{"id":12494,"date":"2017-03-14T02:36:12","date_gmt":"2017-03-14T06:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/?p=12494"},"modified":"2020-09-09T03:52:26","modified_gmt":"2020-09-09T07:52:26","slug":"spent-26th-birthday-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/blog\/spent-26th-birthday-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"I spent my 26th birthday in prison."},"content":{"rendered":"

I Spent My 26th Birthday in Prison\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026And no, not as an inmate. \u00a0Every Sunday in October, the largest maximum-security prison in the southern United States hosts the Prisoner Rodeo, a wildly popular event that draws tens of thousands of spectators from all around the country. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t think of a more thrilling way to welcome my twenty-sixth year.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Over the past few years, my sister and I have been spending Easter weekend at a little lake just a few hours outside of New Orleans. \u00a0We stay at a quaint B&B run by a fellow named John. Every Easter Sunday morning, as we enjoy a home cooked brunch with John, we get chatting about the upcoming year. Every time, he mentions how he is already completely booked in October for the Angola Rodeo.<\/p>\n

After the 3rd year of hearing this, I was finally curious enough to look up the event\u2026<\/p>\n

\"I<\/p>\n

Sunset over the lake at John’s B&B.<\/em><\/p>\n

And it\u2019s exactly what it sound to be. \u00a0A rodeo that is hosted at a prison, by the prisoners. \u00a0But not just any prison; one of the most dangerous and controversial in the country, the Angola Prison (Louisiana State Penitentiary), also known as \u201cThe Alcatraz of the South.\u201d \u00a0Its 18,000-acre campus (larger than Manhattan) is home to 6,300 inmates, 74% of them serving life sentences, and a good number awaiting death row. \u00a0And conveniently for John, this sold-out event is located only 25 minutes from his B&B.<\/p>\n

Fast Forward to October<\/p>\n

My big \u201c26\u201d was approaching, and my sister and I couldn\u2019t face the stench of Bourbon Street any longer. \u00a0We were pondering what we could do outside out of the city, and sure enough we recalled the Prison Rodeo. \u201cLet\u2019s do it,\u201d we decided. \u00a0We called John to see if he happened to have any rooms left, and with no vacancy at his place or any of the surrounding hotels, we decided to make it a day trip.<\/p>\n

We took LA-66 straight to the gate and upon arriving at the checkpoint, we were ushered onto prison grounds by security guards. \u00a0They directed us towards the stadium \u2013 about 1 mile from the entrance. This obviously wasn\u2019t their first rodeo. \u00a0Rows of cars filled the field between the entrance and the venue. \u00a0Spectators (most in pickup trucks) came from all over: California, Mississippi, Alabama, etc.<\/p>\n

In addition to the rodeo, the prisoners held an artisan craft fair displaying and selling their work. \u00a0Their biggest (quite literally) seller? Rocking chairs. A man driving a John Deere with a hitched trailer would deliver the chairs and tables to your truck in the parking lot. \u00a0Talk about southern hospitality. \u00a0There were a handful of other vendors lining the interior perimeter of the stadium fence selling jewelry, furniture, ornaments, etc.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/p>\n

And you\u2019ll never believe this…the food stands were selling fried Coke (WHAT!!!?). \u00a0First Paula Deen with fried butter, now this! \u00a0I guess you really can fry anything\u2026<\/p>\n

The stadium was full (10,000 spectators!) and the show lasted about 2 hours. \u00a0Having never been to a proper southern rodeo before, I was not too sure what to expect. \u00a0\u00a0But indeed, the rodeo emcee riled up the audience as the prisoners readily took on the challenges. \u00a0From \u201cBareback Riding\u201d to \u201cConvict Poker,\u201d there was a large variety of entertainment appropriate for all ages. \u00a0From the Cub Scout group behind us, to the elderly couple to our side, everyone was on the edge of their seats watching with excitement. \u00a0As the emcee narrated the play-by-play from the ground, folks were standing on their seats, hooting and hollering for the black-and-white striped convicts to stay on their bulls just one second longer. \u00a0Until that moment, I didn\u2019t understand how serious a rodeo truly was. \u00a0It was incredible.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/p>\n

Going to this event only heightened my curiosity about how the prison systems in the U.S. operate. \u00a0Does this sort of entertainment happen at prisons in other countries? \u00a0Do private facilities (LSP is public) offer this sort of opportunity for its inmates? \u00a0How do the prisoners view the rodeo? \u00a0Was their participation considered a \u201cjob\u201d while inside? And, of course, the taboo question…I wonder what they did to be in there. Lots more to research!<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t plan to be back in a prison anytime soon, but if you happen to be in the area, I\u2019d recommend spending the morning hiking Tunica Falls and the afternoon at the rodeo.<\/p>\n

What: Angola Prison Rodeo \u2013 experience a rodeo like you never have before.<\/p>\n

When: Every Sunday in October; rodeo starts at 2 P.M.<\/p>\n

Where: Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola, Louisiana<\/p>\n

Cost: \u00a0$20 ticket entrance to the Craft Market and a seat in the stadium<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I Spent My 26th Birthday in Prison\u2026 \u2026And no, not as an inmate. \u00a0Every Sunday in October, the largest maximum-security prison in the southern United States hosts the Prisoner Rodeo, a wildly popular event that draws tens of thousands of spectators from all around the country. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t think of a more thrilling way to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":425,"featured_media":12497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[22492,22487,26280,22498,1765,22491,22497,22488,22484,11292,18562,22490,22445,22485,22494,22495,22493,22489,16033,22486],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/jpeg-13.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12494"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12494"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12498,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12494\/revisions\/12498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12494"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=12494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}