I posted this in the Pennsylvania forum but since NYC isn't too far from Philly I thought some of the New Yorkers might be interested.

Is anyone interested in getting a group together to tour the old Eastern Penitentiary in Philly? Maybe we could make a mini PTO gathering out of it for the weekend. I think it would be neat to see and towards the end of September to October they have "Terror behind the walls" (Buy one get one free admittance too) which seems like it would be fun as well. Here's the link if you want to check it out:

http://www.easternstate.org/

That is the scariest thing I have ever seen! You couldn't drag me there for NOTHIN"
I am admittedly the worlds biggest chicken, just looking at the pictures scared the hell out of me! I went in a haunted house at the State Fair in Texas once and thought I was going to pee my pants!! And that was pretty lame compared to this thing! Even if they told me my husband would get out if I went there, I would have to say, sorry, honey, but your staying in awhile longer. :)

EEeeewww, eek, it probably really IS haunted. Did you notice they have "Alumni" reuinions? Does that seem a little bizarre to anyone else?

Peace...Eastern Prison is close to Gloria's restaurant, a really nice place with good seafood. Just thought I'd add that. If a date is set and I am available I'll attend. Blessings...

sorry, they couldn't pay me to go. i would not pay to support any doc. i'm doing enough of that already. the only thing i would pay for is to see my husband walkinging out the gate into my car.

Chinikfb-The PA thread got a positive response on people wanting to go. When we work out a date I will PM you with the details. Hopefully you'll be able to come as well as anyone else that may still be interested or change their mind. Thanks for everyone's input!

I am a human rights advocate who has worked on behalf of prisoners for close to a decade...I also live in Philadelphia. For years I traveled past Eastern State and never gave it much thought. In the last 10+ years a group of very dedicated people began to take an interest in rehabilitating the building--for historical reasons and to help us learn from our history what prisons were like "back then". The prison provides a annual art show [open to any and all artists], have received grants that support art projects, sponsors a yearly reunion [that one took me back, too until I read a little more about it--alumni make themselves available to answer questions, etc...], and make sure that the many stray cats that originally took over the grounds many years ago, get fed and/or found homes. Many movies have been made there too [12 Monkeys is the one that comes to mind]. I would not go there at Halloween either and yes, there are some books that do talk about the "ghosts" that may "reside" there.
Just thought I would add my perspective concerning touring this former prison as what might otherwise be thought of as a strange or abborant idea! After all, when you see the hundreds of people boarding boats to tour Alcatraz every day, going on a little $9 self guided audio tour of Eastern State is "chump chain" in comparison!!! lol

For those that showed interest:
A date and time has been set for anyone that missed the posts. We are planning to tour the Old Eastern Penitenuary in Philly on September 26th at 3 p.m. egs (Elaine) has been gracious enough to not only allow us to meet at her place which is close to the prison but also host a bar-b-q for us. What I want to get in the post is a response from anyone that will definitely be coming and also a list from egs of what she would like people to bring to the bbq. (drinks, paper plates, food, sweets, etc..). Thanks for the input from everyone and I'm looking forward to a great time meeting all of you!!

A lot of people are posting how scared they would be, but we're not going to the haunted house, we're taking a tour of the prison. I don't think the money is going to the DOC either is it? Not that I really care