2018 05 15 Ohio State Reformatory

Mansfield, Ohio - 15 May 2018
Go to Facebook for a few fun movies.

The entrance to the Administrative Building and cell blocks.

The plaque explains why the architect and the State of Ohio designed what today would be considered a ridiculously extravagant cost for incarcerated prisoners. Initially, the Reformatory was designed to encourage young offenders to turn their lives around, improve their futures by learning a trade and reduce recidivism.

Rehabilitation included classroom education for earning a GED, workshops and learning trades plus was self-sufficient in producing its own electricity and much of its own food.

The current remaining buildings have been used in many movies and TV shows. The most popular movies were The Shawshank Redemption, Air Force One and Tango and Cash. Many TV shows include 101 Things to do Before You Die, several music videos, Scariest Places on Earth, Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures and Real Scary Stories.  

This gate was used in Air Force One as the exit the Russian Prison. The bars on the windows were also left and if you look at the right side you will see they are attached to small wooden slats. What you can't see is that the bars themselves are made of wood. Not very secure for a prison but this is the back of the Administration building.

Old Sparky, the control panel and the phone connected to the Governor's office. These items are from the time when the Reformatory no longer tried to reform anyone and was a maximum security prison. 

Couple of guys walking around really seemed to know their way around because Bob and I sometimes had trouble locating the Tour route. 

I think Bob was not getting along with this guy.

This room was used as the Parole Board room in the Shawshank Redemption. Pretty fancy with the stained glass windows. The paper on the table was the dialogue between Morgan Freeman's character, Red, and the Board members. 

Most of the Administrative rooms had decorative upper transom windows while the warden family rooms did not. 

Hm. Well, this is odd. A staircase to nowhere. No hidden doors and trap door stairs here. 

Besides the educational opportunities, all 1900 inmates where originally required to attend religious services. They were non-denominational until the population grew too large to be accommodated in this one room. This became the Catholic Chapel. Other religions met in other areas. 

Another artifact left from the filming of Air Force One, a Russian Orthodox icon poster. 

Several of the original painted plaster Stations of the Cross from the Chapel are set in a cabinet which is good because there were several broken windows that had let a few pigeons inside. 

Just entering the East Cell Block area. This is the guards' area leading to the cells. Clearly this space could use a coat of paint.   

This is one side of the East Cell Block. The wall on the left is the outside wall. The cell block is 6 stories high and is the only free standing steel cell block in the world, meaning it is not attached directly to any outside walls. This is where most of the paranormal activity has been noticed. Lights flashing (which happened while we were there), doors slamming, footsteps heard walking in front of the cells, shadows looking down from the catwalks, voices of inmates and one warden's wife who was tragically killed when she dropped a loaded gun which discharged striking her in the lung.    

Another design feature are the fancy interior pillars and archways. All this unusual architecture was to inspire the inmates to uplift themselves and turn away from their sinful lifestyles.   

Most of the day was spent in classes or working so the cells were small and spare. The front building is currently being revitalized but the cell blocks, chapel, hospital and library have not had any work done in them. 

This cell gives you any idea how little room was available for 2 people. 

Between the front and back cells is another catwalk used to access the utilities and listen to the conversations of the inmates.

Most the the bedstands were spring wires. This looks more torturous as those slats are solid metal even with the added strings to keep the mattress from sagging between the slats.

The bump-outs behind me on the right is part of the heating system. But the further down to the bottom floor we went the colder it got. I was definitely glad I was wearing long pants but wished I had long sleeves. 

In the hospital, we found one of the jail birds flying around due to broken windows. 

The West Cell Block guard stairway. There were fewer guards as more inmate self-regulation. They could even vote out a cellmate if 3 of the 4 had problems.

The cell blocks were made by professional metal workers but the fancy decorations were created in the metalworking shop. 

Bob found this guy coming out of the Solitary Confinement area. 

This cell was specially created and painted (brown and orange) for a Cleveland Browns football player who was incarcerated for drug possession. 

More leftover posters (Stalin and Lenin) from Air Force One. 

The warden and I were talking about the use of local Ohio commodities like the floor and wall tiles in the residential areas. Some of the furniture was built in the woodworking shop.

We enjoyed our tour and learned a lot of things about late 19th Century rehabilitation efforts. The Ohio State Reformatory opened its doors in September 1896. After housing over 155,000 men in its lifetime, the doors to the prison closed December 31, 1990. Today this historic site receives visitors from all over the world including tourists, movie buffs, thrill seekers and paranormal investigators. The Halloween event renames the Reformatory as Blood Prison. Monsters and the criminally insane roam freely hunting for guests who they can make one of their own.

The Reformatory is considered the most haunted place in the country. If you are in the neighborhood, stop by for a tour or schedule your next meeting, conference, trade show or event at this unique venue. It offers spacious rooms, guided tours and inclusive accommodations. If that's your thing, I would recommend a personal inspection of those accommodations. 

2018 05 06 - 05 16 North Central PA, Elk Center, Mohican State Park near Loudonville Ohio.

Woodland, Pennsylvania - 3 May 2018

A quiet campground northwest of State College where Penn State University is located. At a half hour drive from camp we were nonetheless glad to see a Trader Joe's so we could stock up. There is a definite feeling of spring in the air with plenty of rain and rising humidity. 

The Elk Country Visitor Center - 7 May 2018

Our day trip was an hours drive north of camp to take the Elk Viewing Scenic Drive. Wait! ELK!!! Where are we again? Pennsylvania's elk range covers over 3,000 square miles including 9 counties and a 127-mile route with 23 viewing sites. Seems that elk once roamed freely throughout Pennsylvania but rapid settlement combined with unregulated hunting and habitat loss resulted in completely eliminating them from the state by 1867.

Rocky Mountain Elk from Yellowstone were introduced into the state between 1913 and 1926. The current herd were eventually successful and currently number around 900. 

Not being early at-the-crack-of-dawn risers, we were not convinced that we would get any "viewing" this day. This specimen seemed like the only elk we would be seeing today. We were, however, very thankful for the high clearance of the truck as some of the viewing areas would have been more than my Camry could have handled.  While Bob did the driving, I kept a careful eye on any grassy fields whether right off the road or a distance away. We had collected several maps to help us locate the frequented areas for elk gatherings but I was not having much luck.

We had been on the road for a couple hours when I spied this young beauty with a few girlfriends grazing in someone's front yard. We tried not to trespass too much when we turned off the road onto their driveway but just could not pass up the chance for a couple pictures.

Black Moshannon State Park - 8 May 2018

Hoping for some birding opportunities another road trip was needed. But, alas, while there was some twittering (nothing near 280 characters thankfully) the participants were as elusive as the elk. 

In the bog area we were astonished to see this bug dissolving pitcher plant. Not as common in stores as the Venus Fly-Trap plant, I had one of these in a smaller version when I was a kid. Ah, memories. 

Swamp Thing...

Loudonville, Ohio, Mohican State Park - 11 May 2018

I think Bob is getting pretty good at backing our house into some of these site. This one is just long enough for the RV and parking the truck perpendicular to it along the road. We had no more than set up when the Ohio humidity rolled in up to 85%. Lovely. It was a large, pretty, well maintained state park with the Clear Fork Creek flowing behind the sites behind us. It's a good thing there were plenty of things locally to do because after setting up camp we realized we had no phone coverage, no Wi-Fi access and no television reception. There were three radio stations available unless we wanted to sit in the truck to listen to Sirius XM. But inside the RV we had one each of classical, hip-hop or country options.

After our trip from Pennsylvania, the dogs and Bob where ready for some outdoor activity. With the humidity, I was happy to relax inside while they trecked the Mohican Rim Trail where he discovered he could get cell phone service. It was a mile long trail which gave him enough time to notify family that we were incommunicado for the next week unless we traveled outside the campgrounds. 

 Tori and Dakota patiently waiting for Bob to finish with my phone calls and texts. 

Hooded Warbler. This was a really good birding location. We saw many brightly colored birds that we had not seen while we lived here. 

Mohican Gorge - 12 May 2018

As you can see, it's a shorts and t-shirt kind of day. The Clear Fork Creek runs under this covered bridge with walking trails on either side that ends after a 1.5 mile walk to the earthen dam to the north. 

 Overlook stop to catch our breathe. The trees are leafing out so we have some shade. 

Turkey Vultures were circling  over the river which claimed to have 4 species of bass, crappie, Musky, sunfish, and a couple others. 

Ohio version of Stonehenge. No, not really. It's the overflow intake in front of the dam but the water would have to rise more than 60 feet to get to this point. We do not want to be around if that ever happens. 

"UNSAFE FOOTING" Ya think?

I moved this as far off the path as I could but we were on our way back down river so I was not at my best. Tori appreciated the effort though.

Just a little further, cross the bridge, take a right and another few hundred feet for a cool drink.  

2018 04 30 - 05 05 Philadelphia Area then to North Central PA

Downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - 30 April 2018

O-M-freaking-G! Our adventure into downtown Philly...such a disaster. With Kristen's Honda out of commission, we decided to drive our truck with the plan of parking halfway between the Liberty Bell Plaza and the Reading Terminal Market. Should have thought that through because we were within less than one inch of being totally wedged into a parking garage ramp with walls on both sides. So, lesson learned. Don't take a Ram 3500 with an 8 foot bed into an old parking garage. Bob managed to finagle back and forth until we just barely escaped and gratefully exited into the gridlocked traffic, blocked off streets and narrow one way, parking on both sides, streets. We were all very frustrated and wasted most of our time driving in circles.

What we needed was some sustenance. A Philly cheesesteak sandwich and Coke lunch would go down smoothly. This establishment was rated highly and was on the North side away from the general madness of downtown traffic. The interior has one lunch counter with no more than 12 seats. The solution to that almost standing room only situation is to jam folding tables and chairs against the windows which allows for a very congested walkway. The mound of chopped meat had to be about one foot tall and as deep as a grill, about 2 feet.   

Delassandro's cheesesteaks mix the cheese with the meat while some other places pour the cheese sauce over the meat. Although Kristen and Dave have lived outside of Philly for 4 years, they had not partaken in this traditional meal. We wanted to try one before we left the area and we all agreed this was worth driving around town.

Grounds for Sculpture, Seward Johnson Center for the Arts, Trenton, New Jersey - 1 May 2018

This is an interesting and unique outdoor adventure. Seward Johnson (of the Johnson & Johnson family) was not destined to join the family business but he used his family money to establish sculpture park and museum to promote and understanding of and appreciation for contemporary sculpture open to the public since 1992. The road leading to the park is American and international artists. The collection of sculptures, indoors and outdoors, continues to change and grow.  

The "painter" is actually another sculpture. The Grounds is home to many recreations of Impressionist paintings.  

Pictures of paintings are blown up so every detail can be recreated, such as the folds and layers of the ladies dresses and details of their hair. 

Karen and I listen to the docent explaining the details in the newspaper which reproduced the actual articles for the dated paper. 

Some installations were prominently displayed while others were hidden among the park plantings. 

Bob and I, my brother, Bob and his wife, Karen joined the lunch crowd.

A few "painter" sculptures were painting a scene of other sculptures. 

This is the scene from the prior painting. The children are not part of the sculpture. The lake in the background was built as a backdrop for the park. 

This lifelike installation even has a real I-phone next to the man's hand. 

The iconic "American Gothic", one of the larger than life offerings, complete with giant cows and a crop of seasonal rows of corn.

If we had missed the Cherry Blossoms in DC, we would have been very happy with the number of trees on the grounds in full bloom. These appear to be crabapple trees  but still quite a beautiful sight.  

And a half dozen giant pumpkins. 

Barclay Friends, West Chester, Pennsylvania - 2 May 2018

My mom is back at the Skilled Care Facility in her old room. While she does not remember the fire, her kids are glad she has returned. She was in Physical Therapy to address her leg weakness when we arrived. When she finished, we took her outside for some fresh air, sunshine and conversation. Kristen even made time for a visit. 

While we waited for PT to finish our dogs were a popular distraction for other residents and staff members walking past. Dakota is very friendly while Tori is more timid and lays under the furniture, only to emerge when head pats are being passed out. 

Woodland Campground, Woodland, Pennsylvania - 5 May 2018

Our walk around the campground lake this morning was the first opportunity since arriving two days ago. Groceries and rain yesterday but at least there is grass between the sites instead of all gravel. A nice hiking trail around the entire campground, playground, large sandbox, paddleboat rentals, basketball, volleyball, frisbee golf and horseshoes add to the fun of a family camping trip. 

Spring is arriving in leaps and bounds. Red bud trees blooming among the evergreens and still leafless deciduous trees. 

Good long pull through sites without obstructions. To the left are back-in sites under the trees. Around the perimeter are back-in, full-time sites and beyond those are tents sites and a few cabins.