Photos from a Philadelphia prison

I go to a lot of museums. The biggies are great, but I tend to prefer the pleasures from bite-sized portions of more out-of-the-way, unexpected ones like Bucharest's National Museum of the Romanian Peasant (hand-written signs about how to love your grandma), Oklahoma's Woolaroc (largely for nostalgic purposes) and Hanoi's bizarre Ho Chi Minh Museum, with Soviet-inspired exhibits of winner detergent boxes.

I'm adding one more to the list: Philadelphia's super Eastern State Penitentiary, considered the country's first prison and example of 'modern architecture,' whatever that means. It operated as a 'solitary' prison, all inmates had own cells, from the early 1800s till 1971, when it was abandoned into a eery ruin. Self-guided tours of the paint-peeling site not far from Philadelphia Museum of Art 'Rocky steps' are $12 and I could easily have spent three or four hours. I will go back.

Here are some photos that make up yet another reason why more people should go to Philadelphia.

Bulletin board outside one cell

A certain 'Chico' put his name in here in 1960

Me with original cell toilet

Cell blocks radiate out spoke-like from center

Failed escapee carved a (hard to see) face, below the light

Prison's baseball field

Sting came her for (close-up) photo for an album cover

Castle-like exterior made solely to intimidate -- it did to Charles Dickens

(Modern) art in one of the cells

Much of the cell interiors left as is/was

Al Capone's cell was nicer than most

All cells were solitary, each with tiny outdoor area - this would be only view you'd get

Art penciled-in over one cell doorway

Okoboji with kids

Before we had kids, my husband and I spent many lazy summer weekends in Okoboji relaxing on boats or by the pool and long afternoons at some of our favorite watering holes. Looking back, we sat down a lot. Since having kids (they are 5 and nearly 2), we still enjoy visiting Iowa’s Great Lakes, but with a lot less sitting and more action.

One of our first stops is always Arnolds Park. This old-school amusement park offers rides, games, concessions, and their wooden roller coaster ranks as one of the top 10 wooden roller coasters in the country. My 5-year-old daughter loves seeing West Lake Okoboji from the top of the Ferris wheel.

We often visit the Treasure Village Theater to see the production of some classic children’s stories. It’s a nice length for little kids. They also offer face painting and a mini golf course that is made just for kids. It is easy enough that my daughter got a hole in one.

Swimming ranks high on my kids' list of favorite activities and there is certainly no shortage of places to swim in Okoboji. From nice beaches to the indoor waterpark at Bridges Bay Resort, we have tried them all and all were well received.

My daughter and I also took some time to go a little shopping. We spent over an hour in the Barn Swallow, a unique gift shop full of everything from books and shirts to decorations for the house. They also have plenty of stuff upstairs for little girls.

There are plenty of things for older kids to do as well, and I am looking forward to the many adventures that we have coming our way.

What's your favorite spot in Okoboji?

Colleen Murphy, Iowa Tourism Office