Exploring the City Electric

Did you know that Scranton is known as “The Electric City?” I sure didn’t, but a trip to the area soon got me up to speed on just why the city has this unique moniker. Turns out that Scranton was the first city in Pennsylvania to have a successful pioneer trolley line way back in 1887. And since that time, the city has shown much pride in its history and visitors are able to learn all about it with a trip to the area.
For this episode, we stayed at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in Scranton – a former railroad station converted into a beautiful hotel. The lobby was gorgeous and still held onto to the train station flair – if you are staying in the area, I recommend a “stop” right there! To get the full story on Scranton’s Trolley line history, I made the trip to the Electric City Trolley Museum. Here visitors can climb aboard authentic trolley cars, see a pictorial history of the area, and even catch a ride along the historic Laurel Line. And of course, as with most of my Explore PA adventures, I was a bit out of my element at a wine tasting at the Martini Grill in Scranton. Although I will say, being taught about wine and why you eat certain food with certain wines really opened my eyes and for that I thank Susan Hudanich from Il Vino Novello Co. Susan is a Certified Sommelier who works with local restaurants, like the Martini Grill, to educate customers on fine wine. If you’re like me and don’t think you’re much of a wine connoisseur, a short education about wine might be having you singing a new tune! All in all, my trek to the Electric City was educational, interesting, and very tasty indeed!