it in homes, offices and in some public places for drinking.
But we have to think that even the best water filter is not enough to consider when you talk about body wellness, - the reason why there are now products called water ionizers or also known as alkaline water machine.
The purpose of a water ionizer is to provide you clean filtered water and at the same produce an alkaline ionized water to help keep your cell PH healthy daily, in which a plain water filter doesn't provide. You see, even the best water filter can't be good enough if the water PH is not right. And human cells responds sensitively to a wrong PH through various forms of illnesses such as allergies, arthritis, failing organs and even cancer.
With the proper water ionizer, you can get access to a better water filter and the right PH.

Water ionization is a process that filters water then transforms it to alkaline which is rich in antioxidants, - a very essential combination, the product which is now called alkaline ionized water.

The best thing to know is that these alkaline water machines can now be bought at bargain prices. Of course, there are those (depending on the models) that might be too costly enough for their budgets, but there are still products that are perfect for low budget customers.
Owning one is quite cost effective and much cheaper when you compare it to bottled water. You would realize sooner that having one is all worth it.

Making a shower curtain for our bath makeover

Guest post written by Monique Stewart

It's been a long time since we made over our bathroom and all of our stuff in it was looking so worn and outdated. So I decided it was about time that we did something about it. So that's what we've been working on these past few weekends. We've bought most everything for it but we still didn't find the perfect shower curtain and wanted to make sure that we bought that before we painted.

I've looked at what feels like about every shower curtain on the internet. While I was going through some shower curtains a few nights ago I saw the website http://www.debtsettlementusa.com. After I looked through it some I decided to use it to help us out with our family's debt that we've been having trouble with for a few years by now.

I decided after all that looking that I should just find a fabric that I like and make a shower curtain out of that. I really didn't like any of the curtains that I saw so I think that's going to be our best bet. Then we can pick out a paint color!

"Cowboy Christmas"

Have you been to a dinner show called "Cowboy Christmas"? If you did, I bet you probably had so much fun like I did! As a pre-birthday treat surprise for my birthday, courtesy of my husband, I enjoyed every minute of it. It was also a good memory for me worth cherishing because they acknowledged me as a birthday celebrant that night, although my birthday was yet 2 days early ;).
At seat #228, I saw this sweet note on the table where I will be sitting. It was so nice of them to arrange this simple note on the table. I also am so thankful for the Rill's Bus Service for the coordination and effort they made especially "Lauren" our tour bus leader :). Thank you guys! By the way, they also sang their birthday song for me and Anna (another birthday celebrant) while we were on the bus ;).

Our dinner was served at exactly 7pm...perfectly just in time after we were done with a little shopping from the gift shop downstairs.
The show started at 7:45pm with a very good intermission song of a Christmas song by a 9-year old girl, "Hannah".
It was then followed by a brief movie clip on the screen about the beginning of the drama. There is a playing of that movie clip in between the drama that was being acted on stage by their award winning actors ad actresses, vocalists and dancers. The scenes were reenacted reliving the spirit of the West...like the wild, wild west movies on the big screen...the world where cowboys live. It was actually a good drama because it carries the true message of Christmas! It was presented in a way where you can clearly track what the story is all about with a spill of a little comedy in between ;).
There are many highlights that were in between the drama as well with thrilling actions of cowboy Andy Rotz, a Guinness World record holder as he amazed as with his rope-twirling, knife-throwing and gunspinning techniques on stage!
He had a horse named "Idja" who also showed his antics tricks live on stage. That was amusing!
Below were some captured photos that I took during the show. I am sorry, but I am not good in taking shots of shows such as this, lol!

The Finale

The FinaleFantastic lightings!

By the way, the show was held at Antietam Recreation in Hagerstown, MD. The place is located 2 miles south of Hagerstown, close to Interstates 70 & 81, and is accessible by alternate 40 and the Sharpsburg Pike.
There were pre show activities that made the kids so excited while they were there such as wagonrides, there was a petting zoo, horse rides, marshmallow roasting, line dancing and old-time photos where you can get to choose your own cowboy costumes and then pose ;).
The background is in front of the stage that was fully decorated with bright Christmas trees and bows.

The show is worth recommending. If you love cowboy action techniques, tricks and actions, you will be mesmerized!...what an awesome memory!

High-Quality Seating and Outdoor Needs!

Portable Bleachers are one of today's most common and popular seating products being used by many industrial, public and private institutions and more commonly used by schools, auditoriums, sports arenas and many more areas where they are purposely needed. One good thing with them is that they can be both used in indoor or outdoor purposes.

When you want to buy these products, you have to be sure they are safe for use, and have high quality standards and durable enough to withstand weather and weights, don't you think?

Aluminum Bleachers are one of the most common type of bleachers. It's because they can be durable and resistant to damages and tough to any weather conditions, aside from being lightweight.
They come in various styles and sizes, which give you a lot of choices.
Better yet keep checking on the products through the links given ;).

Pet Waste Stations are also one of those products you can choose to have to place them in public parks for pet owners who may want to walk their dogs in the park and can conveniently dispose their dog's dirt with it. This way, you are as well helping maintain a cleaner environment for everybody for both animals and humans.
There are also various types of dog exercise equipment that can be used in dog parks for example - to keep your dogs entertained while you are in the park. These equipments are ideal to buy if you are planning to buy equipments for a dog playground for the construction of agility course for dogs or dog obstacle courses.

Check the complete products!

Visits to Anthracite Heritage Museum & Steamtown Nat'l Historic Site

Lackawanna & Scranton, PA - Sept. 18, 2011

The Anthracite Heritage Museum is located uphill from the Coal Mine. We paid $12 for the museum entrance ($6 per head). The museum reflects a lot of gallery displays regarding anthracite mining and textile industries including those tools (many were real antique displays) used during their time, as well as photos of them reflecting the tough, harsh working conditions that they had been through.
The museum is really an ideal learning place for students and for those who love history. Very informative!

As usual, we don't get to go out from the museum without buying a fridge magnet, LOL! I also bought a set of jewelry with stones made from coal which I thought would carry a sentimental value for me. - a piece of a necklace with a cross pendant and a set of earrings with the coal stones on them!

We then thought of visiting Steamtown National Historic Site not far away from the museum, but our GPS led us to the Mall @ Steamtown. Well, I love malls anyway, so we just decided to go in the mall and had our lunch at the food court :).

After our lunch, we noticed that the food court has a walkway outside where below it were some old trains, so we thought of following the walkway all the way to the end and surprisingly, at the end of it was a road going to the Steamtown National Historic Site, where few meters away were the site. We missed the last steam train ride for the day and was already 3:45pm. They close at 5pm, so we still had a little more than an hour to go and see what's inside.

We had seen some more galleries in there including trains that are converted into train museums. We didn't miss the theater as usual, but as we were getting both sleepy inside, we just decided to leave and go back to our hotel.
Our day ended up with a yummy dinner at T.G.I.F'riday's.

PEBBLE BEACH

Posted by Virgil Burks

My husband loves to watch golf. This weekend on his day off, he watched the tournament at Pebble Beach on direct TV all weekend. He thought that it was going to be “Tiger’s Comeback” course. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out for Tiger, but it did for Phil Mickelson. The guy that I call the Johnny Cash of golf because he is always dressed in black and apparently lives a rough and tumble life style. I did hear something cool when we were watching the players though. Phil Mickelson’s grandfather was an immigrant and used to ride the train to the Pebble Beach course ( one of the most ritzy in the word) and caddy for only twenty five cents a day. Now, his grandson is not only playing the course but making millions of dollars winning the tournament! I wonder what his granddad would say if he could see him now! I can’t even imagine commuting to a job everyday just so that you could make twenty five cents in pay! It almost seems unreal!

Trip To Hershey & Visit To The Hershey Story Museum

Sept. 18, 2011

It was pouring hard when we left home! We left like 10:30am since it was a 2-hour drive going to Hershey. When we reached our hotel (Simmons Inn & Suites), it was dry but cloudy. Truly, the place was just close to most of the attractions, such as the Hershey Park, The Hershey Story Museum, Zoo America, and a half mile drive going to the Hershey Outlets!


We arrived like around past noon, checked ourselves in the hotel, then went to the Hershey Museum. The museum will be all about the history of the Hershey family, including Milton Hershey who made Hershey chocolates popular! Of course, obviously, he was the legend behind the tasty chocolate bars that are still a top favorite by many kids and adults alike!
You would be knowing a lot about the history of the Hersheys and how the popular Hershey chocolates became famous worldwide.
The whole museum is on the second floor, so after we were done with discovering all the facts, we went down and went to Cafe' Zooka, and had chocolate tasting. By the way, this is not for free, lol! You have to buy it with a certain price then you will be tasting 6 types of chocolates. Hubby loves chocolates! He didn't want to miss the chocolate tasting and so we did! I didn't like most of them except for Java that had the least amount of cacao in it.
Anyway, that was fun for hubby. He can eat however the taste is as long as it's a chocolate, lol! Most of the chocolates are made of 75% cacao and are thick and bitter! That is how pure chocolates are made.


It was around 4pm and we decided to get a late lunch, early dinner at The Devon Grill Restaurant, just across the museum's parking lot. This seems to be an upscale restaurant, but the food is great! It's worth the money! ;).
We then proceeded to the Hershey Outlets and had some shopping since it was way too early for the day. I got some stuff as usual. We tried to search for hubby's dress shirt sizes, but we couldn't find his size :(.

We went back to our hotel at around 6pm. It was tiring after we got settled on bed, so we slept like a log, I guess! ;)

Sent from my iPad

Our Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour Experience

September 18, 2011

It was a beautiful sunny day, but it was cold when we reached the place of Lackawanna. The trip going there was 30 minutes away from where our hotel was. We got to the place 5 minutes early. We thought their ticketing office opens at 9AM, but they are opening at 10AM.
Anyway, the lady let us in and she told us that the next tour schedule would be at 11:10AM because the first batch today was a group student tour. The ticket costs $10 per person...not bad for an educational experience :).
We had an hour wait so after getting our tickets we thought of going to the theater to watch about the history of coal mining in Lackawanna, but we got bored about the movie later, so we just decided to go out and went around the store shop quick, then got a quick snack at the canteen adjacent to the store.

Then, on to our tour!...it lasted an hour, and it was a fun and an informative experience to descend 300 feet underground which was a half-mile walking tour.
Our expert guide did a wonderful job explaining the life of coal miners and the jobs they do inside the coal mine tunnels as early as the 18th century.
It was also cold down there with a constant temperature of 53 degrees Fahrenheit all year round! It was a smart idea that I brought a jacket with me.

After the tour, we got a "souvenir", - a Miner's Certificate"! yay! Of course, this is not official, and is available at the exit area. LOL!