Since I am from North Jersey, Philadelphia is not a common place to go.  When I received the form to go to Eastern State, I was really excited because not only would it be an interesting place, but I was finally going to see Philadelphia since everyone here seems to talk about it.

Eastern State had looming walls that seemed to stand thousands of feet above my head with large gargoyles looking down at every patron that were out specifically for Halloween.  Walking through the gate we were ushered into a larger area that had a negative, gloomy feel.  The tour guide quickly pointed out that a few of the storage sheds weren’t meant for our tour, but for the Halloween tour, and I had instantly wished that I went to see it earlier that week.  Even though I wish I went, I’m not sure that I would’ve been able to make it through the creepy wings of the penitentiary without sheading a few tears.

I think that the most interesting thing about Eastern State was the fact that it was supposed to be a place of reform, yet the overall feel of the place was one of despair.  If I had to spend time in a place as miserable, I’d probably end up going crazy.  The inmates were originally expected to spend their punishment in complete solitude in concrete cells.  In the early formation days, prisoners never fully went outside, they just went to a small cell without a ceiling.  It also bothered me how small the cells were; I think that everyone would be destined for failure and become mentally unstable because they really are tiny.  What I don’t understand, however, is how they didn’t record people’s success.  If this is a place for reform, how can a reputation be built without tracking the success of the criminals?  Convicts would be released after their sentence and could leave the area and commit the same crime, yet people would think they were first time convicts.  I think that hearing about how the place changed, such as letting prisoners go outside and teaching them trades, was really interesting though.  I really enjoyed the fact that people were able to escape by making a ladder in a class trying to teach them trades so they would be successful after their sentence.   I also thought that Al Capone’s cell was really cool to see.  I’ve always been interested in the twenties, so seeing the notorious mobster’s cell was something that made my interests more than a story from a history book; it became real.

After the tour, we were allowed to explore the neighboring blocks, which was awesome.  There was a used bookstore, called Book Haven, which was absolutely unbelievable.  There were books piled all over the store, and there were multiple floors.  This was a store for anyone who wanted to find a new favorite book, or even books that have fallen into the black hole that is the literary world.  It was a cozy store that one could easily spend a decent amount of money or time in.  I definitely think that it’s a store that I should go back to once the stress from the semester is done limiting my free time.

Overall, I think that this was a great trip, and really enjoyed my first time really going to Philly.  I hope that there’s more interesting places to visit during my time at Stockton, because I’d love to see other things too!