On November 2, the Honors Program hosted a trip to Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia for the Freshman class. I was lucky enough to get off work and be able to go. I’ve always want to tour the prison and I was excited to go on this trip. We left Stockton just after 10am and it was a short bus ride to Philly. I remember looking out the window as we pulled up and saw Dr. Rosner and G.T. waving to us.
Once off the bus, we split up into two groups and were given a tour guide who knew a lot about the prison history. I brought my camera with me so I was able to get a lot of awesome pictures. We were able to see prison cells, the ball field, artist instillations, and much more. I walked into some of the cells and they had a really eerie feeling to them. After we finished our guided tour, our guide pointed us in the direction of Al Capone’s cell. His cell was nicely furnished with a bed, armchair, radio and lamp. He was living in luxury even in prison.
Many of the other students wanted to leave and explore the streets of Philly,but a friend of mine and I really wanted to see more of the prison. We walked down wings that weren’t on the tour and took our time just enjoying the building and its history. I’ll admit, I was hoping to at least see a ghost or catch something on my camera. (I unfortunately didn’t) Of course, we ended our tour in the gift shop. I bought an Al Capone shirt for myself.
After we left the prison, we met up with our other friends at a bookstore across the street called “Bookhaven.” GT had recommended it to us so we had to check it out. That place was amazing. It was a giant used bookstore and had anything you could ever ask for. We spent a good deal of our time in that store until we realized we were all hungry. So we left the store, new books in hand, and found a pizza/sandwich shop down a few blocks. It was busy but we got our food fairly quickly. Then some of us got ice cream from a shop next door to where we ate lunch. It was so good.
We then went back to the bookstore for the rest of our time and when it got close to 4, we walked back to the front of the prison. After a group picture, we filed back onto the bus and returned to Stockton in no time. I had such a great time learning the history of the prison and being able to hang out with friends. I’m a commuter so I sometimes feel disconnected to the school. The Honors Program helps me feel a part of something and has given me the greatest friends. It’s only my first semester here but I can’t wait to see what else is inshore for me here at Stockton.