29 replies to this topic

[JacobSteinAFM]

Okay, it's been a long day and I just got home. I moved to Joliet last week because I'm going to school here. So today, I went over and saw the prison for the first time and I took some pics for you all.



This is the building with the flagpole, the statue dogs (not there anymore) and the sign. I did not come near it because dixie was once asked to leave by some security guards.


The stoplight and intersection that Elwood drove through. This is the view just to the right of the previous pic.


The only building I could see that was within the walls.


Yap.


View to the north, in Elwood's direction.


Looking south from the lot across from the gate.


The gate. (which has certainly seen better days)


The shot of Elwood standing in front of the Bluesmobile.


View from the north wall, looking south. (ooh, french fries!)
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/jacobsteinafm/8-3-2007-25.jpg

Here is the corner where they turned and Elwood does the hand signal.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/jacobsteinafm/8-3-2007-26.jpg

The street they turn on comes to a dead end, which pretty much stops at the other side of the prison. There's a weird scrapyard down there, so I didn't explore this area very much. You can see my car parked to the side.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/jacobsteinafm/8-3-2007-11.jpg

By the way, this door is really skinny!
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/jacobsteinafm/8-3-2007-12.jpg

On the way back, I noticed this street sign, which happens to be just a few blocks down the street from the prison!
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/jacobsteinafm/8-3-2007-10.jpg

I went to the Joliet Historical Museum downtown and they had these cool J&E statues in the lobby!
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/jacobsteinafm/8-3-2007-09.jpg

I was glad to have bought these posters and large postcards that I found in their giftshop. I also bought a cheap fedora that came with with some cheap Ray Ban imitators.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/jacobsteinafm/IMG00061.jpg http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/jacobsteinafm/IMG00062-1.jpg http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/jacobsteinafm/IMG00064.jpg http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/jacobsteinafm/IMG00065.jpg

Also, when I drove to Joliet, I saw the "Braidwood Motel" featured in the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles! It's located in Braidwood, IL which is not far from Joliet. The scene took place in Wichita, KS, but it was really filmed here.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/jacobsteinafm/8-3-2007-06.jpg http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/jacobsteinafm/8-3-2007-07.jpg

[TakkunEG]

Feet! Lol, sorry. Damn, and you made me want fries too.

That is a weird door.

(PS, log into your myspace, I sent you something.)

[All_Or_Nothing]

some of them are really nice pictures

hope youll like the new school and all

[Flashcomix]

I heard the gate was allready not used, when they shot the movie They reopended it for the filming. So I guess the last time it was opended or used was in 1979.
but anyway great pics.

[bluesharp]

Great photos Jacob!!
Hope you settle in well!!

[dixiesquare]

to see the main recieving area around back go here .

the charm school in joliet


you can drive back there and park and look around , i wasnt bothered there . if you take the street go to the left at the end the right takes you to the buisneses back there , nobody bothered me , just watch out for trains that come through , amtrack and bnsf come flying through there .

[jolietpaul106]

Nice pictures Jacob!
Hope you like everything in your new town and school!

[Blueblood]

Thanks for the tour! It's a nice place to live but I wouldn't want to visit there...

[Bismo]

Great photos! We'll back up the idea of NOT venturing too close. I've been meaning to write this story for a while but it's a long one (so skip if you'd like!), though this seems like the right time....

We went there in the summer of '82 with our first Bluesmobile, in full costume, on our way to that year's World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago; Jake & I, and two friends. We actually got to Chicago at about 5am after driving from MA... we were pulled over within minutes by CPD after inadvertently turning onto a one-way street! They were very cool though, asked us if we were on a mission from God and sent us on our way. Being that we couldn't check into our hotel until the afternoon we headed back out of town and decided to try finding Joliet to get some photos. Ah, the optimism of youth!

We found the prison, and merrily pulled into the same parking spot (a small dirt lot across from the old gate) where Elwood parked in the movie. Cool! Jake, the optimist, thought it would be cool to see if we could get a prison jacket patch so wanted to go over to the reception area. I thought the odds of them having a gift shop weren't the best, but hey, hey was Jake, where he leads I follow! (Hey, he was 18, I was 20, we were still pretty green!)

We were crossing the street (just Jake & I) when a sergeant and two guards came around the corner and asked who we were. We told them our story (none of them seemed to know who the Blues Brothers were, or at least they weren't commenting on it) and asked us to come with them. Around now we couldn't help notice the rifle-wielding guard on the prison wall across the street, all watching us closely! They escorted us to the prison (no, not through the closed old gate)... and as we were walking up there was someone from INSIDE the prison who yelled, "Hey Jake, Elwood!". They brought us in and left us in a waiting room. For over half an hour.

Eventually the sergeant came for us and brought us back over to the car, where there were now 6 guards and two Joliet local cops congregating around the Bluesmobile. They asked us to open the car, which we swear we hadn't locked... but it was. Our Lady was looking out for herself! They'd also been about to expose our friend's camera film until they noticed he hadn't actually taken any pictures yet. They also had some concerns about the "ram rods" on the front of the car. Anyway, we let them search the car (hey, what did we know about search warrants?). This was interesting too, as we were, as mentioned, on our way to a Sci-Fi con. So we had numerous costumes and accessories packed up in our luggage... including lightsabers and ray guns (a Battlestar Galactica blaster and a Han Solo blaster, to name two!)

It was around this point when a State Trooper pulled into the lot, got out and took one look at us and burst out laughing! Unfortunately it was also around that time when they got around to looking in my Blues briefcase. Well, one of the costumes Jake was doing for the weekend was Bill Maxwell, the Robert Culp character from "Greatest American Hero". (He was helping a friend who had the supersuit costume.) As part of that he'd brought along a toy cap gun... but one of those ultra-realistic guns that were the rage for a while in the early 80s, before most places started outlawing them. The pistol was sitting in the bottom of my briefcase next to my extra harps.

"We've got a weapon here!", came the shout... and only took about 2 seconds before Jake & I were put in the position on the hood of the Bluesmobile. The Trooper wasn't laughing any more. They took the case and walked it away from us to an empty spot in the lot. Jake wasn't known for his shut-uppedness (as no good Jake would be!), so he said to the sergeant, his voice ever-so-slighty sarcastic, "Sir, if you'll take a moment to look you'll see that's just a toy gun". (How to win friends and influence people, right Jake?)

Meanwhile the guard with the case reached into it and pulled the gun out by hooking a pen through the trigger guard. The sergeant called over, "So what do we got?" "I don't know," came the reply, "it's just a damned cap gun!" Okay, things relaxed but the tone had changed!

They finally let us pack up and told us to get the hell out of there. To be sure, the two local cruisers escorted us to the town line! We hit the slab at 60 and headed back to Chicago (and had a great, great week!)

So no photos, but even at the time we knew we were getting a great story. The officials were all very professional, so at no point did we really feel particularly nervous or frightened by the situation, though again that was probably our own ignorance as much as anything else!

[Steam McQueen]

Wow, and Wow!

How did it feel to finally be there, JacobStein? You've wanted to visit that prison for awhile now, haven't you? Being from Illinois and all.:-D

Great story, Bismo! Can you imagine the Rollers finding that cap-gun these days? Whoa! At least Jake didn't say ... "Yes, it's a toy. Would you like me to pop a cap in your ass?" LOL. Good thing it happened before Pulp Fiction and all that gangsta rap stuff. That line may have proved impossible to resist. Man, what a beating that would produce.

[JacobSteinAFM]

Thanks for the nice comments, you guys! Yes, I was looking forward to going there for a long time!

Bismo, your story is awesome! Thanks for sharing that with us! :D

Being there wasn't as nerve racking as I thought it would be. I was afraid I was going to see guards patrolling the place (let alone encountering one), but I didn't see anybody. Of course, the prison has been closed since 2002, so the security is not so tight as it once was. I still saw a few surveillance cameras here and there, so I didn't stick around very long...probably like 15 minutes at the most.

I'm sure Joliet looked significantly different 28 years ago. The prison is not too far from the downtown area, which is very nice with many shops and restaurants. It was probably a gritty kind of place back then, like the way downtown Chicago looked back then compared to today. It seems like a nice city, and I'm just starting to get used to it.

[TakkunEG]

That is the best story EVER, Bismo.

[CountryBob]

JPD could care less what you're doing around the old prison unless you were trying to break in. But, whoever heard of breaking IN to a prison?

[JacobSteinAFM]

CountryBob said:

JPD could care less what you're doing around the old prison unless you were trying to break in. But, whoever heard of breaking IN to a prison?

lol, good point.

[ChiTownJohn]

Great pic's Jacob, It's fun to poke around there looking at alot of stuff that just hasnt changed that much.

To tell you the truth , from my personal trips there a couple of times that on a Sat' and on a Sunday, I walked around, up to, and parked all over the place and they didnt hassle me. So for anyone else, I cant garauntee what will happen, but WEEKENDS! is your best chance to do what you want. If they do ask you to leave, well then you tried. But I got the pic's to prove my extensive loitering!

I wish I had known you moved there Jacob, cause today I went to Dave Weavers Emergency Vehicle Show in Aurora, you woyuld have loved it, huge amounts of old police cars, retired and replicated, many current ones, Fire vehicles, military vehicles, 2 Helicopters, a BB 2000 car and a bunch of stuff I'm told that wasnt there this year! Like a few more Bluesmobiles.
I even got to (and thanks Greg Reynolds!) Got to drive the course for the police vehicles! Man what a blast, tires screechin', smokin' and wheelin turn's, Wow, what a gas! Anyhow I didnt do the worst on time, So thats good but I was like 6 seconds behind the best time,

I only wish my camera hadnt takin it's final crapout recently cause I'd have pic's or vid'. She must have looked awesome movin' like that, I know the other cars did! Anyhow Jacob, nice job again, Maybe see ya down there in Joliet seeing as how your closer! Later!


john

[JacobSteinAFM]

Hey John...that car show sounded like a lot of fun, but I wouldn't have gone anyway because I'm trying to avoid driving around here often. This area is all new to me, so I'm gradually going out and driving around more and more to get used to it all. Man, I thought the traffic was crazy in my hometown!

Thanks, and I'll keep an eye out for your Blusmo if you ever happen to swing by here.

[CountryBob]

Joliet is easy to navigate. Everything brings you to an interstate or major route. I-80 to I-55 to Rt 52 (Jefferson) to Larkin off on the east side to Rt 30 (also called 'Cass' in Joliet and 'Maple' in New Lenox off I-80) up to Rt 6 (also called 'Maple' in Joliet) etc. etc. and eventually the new I-355 tollway extension (when it opens). You'll get the hang of it real quick!

[Steam McQueen]

Have you been there too, CountryBob?

Wasn't there a post awhile back saying the prison was for sale?

I'm wondering how many of the members here have been to, or driven past, the prison? Assuming the "Jake" Bismo speaks of is ShotgunBlues (heh, that's a given, right!) I can think of 5 at least;

-Bismo
-ChiTownJohn
-DixieSquare
-JacobSteinAFM
-ShotgunBlues

Sounds like CountryBob has been there, too. (Confirm?)

That should be the 1st draft of the list. The list should be kept in a safe place.

[Blueblood]

Bismo, nice story bud!!!

[Bismo]

Thanks, Blood, and yeah, Steam, Shotgun was indeed the young Mr. Blues with me! I hadn't heard that the prison is now closed, hmmm, Jake maybe we should swing by again when we're out there later this month for old time's sake?

Nawwwwwwww.....

Here's a photo from later that weekend at the SF con... though we had other costumes with us we knew it would still be Jake & Elwood at the convention, even when in other costumes... so this was my take on Elwood Skywalker!