Once we got to Scranton we planned out our whole weekend. Everything we wanted to see, places we wanted to eat at, and even the captions for pictures we planned on taking. We stayed in the Comfort Inn in Dickson City (Yup, that's a real city) just ten minutes outside of Scranton. Carbondale, Dunmore, and Wilkes-Barre are also REAL surrounding cities. We wanted to see everything that they talk about in the show. On Friday night we stopped at got pizza at Alfredo's Pizza Cafe (Season 4, Episode 3). It was awesome to know that we weren't eating pizza that tasted like a circle of garbage, but to be honest we've had better pizza. I liked it, it wasn't the worst, but Omar didn't like it at all. He said the cheese they used was weird to him. They actually used this cheese all over the city! I like things that are super cheesy, but Omar said it didn't taste right. If you ever go, let me know what you think!
Saturday was fully booked! We started our morning with going to the city and looking at all of the sights that appear and/or is talked about in the show. First stop was the Pennslyvania Paper and Supply Co. This building can be seen in the opening credits. Fun fact: John Kraniski went down to Scranton with some friends after he got the role of Jim and filmed the opening scene of the credits. This building, especially from the angle we drove from looked just like the opening scene! It was pretty awesome. On two sides they have the paper logo, but on the other side they added a "Dunder Mifflin" sign to it! Since, sadly, Dunder Mifflin isn't a real company and it's not actually located in Scranton. We also couldn't help but to notice the street names... LINDEN ST! Of course, Jim and Pam live on Linden Ave by the quarry (Season 5, Episode 9) which doesn't exist, but Linden St. is real! We also got footage, just like the opening scene, on Mulberry St! We also stopped at a few other cool places like The Scranton Times and Scranton High School where we think Pam went to high school at (Season 4, Episode 17).
As we were traveling we noticed that there is a University of Scranton. How could we not stop and check it out? Of course, we originally just wanted to get some pictures of campus, but then we saw that there were actually a ton of people there. We couldn't figure out what was going on because it was Saturday after all and then we releaized it was an open house for freshmen! We totally blended in and crashed the open house for freshmen and toured the campus. We even bought souviners from the campus bookstore! *Insert Mean Girl quote "SHE DOESN'T EVEN GO HERE!"
The next few places we stopped at was The Raddison Hotel (Season 2, Episode 22) and let me tell you that place is grand! We tried to get our reservations there, but they were completely booked up! Next to The Raddison is a very colorful Electric City mural (Season 3, Episode 8). Speaking of Electric City, we went to see the large Electric City sign on Linden St. We saw it during the day and came back at night to see it light up! It was honestly so beautiful and it really does make the city look so pretty with everything light up. Next, we went to the Lackawanna County Coal Mine (Season 3, Episode8). We didn't do the tour, but we got some amazing pictures! There was a cute little bridge that over looked the city and we must have gone at the perfect time of day because we could see so much. We also made a pit stop at Gerrity's Supermarket (Season 4, Episode 18/19). We wanted to go to Lake Scranton (Season 3, Episode 23) but the roads to access it were under construction (boo!).
Of course we had to stop at Poor Richard's Pub. They talk about it and even show it in so many episodes! This was probably the coolest stop because it actually had The Office memorabilia. Of course, when we first arrived we were very confused because we pulled up to a bowling alley. Maybe it's the one that Ryan worked at for a while (Season 5, Episode 22). However, the pub is inside just to your right. The bartender was really cool and let us take pictures of the signed picture from the cast, the Dunder Mifflin certificate, the autographed Vance Refridgeration magnet, and the Dundie given to the pub. I held a real Dundie!!!!!
We also stopped at the Steamtown Mall (Season 3, Episode 22). Although the episode wasn't filmed in the actual Steamtown Mall, it's still a real place so it was interseting to go to. Except, the mall isn't that great. Most of the stores are empty and the stores that were there weren't all that great. We did go to Gertrude Hawk Chocolates (seen in many episode in the vending machines and gift baskets), but again, very dissappointing. Maybe it's because I worked at Godiva once upon a time and I have high standards for chocolate, but the chocolates we got were very dry and made us extremely thirsty. There was some Dunder Mifflin sightings in the mall, but the best thing was the famous Scranton Welcomes You sign that can be seen in the opening credits. They had moved the sign into the mall for tourist to take pictures with because too many people were stopping on a major road (I would have totally been one of those people).
For dinner Saturday night we ate at Cooper's Seafood (Season 3, Episode 7). This place was beyond cool. First of all it's shapped like a lighthouse and an abonded ship. Then inside there are a ton of old board games, posters, newspapers, and Barbies. I know it sounds weird, but trust me, it was awesome. There was even a train that actually ran along the entire restaurant. It was so old fashioned and very unique! The food was amazing! Omar said his fish was insanely good, the appeitizers were perfect, and my alfredo pasty was so creamy it basically melted in my mouth. Defintely a 5 star in our book!
On our way back home we had to stop at the famous Chilli's that Pam gets kicked out of (Season 2, Episode 1). Of course, Chilli's isn't actually right around the corner from the office in Scranton, like Michael says (Season 2, Episode 7). It's actually 30 minutes away in Wilkes-Barre, but nonetheless we made a pit stop and pretended like we had just won a Dundie.
Overall, we had an amazing trip. If you are a fan of The Office, then add this to your bucket list! Omar and I are so glad that we went and lived like Dunder Mifflin employees for the weekend!
xoxo, Michele
