Bucket List: Go To The Eastern State Penitentiary

By Lara

I have a friend named Candy who likes scary things. I have endured several ridiculously cheesy scary movies at Candy's request. We have spent many hours in her basement watching television shows like, "FEAR." One such episode of, "FEAR" was shot at Eastern State Penitentiary. Candy discovered two or three years ago that there is a haunted house every fall at the Eastern State Penitentiary. She went and loved it.

I have been curious about this haunted house ever since. I imagine that is how "Go to the Eastern State Penitentiary" came to be placed on the Bucket List. Soon thereafter, Beth informed me that she had found coupons for the Penitentiary. Score.

I don't know how many of you have driven in Philadelphia, but that may actually be the scariest part of our adventure. However, Beth and I eventually made it to the ghost bus parking area at the Philadelphia Zoo. We parked under a bright light, secured our valuables, and got in line at for the ghost bus.

The Penitentiary is about ten minutes from the parking area. We had a charming ghost mistress on our bus who reminded me of the creepy midget from the "Twilight Zone." She had an ear-splitting cackle that raised the hairs on the back of my neck. Not really, but she was rather irritating.

Once we were free from the bus mistress, Beth got our tickets from will call, and we got in line. While in line, Beth was kind enough to promise to keep me from falling in case I should stumble. She agreed to hold onto my hand or my arm or my shirt. You know. Just in case. She is a selfless friend.

I won't go into too much detail about the haunted house itself. I don't want to ruin it for those who might want to experience it for themselves. I will, however, say that it was not what I was expecting. I learned a lot about the penitentiary itself during the walk through the museum on the way out.

Eastern State Penitentiary was established by the Quakers in the mid-19th Century. It was the first penitentiary in the world. The Quakers thought that inmates could more easily reform in complete silence. After a few years, the inmates started going insane. Thus, Eastern State also became a psychiatric facility.

Al Capone did a stint in the Eastern State Penitentiary. It is rather suspected that he got himself arrested in order to protect himself from rival gangsters. He only did eight months of his two year sentence.

Beth and I actually plan to go back for a more thorough exploration of the museum because it looked rather interesting. I imagine that there will be fewer actors trying to stick their noses in my ear if we go back after the haunted house is finished. At least I'm hoping.

Lara works for the Department of Defense. She would tell you more, but then she'd have to hunt you down and, well, you know... She enjoys spending time with friends, building sand castles on the beach in winter and going on international adventures. Lara and Beth M. were the brains behind our fun series on the Year of the Birthday. We are thankful they have decided to continue the fun with the Bucket List.