Prison in Philly

Dickens wrote that during his trip to America there were 2 things he wanted to see. The first was Niagara Falls, and the second was the Eastern State Penitentiary. This prison was built about two miles away from Philidelphia, commissioned by a group of men led by Benjamin Franklin who believed that people were all good at heart but led astray. The cure for this would be pure solitude. After getting Congress to agree with the notion, they started a contest to see who could design the perfect prison. Two years later an English architect won and construction started on the penitentiary. The outer walls make it look like a fortress or castle, the idea behind it being that people would be scared of it, especially coming from Europe where castles represented fear and torture. Inside there was a wheel structure. The 'center' would contain someone who would be able to look down each cellblock, containing about 60 rooms, ie. 60 prisoners. There were no doors to these rooms, but a small latch which food would be sent through. The cell which is about 2x3m contained 1 bed, 1 table, 1 chair, and 1 bible. The other side of the room had a door which led to a small 2x3m courtyard where the inmate would be able to go 2 times a day for a half hour to stretch their legs and get some sun. There was no speaking, no human contact, and a shower once a week. The idea was that people would do their penitence in pure silence contemplating their crimes and becoming good Christians through their bible study. By the 1850s though there were so many people that people got cellmates that the ideas behind the penitentiary were lost and it became a maximum security prison. Al Capone spent time here as well as a few other celebrities of the day. Women were also imprisoned here briefly, but after 'miraculous' pregnancies where quickly moved elsewhere.

The prison is completely run down, but the church-like structure is still there if you look hard enough. You can still see the white paint that's peeling off the walls and the spartan if not monk-like way the rooms are arranged. They've done virtually nothing when it comes to upkeep, so walking down the blocks of this once revolutionary establishment it isn't fear or depression you feel, but rather interest and bewilderment as you think of the best intentions of mice and men. Because even if the idea of penitence seems good in theory I think I agree with Dickens when he says that: "I believe that very few men are capable of estimating the immense amount of torture and agony which this dreadful punishment, prolonged for years, inflicts upon the sufferers...". I myself would never have survived this place considering how much I love to talk and with only the bible to read I would probably have gone nuts with the lack of variety. The people who work here are eerily perky and seem to have some sort of odd love for it. An interesting stop, that's literally around the corner from Sasha's apartment building. By the time the prison was closed down in the 1950s the city had extended so much that it surrounded it, and the elite neighbourhood was just a block away. Fun fact: cloth ropes were actually one of the most used methods to try to escape prison. It isn't something we just see in comedies and cartoons. They actually worked. Also only one person of the escapees was never recaptured, and this was only because the people he escaped with killed him so that if caught he wouldn't rat them out.
The rest of the day was spent shopping and eventually dinner with Sasha and her father, watching game 4 of the World Series. The Phillies won again with 10-2. And a new record was made as the pitcher hit a home run. Fun fact: The last time the pitcher hit a homerun in a world series was in 1974. It was pretty amazing to watch.

This morning the day started really early as we caught the 8.30 bus to DC. It took a little over 3 hours thanks to the jam, but it was a good time to catch up on sleep. We first had a lunch/dinner and then went to our hotel. We're in the Comfort Inn on New York avenue, 1600. On the map it seems to be walking distance to everything, they advertise that they are as well, but in truth it's a long way with the bus, through a section of town that is possibly not as safe as I would want, Not that the fact that it's a predominantly African American neighbourhood, but the houses are dilapidated and some of the characters are questionable. Everyone seems to want to talk to me and ask where we're from, not because I look out of place, but because I'm with the white guy on the bus. Stephan sticks out like a sore thumb and if it wasn't for the fact that he sometimes looks uncomfortable I'd be laughing my ass off. The bus drivers seem to feel bad for us though, so they don't make us get out at the stop but keep driving as close to the hotel as possible and just let us off at their turn-off corner.

After checking into the hotel, which is really nice, we put our stuff away and went back into town. Because it's pouring we decided to duck into a Smithsonian museum and decided to start with the Air and Space Museum. This museum is amazing! They've got everything that you can think of from the Wright Brothers airplane (it's real) to the Apollo 11 command module that Armstrong came down in. We didn't get through it all before they closed but it allowed us to at least start on it. We then walked down the Mall to have a look at Capitol Hill and then to the right towards the White House.

After a walk, Starbucks, and another interesting bus experience, we're in our room early. It just isn't the weather for anything else and game 5 of the World Series is on. So even though the water line exploded down the street and we don't have water, I'm warm in my bed, with my new t-shirt that says: Friends don't let friends vote Republican.

So I'm going to finish watching the game and get some sleep hopefully we'll have better weather tomorrow.