The Pop Culture Travel Guide

Tag: Prison Museums

Be Well-Behaved in the Fremantle Prison

Where: The Terrace, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia, 6160

12/03/2007 at 9:30 AM
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Prisons might seem like solemn places, but they're also the kind of tourist attraction just waiting for endless jokes about leaving the annoying tour group member behind, or for threatening your children if they misbehave. In Western Australia, the Fremantle Prison is a historic building yet was being used for high security prisoners right up until 1991.

Hop a tour round the Fremantle Prison and you'll remember why you don't want to rob a bank any time soon. Exercise yards are tiny and the guide might show you some of the spots where the guards couldn't see; that's where the worst of the fighting took place. You can also see the gallows where the worst of the worst were hanged until Australia outlawed capital punishment.

This place still feels as creepy as a prison, but if broad daylight isn't scary enough for you, try the candlelit night tour, or get into the low boats that follow tunnels under the prison. And just remember to do what the guides tell you, or you might be distressed by the consequences. They're still carrying an awful lot of keys around.

Related Stories:
· Fremantle Prison [Official Site]
· Jail Tours Coverage[Jaunted]
· Western Australia Travel coverage [Jaunted]

0 Comments - Add Yours by amandak

Jennifer Aniston Sings In The Texas Slammer

6/14/2007 at 9:05 AM
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Hasn't Jennifer Aniston read the tabloids lately? Instead of running from prison, the ex-Mrs. Brad Pitt is heading straight for it with a new project about a group of singing jailbirds in Huntsville, Texas. As described in a 2003 story (subscription required) in Texas Monthly, the women's prison Goree State Farm northwest of Houston produced a country-western group in the 1940s of mostly petty larcenists, known as the Goree All Girl String Band. The Girls weren't allowed to tour, obviously, but gained millions of fans by broadcasting from inside the station although they never made a recording. Sounds like a Coen brothers movie, but it really happened! Aniston will definitely produce and perhaps star in the ensuing musical.

Goree prison still exists, although it's gone coed since those days. The town of Huntsville also holds the Texas Prison Museum, home of legacy electric chair "Ol' Sparky" as well as shotguns found in Bonnie and Clyde's car (speaking of famous prison movies...) and inmate bobbleheads in the gift shop. Unfortunately, inmate rodeos are no longer running.

Related Stories:
·Hotels in Huntsville Texas [HotelChatter]

[Photo: dorsia]

0 Comments - Add Yours by egw



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