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explore everywhere

Sometimes I go places, this is where you can read about my adventures. Road trips, cemeteries, abandoned places – they’re all here.

Zion Chapel of Ease Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup April 27, 2017

I’m throwing it way back to November’s trip down to Savannah, Georgia today. Basically, I only shot cemetery photos while we were down that way, and when I came home to edit them I hated nearly all of them, except for the ones from Colonial Park Cemetery. Still swooning over those, actually! It took a few months but I eventually started going back through them hoping to salvage some. First, my shots from Bonaventure Cemetery which were noooowhere as bad as I originally thought. Now, my photos from Zion Chapel of Ease Cemetery!

I originally spotted this cemetery on our way to get Thanksgiving Dinner. We stayed on Hilton Head Island. I don’t recall if I mentioned how much we didn’t enjoy that or not. But yeeeah, we didn’t end up having much fun there. Our experience there was just that everything cost a lot of money and/or was closed. It was Thanksgiving weekend so it’s not surprising that things were closed but it was still kind of shocking how little there was to do that appealed to us. Anyway, our holiday dinner options were $50 per plate hotel food or to hopefully stumble across something on this fancy pants island that was open. We ended up finding a tiny little diner where we were able to play mini golf next door after stuffing our faces. So clearly, it wasn’t all a bummer.

Anyway, I spotted this cemetery off the main road on our way to the diner. We made plans to wake up early the next day, and head straight there.When we arrived the next morning the lighting was beautiful but I was slightly underwhelmed with the cemetery itself. It was a lot smaller than I had anticipated. Only 46 marked graves! There just weren’t many shots to take. When I came home and sorted through the photos I liked a handful of the shots but felt like there wasn’t enough to post. Fast forward to last week, I decided to revisit the photos yet again and wouldn’t ya know it, I ended up really digging them, and finding a few more worth sharing.

zion chapel of ease cemetery, hilton head island cemetery

Built in 1846, the mausoleum is the oldest standing structure on Hilton Head Island.

hilton head island

I just can’t get enough of this combination of early morning light, Spanish moss, and beautiful old headstones. These photos make me want to go back immediately.

There is one more cemetery worth of photos left from this trip that I still don’t like. We’ll see how I feel about them in another few months! 😉
xoxo

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tiny, temporary art installation of beach trash

by Kaylah Stroup April 25, 2017

beach trash, lake erie,

It happens every year. When the warm weather comes around I remember just how much I love spending time at the beach. I remember just how relaxing it is for me just to wander the shore, listen to the waves crash, and search for colorful items that have washed ashore to make arrangements. I literally blog about this same thing every single year but somehow the realization is completely new and exciting each time. Every year I discover that this is my happy place.

I’ve been spending a lot of time at the beach these last few weeks. Because you should always take time for the things that make you happy and ground you. We’ve had some pretty awesome storms recently which always washes in an abundance of crap from the lake. The beach has been a mess which I guess works in my favor. I’ve been gathering beach finds for another round of limited edition pouches. My first batch was really awesome but so far I’ve gotten some real gems that I can’t wait to work with.

While searching for interesting pieces for my project I’ve also been picking up lots of kind of normal, not so exciting things as well. When I went to lay out my finds on this particular day I didn’t really have much that worked together in a single arrangement so I ended making a few. It turned into a tiny, temporary art exhibit of sorts. It wasn’t something I planned but now I want to do it over, do it larger, and with a thought out plan.

beach trash, plastic combs, lake erie beach trash, beachcombing microplastic beach trash, rainbow, beachcombing

For a spur of the moment idea, I think it turned out pretty neat. Someone who happened to show up at the beach as I was finishing up even managed to find me on instagram later and comment on my little installation which felt pretty neat. When I returned two days later it was still standing, although you could tell the waves had washed some sand over a few rows of lighters. It makes me wonder how many other people stumbled upon it. I wonder what they thought…

Check out more of my beach trash arrangements here.

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abandoned china factory

by Kaylah Stroup April 13, 2017

dishes in abandoned china factory

I’ve been holding on to these photos for way too long. It’s one of those sets of photos I just knew I couldn’t possibly describe correctly and wanted to keep all to myself. I like them too much to never share though…

A month or so ago Jeff, Jake, and I spent the day exploring. We had a decent sized list of places we at least wanted to cruise by. Some we knew were do-able, others were a bit of a long shot. We eventually ended up about fifteen minutes away from this place, an abandoned china factory. The spot that had led us close by ended up being a bust so we decided to just keep driving. Jeff had been here a few years earlier but Jake and I had never been. Despite really digging the photos I had seen of it, I was always under the impression it was further away from home than it really is so it was never really a huge priority to me but from the second we walked in I was in awe. Dishes upon dishes. Many of them unbroken, and still stacked. In regard to things left behind, this might be one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. (Another favorite would definitely be the rubber duck factory, of course!)

I thought the dishes would be the clear highlight of the factory. I couldn’t imagine what else would be as interesting… then we got upstairs. I found a sheet of decals on the floor that Jake and I were like “Oh! Look these must be how they decorate the plates and mugs. How neat.” We took turns shooting the single sheet. What we didn’t realize was that the whole room in front of us was FILLED with them! Drawers upon drawers of decals for diners, for special events, with flowers, with maps, with intricate designs. They littered the floor yet most of the drawers were still filled. I guess I’ve never really thought about how plates or mugs get the designs they have on them but here were thousands of them!

Between all of the remaining buildings on the property, I saw molds, decals, silkscreens, blank dishes, finished products, kilns, and more. It was incredibly interesting to me to be able to see so many steps of the process. I’ve been in my fair share of factories but none with as much of a story left behind. After the factory closed there was an auction to clear out inventory so its a little bit strange to me that there is still so much left. Even today there is a ton that could still be salvaged. Doesn’t it just break your heart to see those beautiful drawers left to rot?

plates in abandoned china factory

Two more interesting things – one significantly more interesting than the other.

X-rays! There was a pile of them on the floor still in their original envelopes, labeled with names and dates. They were of employee’s lungs. Judging by the box of unused x-ray film found nearby it seems this might have been an in-house operation checking to make sure the employees weren’t dealing with any adverse effects from production. It’s so wild to me that when this place closed up no one thought to dispose of these medical records properly.
One of my favorite things to find in abandoned factories – newspaper articles attached to the wall. This sort of thing makes it so much easier to imagine that people really did work here at one point. To me, it’s just an empty factory but this was previously a place where people spent a good portion of their life.

This factory turned out to be one of my favorite adventures to date. I can’t believe after all these years of being abandoned that there aren’t more broken dishes. I’m thankful the people before me didn’t make too much of a mess and hopeful the people after me won’t end up ruining it for everyone else.

Check out the abandoned tag for more grime.

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Nelson Ledges + a new 2017 goal

by Kaylah Stroup April 12, 2017

Last summer Jeff and I made a goal to visit as many of Ohio’s waterfalls as possible as a way to keep busy, and have an excuse to get outside more often. Instead of sitting around feeling like there were too many options of what do with our summer “Let’s go find a waterfall” became our weekend go-to. It was awesome! We obviously didn’t visit them all but we hit enough of them near us that it probably wouldn’t make much sense to make the same goal again this year even though I definitely want to visit a few over again.

I recently had the itch to go hiking. I had been bugging Jeff to go but it just kept falling to the wayside. …Probably because I don’t have the best hiking reputation. Walking around the woods with my dad? Totally cool. I love it. But the hikes Jeff and I took always led to me pouting about being tired and hot. We would start off having fun then I’d start complaining. I don’t know what the heck my problem was but getting a Fitbit changed everything. I went from hating walking to trying to find every excuse to walk places. It sounds likes I’m exaggerating but I promise I’m not, that thing changed my life. I even said the other day “remember when I hated walking?” and we both got a good laugh out of it because it seems so incredibly silly now. I’ve since upgraded to an apple watch but still watch my step count fairly closely. Honestly, that’s really embarrassing to admit that I ever didn’t like taking walks. I only bring it up because I did a complete 180!

After finally convincing Jeff it’d be fun and I wouldn’t be a whiner, we headed to Nelson Ledges. Neither of us had been there before and it ended up being one of the most fun hikes we’ve taken together. It is BEAUTIFUL there! We didn’t follow any particular trail but wandered around as we pleased. We wiggled our way through tight crevices, and peeked over the edges of tall ledges. After such a long, dull winter it was so wonderful to see so much color. It hadn’t rained recently but the lush moss was dripping. I want to describe it as moist but that’s kind of gross, right? I hate dampness but it was damp in a good way, if that’s possible. Like somewhere in a fairy tale. Everything was so bright, and green! It was a great peek at spring. When I look at these photos I feel like I can smell the freshness of the new season.

Super duper into taking ghost shots right now!

So maybe there aren’t enough waterfalls left to make that 2017’s summer goal but there are certainly enough magical places to hike! I wanna hunt down all the best ones and cross them off my list one by one.
xoxo

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Greenwood Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup March 21, 2017

Throwing it back to last month’s New Orleans trip right now. Since we wouldn’t be renting a car in New Orleans we had to find some way from the airport to our hotel. Jeff, and I both own our own cars, live in a drive-able city, and generally have had no reason to ever use any sort of ride sharing app. This would be a first. After having a rough time figuring out where the heck our Uber was at the airport, we eventually hopped in a stranger’s van and rode somewhere completely foreign to us. It was actually really fun, and only mildly terrifying. Our driver was super sweet and told us a bunch of places we had to check out in the city and said she’d point out some cemeteries from the freeway that she thought we might like. She didn’t have to point them out though. I spotted them immediately, prompting this tweet.

A few days later we summoned (requested? called for? I like “summoned”) another Uber and headed back toward the cemeteries that had caught my eye on that first day. There are actually a handful of cemeteries right next to each other in this area. Any other day and I could have spent the whole day exploring but the day we chose to head out there was HOT. Jeff wasn’t feeling it but I was running on adrenaline. Anywhere else trying to do that much walking in the heat and I would have called it quits but these were places I had dreamed of visiting for years. We walked through Cypress Grove Cemetery first which, in my opinion, maybe isn’t the most exciting. After that we crossed the street to wander around Greenwood Cemetery.

Greenwood was nothing short of amazing. Its such a beautiful cemetery. Despite the heat and a run in with some fire ants (I literally ripped off my shoes and was thiiiiis close to taking off my pants), this was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Greenwood Cemetery had a lot of really interesting mausoleums. The photos above and below show two of my favorites. I’ve never seen anything like them!

After spending only a little over a half an hour here we headed back to our hotel because we both were so hot. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to spend more time here or check out any of the other cemeteries nearby but I guess that just means I have an excuse to go back!

Until next time, NOLA!
xoxo

For more from my trip to New Orleans check out these posts; New Orleans for a week, St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 + New Orleans Pharmacy Museum.

New Orleans Pharmacy Museum

by Kaylah Stroup March 15, 2017

About a week before last month’s New Orleans trip I started my usual research; looking up what cemeteries I should visit, looking for highly recommended restaurants, wandering the streets with Google’s streetview, etc. I remembered reading that Allie from The Only Living Girl in New York had visited NOLA not too long ago and since we basically have alllll the same interests I obviously spent a good amount of time re-reading her posts. What stuck out to me the most was the Pharmacy Museum. Without even knowing anything more, just reading the name, I can tell you it’s something I’d be interested in but after reading her post I was sold! So on the list it went!

Jeff and I actually stumbled upon the museum randomly without ever having to look up the address. When we arrived it was shortly after they opened so it was just us and one other couple inside which was a good thing because the museum could definitely get cramped quick. It’s a fairly small location but it is jam packed with history! For five dollars you get to wander around two levels filled with the most awesome medical collection I’ve ever seen! There are apothecary jars upon apothecary jars, dental instruments, perfumes, cosmetics, questionable old medicine, and so much more! When you pay for admission, if you aren’t taking a guided tour, you’re handed a pamphlet filled with information on the most interesting pieces in the museum. As interested as I was in the museum, I didn’t even look at the pamphlet once. There is just so much to take in!

The man working the counter wasn’t terribly friendly. (Do not let that stop you from visiting, definitely could have just been a bad day) When he explained what to do it was kind of mumbled and rushed so I didn’t ask questions buuut I thought I heard something about an upstairs. I watched closely what the other couple in the museum was doing and followed them out the back of the museum when they left. There is an upstairs and I definitely want to live there. Seriously, the property is amazing. It’s basically my dream living quarters – smack dab in the middle of the city but with a gorgeous private courtyard. The courtyard is so beautiful you can even rent it for weddings!!

All the photos in this post are from the second floor of the museum. The lighting was much better up there, and when I realized how big the museum was I knew I had to blog about it. If you’re with friends or family who maybe aren’t into old medical stuff they will at least appreciate the location. Walking inside is like stepping back in time!

The Pharmacy Museum reminded me a lot of Cleveland’s own Dittrick Medical History Museum, both of which I consider must-visit museums!
xoxo

abandoned rubber factory

by Kaylah Stroup March 14, 2017

After a seriously inactive 2016, Jeff and I have been doing our best to get out and take more photos this year. I have to say, we’re kind of kicking butt. For the last solid month, possibly longer, we’ve been getting out at least once per week to search for abandoned places that we haven’t been to or at least haven’t been to a while. Because we’ve been so active I actually have a small backlog of rad photos that I still need to share from our recent adventures. It feels so darn good!

When we go on vacation, Klaus goes to my parents. Our New Orleans trip a few weeks ago was from Monday until Friday. Instead of heading straight to pick up Klaus after getting back we tried to make the most of the fact that we had a dog-sitter still and a weekend with no plans. We decided to head to a town nearby that is chock-full of abandonment. We went hoping to find brand new spots to explore but knew that there was a rubber factory that was essentially a sure thing in case everywhere else fell through.

Jeff had been here many years before and didn’t necessarily talk it up to be anything special. We had also tried on one previous occasion to explore it but shortly after exiting the car a cop drove by… and then another. We took it as a bad omen and called it quits before even starting. That little peek didn’t really leave me too interested. From the road it just looked like a shell of a factory – cool to snap a photo of but not really worth the effort or risk of trespassing. Oh how wrong I was…

Just like the Rubber Bowl, an abandoned stadium I had known about for a while but failed to make much effort to visit, this factory and it’s many buildings turned out to be pretty darn rad. While there wasn’t too much left inside there were still lots of interesting sights to behold. I was particularly smitten with the shoes dangling from the ceiling. Seriously, why are there always so many shoes in abandoned buildings? Shoes here, shoes there.

What I thought would be a quick stop of us just dipping onto the property, snapping a few photos, and leaving quickly turned into a couple of hours. This factory complex closed twenty seven long years ago. Multiple buildings still stand but a vast majority have been demolished, at least their upper levels have been. The property is littered with holes, both large and small, giving you a peek as to whats down below. Definitely a place you have to watch your step, lest you end up breaking an ankle or worse!

The photo below was taken from inside one the aforementioned holes. Jeff loves all things underground, and I do too… with some hesitation. While he raced to the opening with access to a small underground room, I poked around at the opening feeling a little bit too sketched out to want to spend anytime underneath the surface. Behind me were stairs, well, stairs covered in pieces of brick and overgrown with weeds. To my right was solid wall, and to the left was a drop down. I eventually went underground but ended up liking this photo better than anything I took down there. I think it’s a really neat shot.

So, note to self, stop avoiding all the things in life you thinks are easy and therefore not worth it because they’re actually probably pretty darn rad.
xoxo

If you haven’t gotten your grime fix, be sure to browse my “abandoned” tag!

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St. Louis Cemetery No. 2

by Kaylah Stroup March 7, 2017

Lots of people have a list of places they’d like to visit, and some people (me) even have a list of cemeteries they’d like to visit in those cities. New Orleans ranked pretty high on my ‘need to visit’ list just because of their cemeteries. There wasn’t one in particular that drew me there, I just knew they had a bunch that were like none other I had been to before. Without ever having visited one in person I still ranked them high on the list of most beautiful US cemeteries.

On our first full day in the city Jeff and I walked to St. Louis Cemetery No. 2. This cemetery is located just a few blocks away from St. Louis No. 1 which is the oldest cemetery in the city (and the most famous!) As of March 2015, No. 1 is closed to the public without a tour guide due to vandalism. While a cemetery tour is right up my alley, and we ended up taking one later in the day, I really wanted to explore at least one of New Orlean’s cemeteries at my own pace.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 is broken up into three square blocks. Each is similar in the sense that it is laid out with a main center aisle to walk and two smaller parallel aisles. This makes it super easy to see everything and know you’re not accidentally missing a chunk of the cemetery. We started off in square 1 (here’s a map of it, look how organized it is!) and had the whole place to ourselves.

From the second I stepped inside I was in LOVE. I didn’t know where to look or what to shoot first. I found the whole experience very overwhelming, in a good way. I honestly don’t even know what else to say about it so let’s get on with the photos! Photos I’ve been dreaming about taking for yeeeears!

St. Louis Cemetery No. 2, cemetery, mausoleum

St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 was everything I had hoped and dreamed NOLA cemeteries would be! Usually when you’ve dreamed of something for so long it can never meet up to your expectations but on this rare occasion, it actually did. I cannot wait to go back.
xoxo

I shared some of my favorite spots in New Orleans here if you’re interested!

New Orleans for a week!

by Kaylah Stroup March 2, 2017

If I’m awake, I’m probably daydreaming about taking a vacation. Luckily I fell in love with someone who has the same priorities in life, and wants to see as much of the world as possible just like I do. These past three years we’ve been a good number of places. I’ve been able to cross lots of places off my bucket list, and subsequently added a bunch more. The one place I had been wanting to go for a while but for some reason just hadn’t was New Orleans.

Jeff and I were browsing flights last month with no particular plan. That’s a pretty normal activity around these parts but on this instance we found flights to NOLA for under one hundred dollars round trip. I was sold instantly! The one issue we came across while planning the trip was that rental cars seemed kind of expensive compared to what we’d paid in the past. I did a bit of research and came to the conclusion that getting a rental car would actually probably hinder us anyway. So, we booked the flight! Unlike our other trips, Jeff and I would be spending the entire week in one place.

It. was. a. blast. I enjoyed being able to get a real feel for a city instead of just seeing something and hopping to the next town like we tend to do. I have so many positive things to say about this trip I’m sure I’m going to think of something I meant to add as soon as I hit publish but here’s a taste of my trip…

Where we stayed – We got a room at The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery and it was… THE COOLEST. The decor is super hip. Seriously, go look at the photos! And the bed? Coziest bed ever! It was a most excellent place to call home for a week. I would absolutely recommend staying there. I didn’t love the fact that our room didn’t have an exterior window but I was so charmed by everything else that it wasn’t a huge deal.

The photo below is in the hotel’s restaurant, Compere Lapin, which was divine. Their avocado toast stupid delicious. Easily the best I’ve ever had. The restaurant was so busy in the evenings that much to our dismay we never got the opportunity to try their dinner.

But seriously, the hotel was incredible. I feel like people have come to see words like “hip” and “trendy” as bad but when I use them to describe this place I mean nothing but positive things. I could have easily written a whole post filled with cool photos of The Old No. 77! Also, I’m giving this place even more bonus points because on the day we arrived there was a lady with a cat on a leash in the lobby which made me smile from ear to ear.

What we ate – We ate a lot in New Orleans! Some highlights included St. Lawrence where we actually ate twice during the week since we liked it so much (their wings are amaaazing), Croissant D’Or Patisserie (best breakfast!), Sucre for dessert (we had some sort of key lime deliciousness and it was heavenly!), and Drip Affogato Bar (best affogato I’ve ever had!) Of course we also ate at Cafe Du Monde because it seemed like something you have to do if you’re in town. Honestly, it was a little crowded for my tastes. I got my beignet on at Cafe Beignet later in the week though! We also got sushi at Geisha which I basically inhaled.

Food was definitely a big part of the trip for me. I know that the list above doesn’t sound too crazy or anything but they were very memorable experiences. New Orleans seems to be a place where good food is basically everywhere you look. There were so many places we wanted to eat and just didn’t get the chance.

What we did – We walked… and walked… and walked some more. In the four days that were in the city we walked a total of fifty miles. My feet hurt at the end of each day but I am SO glad we didn’t end up renting a car. Walking is the best way to get to know a new city. We saw so much, and accidentally stumbled upon so many great things we may not have seen otherwise.

Some highlights for me included;
▴ Glitter Box N.O. – A shop run for and by women in the French Quarter! What actually caught my eye as we walked by was that they had a print by my favorite graffiti artist hanging on the wall. We went back as soon as they opened so I could buy it! The woman working was so nice and helpful, and it’s just a really rad store.
▴ Louisiana Loom Works – Gonna be honest here, the reason I’m mentioning it is because of the cats. If you look at the store front on street view you can even see a kitty in the window! The woman inside told us a little bit about the rescue cats she had all while working the loom. I was in heaven since there was a tiny siamese kitty who reminded me of Professor. It was a really nice experience. I might have even cried a little.
▴ The cemeteries, duh! They were everything I thought they’d be and more!! St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 is a dream.
▴ The Insectarium!
▴ New Orleans Pharmacy Museum!
▴ Bourbon Street. Wait, what? Yeah! So let’s get a few things out of the way here, I don’t drink, and I don’t like being around drunk people. Drunk people to me equal barfing and I have a major phobia so needless to say I avoid situations like that. I had read a lot about how Bourbon Street wasn’t all that great, and dude, I’ve seen the show Cops. Real life Bourbon Street though? I LOVED IT. Well, not the first day we were there. On that occasion it smelled like straight up human waste but we went back the next night and it was kind of amazing. That atmosphere was so wonderful. Everyone was smiling, happy, and just celebrating. There was so much live music happening, there were street performers everywhere, and I even got to pet a tiny pig! While I wouldn’t want to spend the night hanging out on Bourbon Street, it was absolutely a fun experience!

Reading back over this post, I clearly I enjoyed myself in New Orleans. I labeled so many things “best” or “favorite” and they honestly were. I ate the best wings of my life, and slept in the coziest bed ever! New Orleans is super awesome. I’m very very excited to go back again. There is still so much I want to see, do, and eat there. Emphasis on eat. Y’all know some good food down there!

I feel like we picked the best possible time to visit too. Since I’m not huge on partying, or crowds Mardi Gras always seemed like it might be my worst nightmare. I’m glad we weren’t there in the absolute thick of it but it was amazing to experience a little bit of it the week before the big celebration began.

Until next time, New Orleans!
xoxo

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