Getaways: Centralia, Pa., is one smokin’ hot town – We Love DC

Local blog welovedc.com is actually promoting a trip to Centralia, Pennsylvania as a getaway. The former village sits atop a coal mine fire that has been burning since the 1960s. It is suggested as a photography destination. Yeah, I’m going to be the loyal opposition on this one. That part of Pennsylvania is bizarre enough even without decades- old mine fires. I think the whole anthracite region must be what Eastern Europe was like during communism’s dying days. Having gone to Penn State Hazleton for 4 semesters, I can tell you with authority that there are much better places within 3.5 hours of D.C. to visit — probably everywhere else in fact.