So here we are inside the Idaho State Penitentiary
that most people don't know is the most popular tourist attraction in the state
of Idaho. It's totally ominous the weather that we
got today isn't it? Dark clouds have settled over us.
I think maybe the ghosts here knew that we were coming
and so they're preparing to come out. So less light for the ghost is better I think.
I was not told about ghosts, there's nothing in my contracts about
dealing with ghosts, I have real issues with ghosts. We have
been given a guide to show us around so we don't
get lost in this place. So we're going to grab Jacey and he's going
to take us on a tour through the Idaho State Penitentiary.
This was a working penitentiary for 101 years.
1872 to 1973 and it housed Idaho's most notorious criminals. Some of Idaho's most
famous inmates were housed here. There were around 130 different deaths
that occurred here and because of the interest in potential paranormal
activity and haunted spots and abandoned tourism, it has rose to be
one of Idaho's if not Idaho's most popular destinations and we have over
the past couple decades have built a lot of
amazing events, new exhibits, and new guest experiences that keep
people coming back here. Here we are I wake up in the morning oh
comfy there's probably tempurpedic mattresses
on here. Jon's up there, I'm down here, we're sharing this cell
which if this was real life Jon's already said he would choose solitary
confinement and when you wanted to relieve
yourself number one and number two there was just simply a honey bucket as
they called it or a bucket right here that you would do your thing in whatever
that was. Maybe your cellmate would give you some privacy
hopefully, Larry look the other way i'm gonna do my thing,
and then this bucket would go back in here and they would take it, empty it.
So that was the indoor plumbing that they had here in this cell.
What do you think the chances are of
today of us seeing an aberration or a ghost or something like that do you have
anything you can like your kind of quick go-to's. I think we've
got a couple spots that we can go check out.
Who were some participants in death row? Were there really
mean bad people here? Yeah we did house an inmate named Raymond Snowden here in
death row who was the only man executed here
in this gallow structure. There were nine previous executions down at the site
before this building was built and all 10 were here on first
degree murder charges. All 10 executions were done via
hanging. This is where I get to surprise you guys with the prison keys.
Do you guys make stuff even squeakier and louder in this place?
I don't like this at all oh that's
I don't even want to be in the room honestly. It's a real weird feeling man I
don't like this at all. Jacey has just brought us into the
execution chamber. They would pull the person would be
there and then this is the lever. Absolutely yeah he would have been
placed on that trapdoor. When you come to the Idaho State
Penitentiary you definitely want a tour guide,
because you don't get to see cool creepy spine tingling things like that room.
So the Old Idaho State Penitentiary is open during the summer
between 10 am and 5 p.m admission is six dollars for an adult
three dollars for a kid. Now here's the really cool thing that we learned.
Guides, a guided tour is no extra charge. You can get into a guided tour for nothing
just the six dollar admission.
The problem is you don't know when that's going to be.
That's not a list online, that's not regular times during the day, so what you
need to do is call or email ahead of time
and ask the Old State Pen, "Hey when are the guides going out?"
So you can be here at that time and you can get on that tour.
Wow this is uh, this is small. It is small and this was built for
punishment for inmates. It's kind of creepy because it's dark.
Super dark you had a hole in the top for your light to come through
and that was your that was your world. For how long at a time?
Typically around 30 days but we know of one inmate who spent 18 months
in here after murdering another inmate.
Hey look Jon enjoys it. I feel like if I had a tv with some
Netflix I could definitely survive in here for
18 months. Some of the darkest episodes of the prison history you know would
have taken place in areas where they were punished and
because it is dark
there's no... Oh, I don't know if you guys heard that noise
and because it is dark there's no... oh. I thought that was
Madeline, was that Madeline? Oh jeez. I was hoping I was uh
I was hoping I was
I thought you were totally messing with us like there was some little thing
here that just did that. That I have a button no we're working on that.
We just finished our tour of the Idaho State Penitentiary the most
popular tourist attraction in Idaho and we ended
at 10 and just before 10 there was a line of
people out the door. You can see young people, old people, like this
place has happening right at 10 o'clock. So crazy. You're gonna want to come here
early on a summer day because there is no AC
in those buildings and i've been here before but i didn't
do it with a guide, he brought a whole different element to
it and I think what he was saying too is like each guide brings their own piece
to it so if you come more than once you're gonna
get a different experience. So I was in there for loafing
and uh I got this really cool nickname. Well I think I was
wrongfully accused really as punchy. I think he got a bad
rap. I mean it says here he was in on burglary in the second degree and
persistent violation of the law. I mean what's that mean?
You can't just say you're persistently violating the law so you got to go to prison.
I mean you were loafing in there. Chad what are
we gonna go do next? Well stay tuned Jon and you guys will
find out. Oh that's an excellent throw to break! Do what chad said, we'll
be right back, don't miss anything we're coming right
back three more seconds stay with us. 30 more years we'll be out. We'll be
right back. Persistent violation of the law.
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So today it's a beautiful summer day and we are at McU's
a sports rental staple here in downtown Boise for over 40 years
and Chad and I are going to be taking out a tandem bicycle
on the famous Boise Greenbelt before arriving at Alive after Five.
I'm a little bit nervous in chad's bicycle skills to be honest with you
but let's check it out, let's go into McU's, let's get on the bike.
So McU's started in 1972, along with tandems
we're going to have an array of mountain bikes. We go from hardtails to full
suspension, we're gonna also have carbon to plus
size bikes, electric, tag alongs for the kids,
trailers for the kids. Can you give us any advice
on riding a tandem bike? If you're not really in sync with the person you're
riding with it could be a bit of a struggle. You get
on this tandem and you're in a relationship
you might make it, you might break it. Take your hands off. You're turning my
butt. Hey just easy no you can't I I'm the one steering
the thing not you. I don't know what I'm doing.
I don't like this, I can't break, I have no control,
I feel like i'm just hurtling to oblivion with you. I have all the control.
Okay we've made it a short distance down to the Idaho Anne Frank
Human Rights Memorial. It's a beautiful place to come,
read the quotes or sit and listen to the waterfalls. It's a very peaceful spot.
well Chad we made it. That we did. They said it's make it or break it
and we made it. Oh okay well then we might get this series done after all.
I hope.
Chad so here we are. I can barely hear my thoughts right now because lo-fi is
jamming out behind us. So... really? Am I gonna have to deal with this?
Tell us why you like Alive After Five so
much. Well I was coming here a long time ago.
It's a great spot to come, It's at five o'clock, you get off work,
there's free live music, come down, have a
beverage with your buddy you know you can commit to like a half
an hour, an hour, or you can stay for the whole thing. People bring chairs down
here and camp out and it's good people watching really
good people watching. All right so if you have a Wednesday free
this sounds like a great day to me. You go to McU's, you pick up a tandem bike,
you then head downtown because you're already downtown.
You grab something to eat, you come over to Alive After Five, you chill, you
listen to some music, you grab a beer, and then you head back downtown
for either some shopping, some nightcaps, some more to eat if you're me. Some dessert.
So I think you look like you're ready
for a beer so maybe... No, no, so no, okay...
I wanna dance. Let's head in to Alive After Five and get you a beer
because if you're like that sober after a beer I'm sure you'll be super fun.
Well Chad that was a hell of a Wednesday. That was a fun Wednesday
you know in all my years of living here I've never put those two things together.
Biked down the greenbelt end up at Alive After Five it's a sweet night.
Yeah man I haven't been to Alive After Five that much
but I dig the vibe, I dig the energy and you know what, a free concert and some
beer, you gotta love Boise right? Exactly, you
can't go wrong with that. Thanks for watching Go 2 Boise please
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and we'll see you next time.