Eastern State Penitentiary

I took advantage of the day off (President's Day) to visit Eastern State Penitentiary, a historic prison located about 1.5 miles northwest of my apartment building. Housing its first inmate in 1829, Eastern State pioneered the concept of attempting to reform inmates rather than just separate them from society. Its roots encased in Quaker philosophies, the "separate" or Pennsylvania system put each inmate in extreme, frankly cruel, isolation to foster repentance. The tour guide explained the practice didn't live up to the ideals of the founders and the officials abandoned it in the early 1900s. Tough the prison continued to operate under a the congregant philosophy (what we recognize today) until 1971.

I learned a lot on the tour, much more than expected. All around it was a great way for me to spend the morning.

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The prison was originally built on a hill beyond the edge of Philadelphia. As the town grew, it surrounded the prison. The guardhouse, the only way in or out, fronts on Fairmount Avenue. There's an elementary school off the northwest corner (not visible) of the building.

The hallway for Cell Block #1, the first constructed. They reconstructed this section to represent the original design. Prisoners took their food through the windows and entered the cell from a door the outside wall.

At the time when the White House still had to use chamber pots, the designers installed indoor plumbing in the prison. Not to be nice, but to facilitate the solitude required by the "separate" system.

Eevnutually expanded to 15 cell blocks, the prison has been out of use for nearly four decades, years that have not been kind to the old buildings. The non-profit operating the penitentiary today is raising money for a new roof, but in the main wants to keep the structures in their current appearance, while preventing decay and opening more sections to the public.

Al Capone and Willie Sutton are the two most famous inmates in the facilities history. Al Capone served eight months on a concealed weapons charge. Willie Sutton was involved in an elaborate tunnel escape that, but for 3 hours on the streets, was unsuccessful.

Extra Miler Club

While still an undergraduate at Michigan, I read a newspaper article about a group called the Extra Miler Club. For the most part, the club's members share the same goal, visit once in their lifetime each county in the United States. In the summer of 2000, with my first real solo excursion, a daytrip from Niles, Michigan to Turkey Run State Park in Parke County, Indiana, I started to keep track of the counties I entered and, in 2004, joined the club. Since that initial trip, I have tallied 689 counties, in 35 states, against a goal of 3,141. I could add at least 202 more counties to my total by including ones visited prior to 2000, but for now, I've left as my goal to re-enter each. With the exception of counties passed through on a cross-country train trip in 1992 and a few counties in upstate New York, I do believe I've identified every eligible county.

[Click on map for full-size pdf of the country. 1MB]

I do not recognize an airport layover, as sufficient to record a county, which only deprives me of a few counties. Any guesses on which ones? Though I'm only about fifth of the way to completion, I have obtained one of the universally-recognized most-difficult counties, Kalawao in Hawaii. Situated on the north shore of Molokai, it is the legal jurisdiction for the famous Kalaupapa leprosy settlement. Today, it is accessible to the public only by mule or plane. I utilized the former transport mode.

So far, I've finished five states—Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania—with designs to complete New Jersey and Maryland this year.

Snowy Day II:Invasion of the Snowmen

Normally a perambulation across the street, around the park, and back inside, all in less than twenty minutes wouldn't justify a blog post, but the fiercest blizzard in generations extenuate such an inclusion. Today, during the third major winter storm of the season, Philadelphia surpassed its all-time record for snow accumulation (65.5 inches) for Winter.

Transportation so precarious, our office, along with many in the city, closed for the day. With a slippery, four-block walk, I joined about a half-dozen other stalwarts at the office anyway. Despite contrary reports, I believe this is the first time in my six winters with PREIT, they closed the office. Already, they decided to cancel the workday tomorrow as well, certainly a first time occurrence. After I left for the day, I walked around Rittenhouse Square until I was too cold and wet to bear any more.

One benefit to receiving a lot of snow, is a surplus of material to construct snowmen. While I was working in my office, other Philadelpihans were busy crafting snowmen in the park. Here are a few pictures.

Artists Practicing their craft.

This guy was about 8 feet tall.

This head reminds me of something my brother Jon would do.
I was told rubbing his nose guarantees a male child.

This kid picked the wrong time to get a time-out.

And in a nod to diversity, a snowwomen. (All the others I saw were white males)

And a few more pictures of the park at its snowiest.

A good overview.

Looking East outside the park down Locust Street.

If today is a great day for football, it proves any day is a good day for football.

Snowy Day

We got a little bit of snow in Philadelphia today. My paper didn't come. Restaurants stayed closed. The gym shut down early. All interrupting my normal Saturday routine and giving me a chance to hole up inside for the day. Just to make sure I would appreciate the value of being huddled up in a what being huddled in warm apartment, I did venture out briefly around Noon to survey the blizzard's effect on the city. Here are a few pictures from my walk.

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