SOMERSET, Pa. -- Joyce and Ronald McDonald just had to see the rescue shaft that saved nine men from a flooded coal mine as an affirmation of what they considered to be a miracle.

SOMERSET SITES Mine Rescue Photos Quecreek Mine Area Map Flight 93 Crash Area Map Somerset Crash Site Photos

"We stayed up until 2 (a.m.) watching TV until the last man was pulled up," said Joyce McDonald, 66, of New Orleans. "I couldn't sleep until then."

The McDonalds were visiting Johnstown for an amateur baseball tournament but spent Tuesday afternoon visiting the Quecreek Mine and the temporary memorial for Flight 93 in nearby Shanksville. They snapped photos and picked up a souvenir rock and a baseball hat from a country store.

"What is the chance for two things to happen in such a short time, so close, really in the middle of nowhere?" Joyce McDonald said.

In a county of 80,000 where the economy is dominated by agriculture and skiing, hundreds are flocking to the sites of both disasters, giving Somerset County two tourist attractions.

Hotels report that reservations are up and businesses are reporting increased sales from carloads of visitors trying to catch a glimpse of the events that happened within a few miles, but ended with results that were worlds apart.

Federal investigators believe some of the 40 passengers who died aboard the airliner overpowered four hijackers and forced the crash before the plane could be aimed at a target in Washington, D.C.

Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration investigators, meanwhile, are trying to figure out what went wrong last month when miners accidentally dug into an abandoned, flooded mine and nine were trapped underground for more than three days before their rescue.

While hundreds of visitors a day have been packing the gravel patch overlooking the field where the jetliner crashed nearly a year ago, many are now allotting time for a snapshot of the Quecreek mine.

"Now when they come to see the memorial, they'll make a point to see Quecreek," said Rick King, owner of Ida's Store in Shanksville, two miles from the Flight 93 memorial.

Luanne and Tom Schipper were already toting a camera filled with pictures of the mine rescue site when they stopped at the temporary memorial dedicated to the Flight 93 crash Sept. 11. The Hudsonville, Mich., couple and their children were on their way to Washington, D.C. but made a 15-mile detour to visit the sites.

Tom Schipper, 47, said the visits to the mine and the crash site about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh will teach his children that although "some lives are taken, and some are rescued, the Lord's in control of all things for good."

King says business at the convenience store has been up as much as 15 percent since September, but he's not celebrating because the events that happened so close to his store weren't planned.

"These are some things we didn't wish to happen just to draw tourists," King said.

September reservation rates at the 152-room Ramada Inn in Somerset have risen from around 50 percent before the terrorist attacks to nearly 80 percent, said hotel general manager Lee Moran.

"Normally September isn't very strong, kids are back to school," Moran said. "Now September is a good month. When they put in a true memorial, it's always going to be a destination month."

Moran said the hotel has seven bus tours scheduled to carry some 300 people to the Flight 93 crash site, which is awaiting congressional approval as a national memorial. It's unlikely the Quecreek mine will become a formal destination because it's located on private property, Moran said.

Still, tourists are flocking to the site despite "No Trespassing" and "No Parking" signs and the yellow police tape blocking off the road from the rescue shaft, which is covered by a slab of rock topped by a small American flag.

The miners' rescue has spurred interest in other area coal mines. The Seldom Seen tourist coal mine in Patton, Cambria County, had about 100 visitors a day last week, 30 percent more than the same time last year, said state Rep. Gary Haluska, who helps oversee the mine.

"It's kind of funny, if (the mine rescue) would have ended badly, we would have probably gone under," Haluska said. "But since it was a positive rescue, people are curious about the working conditions (the miners) were in."

Business owners predict Somerset County will continue to draw tourists from around the nation, mainly to the crash site.

"As for Flight 93, it's just to pay tribute to those passengers on the plane," said King. "They sacrificed their lives to save lives on the ground. People are just really moved."