Behind the Wall

I thought it would be somewhat warmer in Virginia compared to New York on this March day, but the wind whipped over the brown grass and into our bones at near freezing temperatures. The sun was incredibly bright but did not offer any warmth. My hopes of seeing the prison began to wane as we passed row after row of brand new homes being constructed on the hill... it certainly looked like we were too late. As we turned down a still unfinished street, there it was - the secure facility.

A fortress of brick and steel squatted in a field of frozen mud, scarred with the track marks of heavy machinery. Guard towers perched at each corner, and there were even a few satellite stations still hanging about, creating an alien landscape of pre-fab progress and rusted prison buildings. A medium security facility was also still extant along one site of the secure center. Getting inside those castle-like walls on what looked like federal property seemed like a daunting task... luckily we took a little stroll around just to see.