Eastern State Penitentiary Field Trip

So you might say....Seriously....You paid to visit a prison.  Well this was a very unique experience that I was on the fence about going too.  There was a lot of walking, but what an experience.  We have now all been to Prison :)

A nice person going in the same time took our photo.

 They had a audio tour with headphones for each of us.  We could enter the number for each section and Steve Buschemi told the history of Eastern State Penitentiary.

The look of this prison had a definite castle feel.  It was the first of it's kind in America.

 One of the original cells and how it was furnished.  Very basic.  This was the first prison to give an outside walking/recreation area (thus the small door in the back).

 Nice toliet...right?

 The prison had few rooms redone.  The prison really is in a bad state of repair.

The kitchen (we couldn't tour this).

 The recreation area.

The first solitary confinement outside walking area.  Eastern State Penitentiary was a pioneer in prison reform projects.

Al Capone's prison cell.

 The white line shows the path the tunnels goes underground.

 Bug speciman collection by a prisoner....

 Cat Mummy

 Showers

 When it first opened, the families of the guards lived at Eastern State Penitentiary too.  There were children born there also.

 The visitors room...

This was very interesting!!!  And even though it was a lot of walking, the kids enjoyed it also.  It maxed out attention spans and patience, but everyone thought it was a unique experience!!!