In the State Penn at Moundsville, Wheeling, WV

Yeah, you heard it right. We ended up in the State Pen at Moundsville. The old State Pen, that is. It's an imposing old building.

We did the tour, which was very interesting. Our tour guide was an ex-prison guard. He entertained us with anecdotes as well as information.

 Some of the artwork left behind by prisoners.

 Not a lot of room in there.

There was plenty of graffiti. There was also some wonderful artwork done by prisoners all over the walls. Some of the prints are for sale.

There was a section for women prisoners there too, and one of the most notable female prisoners was Charles Manson's mother. One of his uncles was also in there.

In the display room there's a letter from Charles Manson requesting to be transferred there to be closer to his family. I believe the reply went something along the lines of: not even if the Devil ice skates past my door.

 Old Smokey.

After the tour we went back down to the banks of the Ohio River.

It's not too bad down by the river. Big barges still use the river to transport coal.

 A coal barge went by.

We left Wheeling and once again ended up lost due to the GPS signals being all messed up. We found ourselves driving through the grounds of the new prison. Wow! That is some huge place.

The road we were on ended in a blockade. All our signals were jammed. It was a bit scary. We turned around and got out of there as fast as we could.

I hope that if we ever get back this way, we'll find Wheeling a renewed, grand old city once more.