In the big house...

The United Way was selling tours of the recently decommissioned Kingston Penitentiary. C lived down the street from KP briefly as a child and has been curious about it ever since. We were incredibly fortunate to get tickets, they sold out super fast.

We took the kids out of school so that they could experience the tour too. We were guided by a current corrections officer who worked at KP right up until the end (and has since transferred to another facility), he was a little light on the history of the amazing old place, but the picture he painted of life there just prior to the decommissioning was incredible, vivid and thought-provoking.

The 'main entrance' as viewed from the inside.

Little J in a standard general population cell, incredibly tiny!

Beautiful architecture in the 'shop dome', where inmates could learn a trade or complete an apprenticeship.

Razor wire. This stuff was EVERYWHERE. I never knew what razor wire was until this tour, it actually has double sided razors all along the coils. Creepy.

After our tour we spent some time in the penitentiary museum, across the street in the original warden's house, then lunch together at 5 Guys. Such an interesting, educational but still cool day.