Stop! Slammer Time.

If everything goes as planned, this will be my last non-working post.  I am over it.  Put me in coach! 

In a previous post, I talked about an interesting way that I spent my "off" time.  We aren't allowed to spill beans or anything, per paperwork, so I will just say that I recently read this book, which may be related to that activity.  I liked the book a lot more than I expected too!  It was neat to actually have a face for the characters that I did not make up in my head. 

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Being home has helped me in my unexpected situation but it has also helped my parents.  I've been able to convince them to be more active, for their own good but if nothing else, it keeps their hands out of the cookie jar!  

My dad and I have been heading to different local cemeteries, where he has been a good resource for locating old relatives.  It has been peaceful, productive, historical (influenza of 1918) and filled with life among the dead. 

"I had a little bird, it's name was Enza..."

Each cemetery so far has a section of several similar stones, all from 1918, which reflects the flu pandemic at that time.  Neat to me and maybe a few other Penn Staters who learned a little jingle related to this outbreak. 

Ohai!

 

Call back to the recent overabundance of wheel bugs (::shiver::) from a previous post.  They seem to be getting along with each other pretty well, huh? 


But none are as spooky as this....

Enter nightmares... NOW!

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On a lighter note, my mom and I were able to keep our Apple Festival date this year!  We were in, we were out and then it rained.  Perfect timing!  Unlike previous years, I won't be making apple pies or other non-paleo treats.  I plan to make paleo applesauce and maybe individual paleo "apple pies" like I made last year.  I am also looking into apple chips since I finally found and unpacked my mandoline. 

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For years...  my dad and I have been talking about going to the abandoned and supposedly haunted West Virginia State Penitentiary.  This came about after we realized how close it was while watching an episode of Ghost Hunters, where they stayed the night, you know, ...hunting ghosts.  If you know anything about me, you know I love blood, guts and being spooked out and 'tis the season, so let's do this!  We bought tickets and headed out to wild and wonderful West Virginia.  We even talked mom into joining us!

I am sure the Google can tell you more than me but in brief, it is said to have been one of the most violent prisons, known for murder, suicide and executions.  There have been reports of paranormal activity and shows aimed at uncovering the past related to these supposed hauntings.

In addition to the violent history of death and cruel punishment, WVSP is also known for a large prison escape in 1979 where fifteen prisoners made their way out.  Must have been a no-brainer with a cheat sheet on the wall. 

Inmates surprisingly passed time with jobs and had access to more tools/weapons than guards.  Luckily, save for the riots, they were used for "good" purposes.  Some were artists and painted large murals that hung all over the walls while others built exercise stations and the infamous Old Sparky, in 1951.  Only 9 men visited him for execution before he was outlawed in 1965. 

Once upon a time, this served as a chapel and a gym area for the inmates but since then has been redesigned and was used in a film that is coming soon.   Even though I was not "in" this one, keep your eyes peeled anyway for this.  

An electric lineup

Behind the place where "Old Sparky" now lives is the communication room.  Visitors would talk via telephones from the outside, a U shape, to the inmate, who was in an enclosed area, for as long as he was allowed per his behavior.  It looked just like you'd expect, just like the movies.

I saw a Sheetz cup inside.  Maybe THAT was a ghost's coffee and he was staring right at me!

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Before the tour actually started, there was a little room of tools, guns and other weapons and history.  In one of the cases, there was a grammatical nightmare of a letter from Charles Manson.  He was asking to be transferred to that prison instead of California because he grew up in Moundsville, WV and wanted to be nearer to family.  Oh, and he would behave and was a great worker.  He just "couldn't git no mercey from California!"  The tour guide relayed the reply as "Dear Charles, Hell no."

One of my favorite cases was of the creatively homemade shanks.  

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Our tour guide, as most are, is a retired corrections officer.  She must have been stripped of her personality as she was her job when the place closed in 1995.  Snore.  No talk about hauntings or even a trip to the cells for close to an hour!  Holy snore.  No one wants to talk about the basketball courts and administration offices or the current trainings. Let's go lady!

Finally, we were led to the Wagon Gate which is where they held their hangings.  Hurrah!  She told us about where the elderly, helpless inmates lived and then about the executions that were open to the public until one was immediately decapitated.  Everyone got all wound up and it turned into an invite only event.  Sissies.  

After that, we were led inside to visit the cells.

 

Stuck in time

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There was a "wheel" at the only entrance to the prison.  Everyone had to pass through it- employees, visitors, the warden's family, whoever you were.  There were four openings where it would stop to send you to visit inmates, go to the warden's home, visit the office area or exit.  Someone was in control of this and no one ever made it to an area where they didn't belong.  Some of the notable hauntings include this wheel moving on its own, as if visitors or employees were still entering the building.  We all crammed inside while she told the story. 

There were four levels of cells but by the time it closed, they only used the ground level, mostly because of plumbing and sanitary issues but I think she mentioned some other reasons too.  I was just mentally stuck on images of disgusting poo rivers.   Gag.

Quick, someone call the Property Brothers!

Art covered a lot of the walls, tape pieces were still seen on the wall from whatever hung before, *something* was still in the toilet and a general odor remained. 

The guide relayed that on many of the doors, "pieces" were missing that had been carved out using dental floss and either toothpaste or Comet to fashion a weapon.  Many doors looked like the one below.

Someone had a lot of time on his hands!

The "showers"

Most of the time the officers on duty controlled the temperature and length of time for showers, which was directly dependent on an inmate's behavior.  For the naughty inmates, the officer would wait until he was lathered up and then shut the (usually cold) water off completely. 

Some art work:

Is that a stink bug?!

I see a theme...

 And also some borrowed shots from a youtube video of an overnight here:

We finally arrived in an area where the guide was willing to admit to some hauntings, mostly because it was nearing the end of the tour and I think she wanted to plug the Halloween night tours.  She put all of us into cells and locked the doors.  At first, it seemed pretty cool (except to my mom "I'm just gonna get pictures"  mmm hmmmm), but once the door slammed, it was a little chilling.  I, of course, looked around my cell and saw that I had chosen/been forced into the padded room.  Figures. 

Dad called dibs on the one with a TV

Slammered

Locked in

"You've got the wrong guy!"

So the tour wrapped up and we headed outside and across the street to visit a single mound, as the town was named after (Moundsville).  Inside the building was a creepy collection of dolls that, if the imagination of prison hauntings didn't do it, would give a good nightmare.  

So we went through and outside to the mound (as seen in the movie preview I showed you). 

If you're interested in the history. 

Basically, way way way back, a certain unnamed but honored person died and was buried with a mound on top of him.  Many years later, another similarly unnamed honored person died and was buried the same way, just on top of the original one, leading to this 70 foot high mound and the birth of a city named Moundsville.  And then we stood on it. 

Mound tops can be disorienting, I guess

Me and my roomies made it to the top

A climb like that deserves a little treat, for sure!  We visited Johnny and Shar's for ice cream and a walk down (mostly my parents) memory lane with toys and signs, etc.  Usually, no ice cream for me but I was in the mood for a little something sweet!

Pittsburgh representing (Kennywood, Thunderbolt, Jack Rabbit, Idlewild)

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This trip (with stories and pictures) prompted my brother to want to visit also.  He made plans for a weekend day to go, which means *someone* had to watch Blake.  We had a great hang out!

I cooked, he slept...

 I made a bottle and we worked on his smiles. 

I watched a movie, he slept.

He asked for another bottle, like a baby (awwww).

And then he slept again! 

I think it went very well!  I think I can do this after all!

Also, his mother informed me that he had the best night of sleep he has had since he has been home, so, ever.  I wish I could share the secret with you but I don't know the answer.  Auntie's touch cures all, I guess!

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Up next, the other group of babes.  We packed up and headed to the pumpkin patch.  The time is fast approaching but even still, we may have been a week too late.  Hunting for a decent pumpkin was that much harder but Abbey found two that weren't crushed, blown up or drawn all over.  We found time to visit the cornstalk mazes, face painting and the corn playpen too.  My favorite part was the people watching, of course. 

Pumpkin man is a stand in for Ben that day. 

Children of the corn?

A windy day, it was.

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This time there are no food photos, sadly.  However, I will say there is some exciting news on the paleo food front.  My two favorite go-to recipe bloggers have decided to team up to make a recipe book together.  I CANNOT wait to see what these two produce!!

If you are as excited as me, you can--

• Pre-order it here.

• Read about their trip to Pittsburgh to announce it on this blog.

• Watch their blooper video here.

• Or just look at them and the food... here.

The thing I miss most being mostly paleo is cheese.  I could have been mistaken for a mouse before this diet!  I cheated a little this week with some cheeses and I loved it!  Cheese baths for everyone!

XO