dmeyer Loc: Marion, NC

Dwermske, I really appreciate your getting back to be on accessing the river and describing what to expect in travel time...it's very helpful. The prison is quite a rambling and stately structure, as you wrote. (Just an aside: in seeking more info on the prison, I stumbled onto a personal account of a 60-yr-old women who served time after Martha Stewart's stint and it was quite unnerving--and eye opening--to realize the physical hardship seniors face when put into mainstream prison populations.)

dmeyer Loc: Marion, NC

The town may be cause to stop after all. My photo buddy and I don't usually have time for tours/rides, but Cass has an interesting history. As you said, there's much to photograph without getting on the train. Thanks for the additional insight, rehess. Cass seems to be quite popular with many of the folks who have shared suggestions.

kdogg Loc: Gallipolis Ferry WV

If you are going to try to go to the glass factory you might be able to catch the Pumkin Festiva also. It is usually the first week of October and is just across the street from the glass factory.

NHSmitty Loc: Goffstown NH

I believe you can google Harper’s Ferry to get some ideas of the possibilities. I wish you the best on your adventure. It looks to me like you have a lot to see.
Smitty

dwermske

Dmeyer, This prison is nothing like what you might have ever seen. I know that it has changed a lot since I lived there but you have to see it to believe it. No bars on windows or doors. Each inmate has their own room. The only building with bars is the orientation building where an inmate spends the first few months getting accustomed to the rules and environment. Then they are assigned a dorm and a room. During the day they either are assigned to some duty or they have free time to stroll around the campus.

I lived in a trustee area out on the farm and my brother and I had to ride our bikes past the cottage where the trustees lived that worked the farm and dairy. This was necessary to get to the back gate of the prison to catch the bus to go to school in Alderson. At times we were within inches of the trustees and they were often very verbally abusive. My four letter word vocabulary significantly increased during those 3 years, and that saying something for a 13yr old boy. My brother and I had free run within the trustee area and farm and we had many encounters with the inmates, some good and some not so good.

Just as a side note; the doctors at the prison were either OB-GYN or Pediatricians. There was, on average, at least 5 babies born every week. Women would even go so far as to steel a car and drive it over a state line thus committing a Federal offense, to get the government to cover all their medical care for their pregnancy during their 18 month stay at Alderson. All the doctors were military (Navy, Army or Air Force) serving their time working at the prison.

On Sundays we always had lunch at the officers dining hall and out server was Mildred Gillars (alias "Axis Sally"). If you don't know your WW2 history, she was the American Nazi radio propagandist during the war. She and Iva Toguri D'Aquino (alias "Tokyo Rose") the American Japanese radio propagandist, were both incarcerated there.

I learned a lot about social micro environments while living there. I have lived at other Federal Correctional institutions where my dad worked but this on was the most unique.

dmeyer Loc: Marion, NC

dmeyer Loc: Marion, NC

Your had a fascinating childhood, to say the least, dwermske. That's a lot of interesting history and trivia you've shared--especially to anyone who has no inkling of how prisons are run. In trying to understand the birth numbers, were already-pregnant women stealing cars to get incarcerated--or were some prisoners being impregnated by guards (or other)? Hard to imagine deliberately getting oneself locked up.

CYou Loc: Lawrenceville, GA

Check out Harman' s cabins in Cabins WV. They are near Smoke Hole. This is a great place to stay.

dwermske

Yes, my childhood was a little different to say the least. Yes, the women were already-pregnant and very desperate. Some even did it more than once. The prison provided great medical services plus care for the babies for the first 6 weeks then placed them with a relative where possible. All but a few of the guards were women. The men were on the front gates and some like my dad were operations managers. The warden was even a woman. None of the men directly managed any of the women except when there was a prison break and then it was all hands on deck (that was always exciting). You'd think we were under nuclear attack from the Russians. Just like in the movies (lights and sirens). The county the prison is located in is Greenbrier county. Most of the time an escaped prisoner never got more than 1/4 mile before they were either caught or gave up from being cut up from the dense briers. Very rough country formed a natural deterrent. Most escapees never tried again.

rydabyk Loc: Florida Panhandle

Cass Scenic Railway can be spectacular stop in the fall. There is nothing like seeing a hearing a steam engine travel through the gorge. Grandview near Beckley, Glade Mill at Babcock State Park (The cabins are great!), Hawks Nest State Park where you can take a tram ride down the mountain, Bear Rocks Preserve, there are just so many things to do and places to visit. We head up that way every October and then try to follow the fall colors down to the Smokey Mountains. Enjoy your trip, its a wonderful time of year to be in the mountains.

dmeyer Loc: Marion, NC

Checked the cabins out and they are NICE, but definitely out of my travel allowance.

dmeyer Loc: Marion, NC

Thanks, rydabyk. Cass appears to have quite a few photo ops and, while we wouldn't do the train ride, I'd love to find some interesting vantage points to photograph the train en route along the gorge. Glade Mill has been on my list for quite some time but I didn't know much about the cabins, so thanks for the endorsement on staying there. My buddy and I did an autumn waterfall tour of western NC, GSMNP, and northern GA a few years ago and the fall colors just didn't happen. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will be the year for a burst of colors!