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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.

my top ten cemeteries!

by Kaylah Stroup October 31, 2016

best cemeteries, favorite cemeteries, graveyard

In nearly every aspect of my life I think young Kaylah would approve of how adult Kaylah lives her life. I’ve got a handful of critters that I can’t imagine life without. (I used to wish for kittens while I blew on dandelions. Not that we ever had a shortage of pets!) My hair is always dyed a fun color, and my fashion sense is basically the same albeit a little bit cooler. Long live overalls! There is one thing area where I feel I’d be a let down – Halloween. For the last few years I haven’t even considered dressing up for Halloween. I guess I just don’t see the need. Halloween parties aren’t really my jam so spending the time and money to create something unique just isn’t a priority and I actually feel a little sad about it. I was disappointed to see that Halloween fell on a Monday this year and not the weekend… because that meant I’d have to post something on the big day. I’m sorry I don’t have any ~totally cute last minute costume ideas~ for you to add to your Pinterest board but I do have a list of my top ten cemeteries. Lets be real, that’s way cooler anyway, at least in my book!

I’ve visited numerous cemeteries over the years. I don’t think there has ever been one I didn’t like but some definitely stand out above others. These are in no particular order, except my number one which you will find listed last. A portion are located in Ohio, which should be no surprise since I live here, but the others are all across the US. Below each photo is the name of the cemetery which will link you to the original blog post for more photos!

Rehoboth Mission Cemetery
Rehoboth, New Mexico

Choosing a photo of this cemetery to include in this post was hard. Do I share the view that initially attracted me there? Or do I share one of the many unique memorials found inside? Rehoboth is still and will most likely remain for a very long time one of the most unique places I have ever been. I mean, how often do you see a grave surrounded in hot pink bricks?

Freed Cemetery

Big Springs, West Virginia

While not the most grand cemetery, it was easily one of the most interesting to get to. We had to park in a stranger’s driveway, cross a stream on foot, and then hike up a hill where a bunch of cows were grazing. This is my family cemetery, and looking back at the post I wrote on it I’m kicking myself for not taking more photos. Visiting with my mom and grandpa was a super special experience.

Mound View Cemetery

Mt Vernon, Ohio

Old headstones, tons of symbolism, and the grave of two famous sideshow performers – what more could you ask for?

Laurel Hill Cemetery

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I could spend days exploring Laurel Hill Cemetery and still feel like it wasn’t enough. 74 acres means there is lots to see. Unique headstones galore! I visited three years ago around this time and can’t express just how beautiful it was. Well worth the drive!

Old Bennington Cemetery

Bennington, Vermont

Fan of Robert Frost? Well this is where he’s buried! While that might be the selling point for most, I was more intrigued by the old stones with strange carvings. This place is packed with history and even has a beautiful old church on the property. Make sure to check out the Walloomsac Inn across the street if you visit!

Laurel Grove Cemetery

Savannah, Georgia

To be fair, I don’t actually recall whether the photo above is of Laurel Grove or Bonaventure. Anyone know? I visited both while in Savannah a few years ago, and didn’t keep my photos organized very well. There were a few others as well, and I loved all of them but I was a bit more taken by Laurel Grove. Spanish moss and cemeteries are a match made in heaven! I am dying to get back and see more. (Next month! Ah!)

Brown Pet Cemetery

Columbus, Ohio

Brown Pet Cemetery is the only cemetery that has ever made me cry. The relationships between people and their pets always gets me! Pictured above is my favorite headstone there. In a time when photography wasn’t as prevalent as it is now it’s amazing that someone loved their kitty so much they got glamour shots of her taken.

Monroe Street Cemetery

Cleveland, Ohio

Monroe Street Cemetery is my local cemetery. (Technically it’s not the closest one to my house but that one is all fenced off and trespassing seems out of the question since it’s in the middle of a residential area.) I’ve really come to love this place. I’ve spend countless hours wandering around, and taking photos yet I still manage to find something new each time I visit. If you happen to go, make sure to check out the tiny, old hidden headstones along the fence by the scrapyard. Those are some of my favorites. In the summer they’re nearly hidden by vines.

Workman Cemetery

Danville, Ohio

Workman Cemetery was a random find in the middle of nowhere that ended up being one of my absolute favorites. Old headstones, and overgrown patches – a place after my heart! I honestly still love looking through my photos from this location. The colors and depth of field make it seem like something from a dream world.

Mount Moriah Cemetery

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mount Moriah is the cemetery of my dreams. Easily one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. I can only imagine how awesome it looks this time of the year will fall foliage. I honestly still can’t believe it was real and that within a few days of even knowing it existed that I got explore it. While I certainly hope conditions improve and the volunteers continue to help clean up, I’m super stoked to have been able to see it all overgrown.

So maybe I won’t be dressed up in a fun costume tonight but rest assured I am wearing my skeleton leggings and my dog is in his skeleton costume so maybe young Kaylah would think I was still cool. You know, that and the fact that I have a job where I can make a list of my ten favorite cemeteries!

Do you have a favorite cemetery? Any awesome cemeteries near you I should check out when I eventually make it out your way? I’ve got a running list, always looking to add more!
xoxo

Unity Brick Church Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup October 27, 2016

For the longest time I’ve been saying “someone should make a cemetery finder app!” It sounds like a super niche product but I know I’m not the only person out there whose idea of a good time is wandering around an old cemetery. Google is obviously a great resource but it has its limits, plus it’s not convenient to use when you’re already out and about (…and don’t really even know where you are!) Recently I searched in the app store using the keyword “cemetery”, something I thought I had done before at least a handful of times, but something new popped up! Find A Grave has an app! I genuinely don’t understand how it eluded me for so long, especially since I’m frequently on their website. I’ve been using the app basically every time I leave the house. It’s amazing how many tiny, old cemeteries are around that I never knew about!

After visiting Achor Valley Cemetery I wasn’t ready to head home yet. I wanted to make the most of my day and the nearly two hour drive so I decided to check the app and see what else was around. There were lots of small cemeteries but I wanted something a little more substantial, somewhere worth the drive. I ended up choosing Unity Brick Church Cemetery.

It was a short drive from where I already was but upon pulling into the parking lot I thought maybe it wasn’t the place for me. From my car, to the right of the church, I could only see newer graves, many decorated with flowers. I figured I should hop out and get a better look before giving up. Behind the church I could see some older looking headstones in the distance so I grabbed my camera and started walking.

It wasn’t until I got close enough to read them that I realized just how old. Early 1800s! YES! There was a large chunk of these headstones back there with a few more hiding out in the woods. The cemetery was very well maintained (Aside from random headstones in the woods. Not sure why those weren’t taken care of…?) I definitely wasn’t expecting to find such interesting headstones in this tiny churchyard. I particularly enjoy finding ones in other languages. There really isn’t too much of that in Ohio, so it’s always new and exciting for me. I had never seen the phrase “zum andenken” before, it translates to “in memory”. Such a solid find!

headstone symbolism, cemetery, graveyard

Unity Brick Church cemetery certainly wasn’t the largest cemetery I’ve ever been to but it was definitely a great way to end my trip. This place on top of visiting another beautiful old cemetery with bonus abandoned church made this a pretty darn awesome day. You know, aside from the fact my car pooped out on me on the way home but more on that another day.

I always say I want to make little day drives like this something that happen more often but haven’t really gotten in the habit. I think the Find A Grave app might change that!
xoxo

Tip Top Cereal Company – abandoned

by Kaylah Stroup October 18, 2016

There haven’t been many abandoned building in my life this year. The few I have gotten have been pretty darn epic (Knox County Poorhouse and Kings Park Psychiatric Center for example!) but compared to the last two years the number of “smalls”, as my friends and I call them, has been… well, small.

Obviously I love the big stuff! Hospitals definitely rank among my favorite abandoned buildings to explore but there’s something special about the smaller buildings. Abandoned houses, storefronts, and the like are all “smalls.” There isn’t as much ground to cover compared to other buildings, and they tend to get passed over by most people but sometimes they’re even more interesting because of that. The amount of foot traffic in larger, more popular buildings means they probably have more graffiti and less things left inside.

That point is kind of void in the building showcased in this post since except for a few random chairs, #theresalwaysachair, it was empty. The whole idea of explaining that was just to say that sometimes even I don’t give enough credit to these small buildings. I had biked, walked, and driven by this one numerous times and hadn’t given it a second thought. Over the weekend Jeff and I happened to be wandering around the area and without even discussing it kind of just made our way inside.

While, like I mentioned above, there wasn’t too much to see inside I’m still super excited about my photos. The last few times I’ve been somewhere abandoned I felt like I wasn’t shooting as well as I knew I could which is super frustrating. This time though, I felt like a creepy old man photographing a beautiful woman while shouting “Yesss, baby! Work it! You’re looking so hot right now!” Please tell me know exactly the sort of image I’m describing. I felt like I was shooting really good photos aaaand upon editing them, I don’t feel any differently. I know to most people all the photos of these places with peeling paint and water damaged walls probably start to look the same but I definitely feel like these are some of my best. Thanks for putting up with me, you guys! 😉 I’ve been feeling a little blue lately so to get photos that I’m really happy with feels nice and is super encouraging.

exiting through a window since a door slammed downstairs. Thanks for the adventure, WIND!

I’d presume most people at one point or another daydream about things they’d do if they were super rich. One of my favorite “If I were rich…” topics to ramble about to anyone who will listen is which abandoned building I’d buy and renovate. My answer changes between a few different ones depending on what day you ask me, and which one of my favorites I’ve most recently visited. While we were inside this one I couldn’t stop thinking about what an awesome house it would make. It just had such a cozy layout, and lots of interesting views. I grew quite fond of this little place. Its had an interesting past in it’s ninety-one years, supposedly at one point it was even a bar downstairs and a cathouse on the second level! Shame it probably won’t last much longer.
xoxo

Achor Valley Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup October 17, 2016

Last Friday I woke up really late. I guess 9am by most people’s standards isn’t too late but that’s a day killer for me. I’m not really an early bird but, without a doubt, I’m most productive first thing in the morning and late at night. I knew if I just tried to start my day as normal I’d end up doing nothing so I figured it was the perfect time to take a day trip. I always try to keep a running list of places I’d like to hit on days like this. Try being the key word there. Frequently when I dedicate any time to researching places for this list I end up feeling defeated and like I’ve seen everything interesting within a days drive – which simply cannot be true.

I searched “haunted cemetery ohio” hoping it’d lead me somewhere new. Most of the results were websites I’ve already pored over time and time again. I did end up finding some ghost hunting blog that I had never seen before. Their “orb” photos were less than convincing but the post I was reading mentioned something about how if you liked old headstones this particular cemetery was a great spot to check out. I knew if I kept searching for other places I’d never leave the house Kind of like when you browse Netflix, you search for the perfect thing, find a few decent looking movies, and then end up watching nothing. Without looking for any more information on the cemetery, I packed my camera bag and hit the road.

It was an easy, breezy two hour drive. After crossing a one way bridge, which somehow seems perfectly appropriate on the way to a creepy old cemetery, I pulled into the driveway to find there was also an abandoned church on the property. SCORE! I was over the moon. From my car I could see that the church looked pretty boarded up. I may crawl through windows on a fairly regular basis but I will never damage property to gain entry to a building. I figured I would walk around the entire cemetery first, getting all my shots, before even checking to see if the church was accessible. I didn’t want any possible disappointment to ruin the high of this find, I was excited just to have it in the background of my shots.

Even if there hadn’t been an abandoned church on the property, the cemetery was worth the drive! There was a mix of old and new headstones, 1800s through 2000s! I’m not crazy about new ones but the old ones were to die for. Hah! Whoops!

After I got all the photos I wanted of headstones I walked around the church to see if I could get a peek inside. I was so pumped to find that all of the pews were still there! I’ve been in a handful of abandoned churches and this is only the second with pews. Without them, and the stained glass windows it doesn’t feel so much like a church. It’s just another empty building, ya know? It was just a single open room with a large mural at the front but an awesome find nonetheless. As much as I’m pro-graffiti it’s always a bit exciting to find something like this that isn’t completely covered in spray paint.

Achor Valley Cemetery, abandoned, church

I couldn’t find much information on this cemetery or why the church was abandoned. The grounds were fairly well maintained, and while I was leaving a car pulled in with a family inside who got out and laid flowers on a grave. I also found a handful of ghost blogs who regularly hunt here so it seems like a rather popular spot. Because of that I assumed it’d have some interesting backstory but I guess not. I did see that one ghost hunter said “the spirits there are gentle and have a great sense of humor” I still don’t believe in ghosts, but I’d love to be proven wrong especially by funny ghosts! *

I still can’t believe what an awesome find this was. Every time I think I’ve seen all the cool cemeteries in Ohio I find something new! Guess this is a sign I need take more spur of the moment trips.
xoxo

*Speaking of ghost stuff! My freshly charged camera battery completely died in this cemetery. Super weird considering the fact my batteries never die. I rarely have to charge them despite how often I use my camera. People always say that ghosts drain batteries… You know, because they’re battery powered or something. 😜

Heidelberg Project

by Kaylah Stroup October 11, 2016

It’s been well established I like weird public art, right? For years, and years I’ve been seeing photos of the Heidelberg Project in Detroit, Michigan. Even before I knew what this strange art project was called I had a major crush on that darn polka dotted house. (Don’t worry, you’ll know exactly which one I’m talking about when you see the photos!) For some reason I had it in my head that Detroit was really far away so I never made the trip up there. Last weekend Jeff mentioned something about taking a trip up to Detroit for the day. I was a little concerned with timing, especially when he insisted I wouldn’t have to take Klaus to my parents. To my surprise Detroit really is close, an easy breezy 2.5 hour trip. (Jeff says “Of course it was an easy drive, you slept the whole way!”)

The Heidelberg Project was started by Tyree Guyton in 1986. HP describes itself as “an outdoor community art environment.” Everything there is made from recycled materials or found objects, most of which salvaged from the streets of Detroit. Each work is made to tell a story about current issues plaguing society.

Found object art is my absolute favorite, no ifs, ands, or butts about it. The Heidelberg Project was perfect. I loved every second of being there. I could have easily spent a few more hours soaking in every details. I had seen tons and tons of photos prior to my visit but nothing really can prepare you for what it’s like to experience in person. There is so much to see. Plus there were a bunch of cats + black squirrels. BONUS!

Heidelberg Project, detroit, polka dot house

Twice in the past the HP has dealt with partial demotion and then in
more recent times has been the subject of arson. Over the 30 last years, Tyree
Guyton has created twenty house installations but only two remain.
Needless to say, I’m kicking myself for not getting up there before nine
of the buildings burnt down in 2013 and 2014.

It was recently announced that over the next two years the HP will be dismantled. The project’s spokesperson said “there will always be a footprint of the project, just not as people have known over the years.” I’m very curious to see what happens over the next few years. Apparently even the creator of the project isn’t quite sure what will take place exactly. From here on out I’d like to
make annual trips up to visit, and photograph the HP, in whatever form it takes on.

Despite the abundance of photos I took, I still don’t think I managed to capture all that is the Heidelberg Project. It’s quite the site! If you’d like to read more about the Heidelberg Project you can do so on their official website. You can donate, volunteer, and even check out photos from past. I definitely recommend making a trip there before any further dismantling occurs!
xoxo

PS. If you’re into this sort of stuff but on the west side of the US – be sure to check out Noah’s Art.

my top 3 resources for finding roadside attractions

by Kaylah Stroup October 5, 2016

One of my absolute favorite things about traveling is visiting tourist traps. I love giant dinosaurs, cheesy gift shops, and relics from the not so distant past. I won’t hesitate to take a few hour drive just to see a huge basket shaped building, and massive roadside animals are basically my favorite thing ever.

I think it would be safe to say my obsession with roadside attractions might have started with “big bunny”. Big bunny is exactly what it sounds like, a giant rabbit. This statue sat in someone’s front yard, surrounded by flowers, with it’s hand up to greet everyone who passed by. It was on the way to my grandma’s house and every time my mom and I would pass him she’d say “wave to big bunny!” and I did, with great enthusiasm. Big bunny sparked something in me, something I can’t seem to shake all these years later.

Since this type of thing is something I blog about quite often I thought it would be fun to share my favorite resources for finding strange roadside attractions, be they murals from movies, old bottles turned into art or cemeteries with famous graves. There are tons of sites out there dedicated to these things but I definitely have favorites I prefer to use.

My number one resource is the Roadside America app. It currently costs $2.99 to download and that unlocks one of the regions. After that you can download additional regions for $1.99 each or unlock them all for $5.99 more. I’ll be the first to admit it’s kind of pricey. Is it worth it though? In my opinion, absolutely! This is one of my most used apps (and one of the very few I’ve ever paid for.) All the information is available on their website, for free, but I still think the ease of the app makes it well worth the price.

My main method of using it is just viewing the “near me” category which lists all roadside attractions close to you in order of distance. You can click on each individual place to see a short description, photos of it, and directions to it. You’re also able to search by city or themes such as “animals”, “ghost towns”, “odd buildings”, “UFO”, etc. You can check places off as been there, or save them to check out at another time.

Basically, if I’m anywhere further than an hour away from my house I’m using the Roadside America app! I can’t even begin to list all the weird, wonderful, and just plain fun places I’ve discovered because of this app.

I am also a big fan of the Roadtrippers app (which is free!) This one is really fun because you can plan trips. You simply put in where you’re going and it will show you spots along the way as well as how much gas money will cost, how many miles and how long the trip will take. The great thing about this app is that you can choose tons of different things for it to show you ranging from sleeping accommodations which can be broken down further into categories such as hotels, motels, unique stays, etc to points of interest from which you can highlight abandoned, film & tv, photo ops, public art and so much more.

I’ve found that it seems to have less of the types of attractions I really enjoy compared to Roadside America but I really enjoy being able to search for other items, like parks (although that doesn’t really have anything to do with the theme of this post, does it?) Unlike Roadside America, Roadtrippers is an app you could use much closer to home and probably still find things you don’t really know about it.

My third tip is to find others with the same interests, Instagram is a great resource for this! It does require a little bit of legwork, and obviously isn’t as straight forward as an app that knows where you are and can show you things nearby but there’s the possibility of finding things that may not be listed on websites or apps.

When I knew I’d be visiting New York City I scoured Alexandra’s blog archives. We have incredibly similar tastes so I knew she’d probably blogged about things I’d be interested in checking out while in the area. While I don’t really have tastes quiet as similar to anyone else as much as I do her, browsing the instagram accounts of people who I know live near where I’ll be is always a great way to find fun spots!

Still not satisfied?
▴ Browse Atlas Obscura.
▴ Google “weird things in” + the town or state you’ll be visiting. Make sure to browse the image results too!
▴ When on instagram, use local hashtags to find fun spots only locals know about. Most of the time if you search for a city it will show you in the related tags along the top what people are use. For example if you search “Cleveland”, it will show “#cle, #thisisCLE, and #clevelandgram” Those are the hashtags you should be browsing before visiting a city!

Because of these resources I’ve been able to watch the sunrise in a ghost town in the middle of the desert (which is still one of the most magical mornings I have ever had!), visit one of the world’s largest private displays of insects, seen countless dinosaurs, and slept in the three remaining Wigwam Villages among many other things.

Maybe you already knew to utilize all of the resources above, maybe you don’t give a crap about giant dinosaurs but I hope this at least inspires you to get out and search for something new!
xoxo

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lensbaby in the desert

by Kaylah Stroup October 3, 2016

Right before I left for this year’s trip to the desert a package from Lensbaby arrived in my PO Box, inside was their Composer Pro II with Edge 50 Optic. I had previously owned a Lensbaby Spark, and never figured out how to use it properly. I’m normally pretty good at figuring out how stuff works but this lens always stumped me. I obviously understood how it worked in theory but my resulting photos were always less than desirable. It drove me crazy! I wanted so badly to master it! I eventually sold it and wrote off ever trying any more of their products… until this one.

I was so excited at the timing and couldn’t wait to test out the Composer Pro while on vacation. I ended up completely forgetting about it until Two Guns though! Vacation brain! I got it out, haphazardly shot a few shots that didn’t turn out at all, and got frustrated. Jeff, who had been SUPER excited to try the lens out all along, gave it a whirl and basically shot solid gold right from the get go …which made me really mad! I had read the instruction booklet before leaving home so I couldn’t understand what I was doing differently than he was or how he was getting such great results right off the bat. He offered to help me use it but I refused because I’m a little baby who wants to figure things out on her own.

At our next stop, a scenic overview in Arizona, Jeff, once again, was
shooting awesome photos with the Lensbaby. I sheepishly asked if he’d show me how to use
the lens. I already understood the basics of how to use the Composer Pro
but there was one piece of advice that really helped me out and that
was tilt the lens at what you don’t want in focus. Maybe I missed that
in the instruction booklet, maybe it just wasn’t in there but that made
all difference for me.

If
you’ve never used one of these, or aren’t familiar with what in the
world Lensbaby is – you’re probably pretty confused. This isn’t a regular old camera lens! Lensbaby makes
creative effects lenses, optics, and accessories that help you shoot in a
new way. So basically, the Composer Pro II with Edge 50 Optic
is like a Tilt Shift lens, it produces a
slice of focus that sort of gives you a miniature effect. You simply
tilt your lens away from what you’d like in focus, manually focus on your subject, and shoot. The result is an area sharply in focus while the rest is beautifully blurred.

Below is the view from our balcony at the best hotel everrrrr, The Wigwam. We’ve stayed here two years in a row, and it’s heaven on earth. Stay there, and thank me later.

The photo above isn’t focused as nicely as I’d like but I LOVE that it looks I took a shot of someone’s tiny model train set up.

It took a
little bit of time for me to pick it up but I went from “This thing is
stupid! It doesn’t work! I hate it!” to “Holy cow! This is the coolest!” I’m disappointed that I only got to use it on the last full day of the trip since I’m sure there were a million awesome opportunities missed. Guess that just means we’ll have to go back. Hehe!

Since getting home I’ve continued to practice. I’ve realized that using a tripod helps tremendously in finding the perfect focus. There’s definitely a bit of a learning curve with the Composer Pro II with Edge 50 Optic. It’s fun to push myself out of my comfort zone with photography, especially because it’s something I feel so confident in. I’m really looking forward to taking a walk downtown and getting some cool cityscape shots with it soon.

xoxo

If you’re like to see more of my Lensbaby photos I shared these two of my very handsome puppy here + here.

abandoned in the desert 2016

by Kaylah Stroup September 28, 2016

I’ve basically blogged about nothing this month other than my little road trip out west. You’ll have to excuse me, I’m still soaking it all in. My pal, Allie (who has a blog you’d probably love if you’re reading mine), recently said that a third of the fun of taking trips for her is looking back on everything she did aaaand I feel exactly the same way. I like planning trips, and getting all hyped up about them. Obviously I love traveling, seeing new things, and just doing things that aren’t part of my everyday life but I also reeeeally love sitting down with a cup of coffee and sorting through all my photos – over and over. I guess it’s just that it can be hard to take it in and really appreciate everything that’s happening while it’s actually happening, ya know?

Anyway, I had a handful of photos that didn’t really fit into my other posts from the trip yet still resonated with me enough I wanted to share them. Have you ever felt homesick for a place that isn’t home? That’s what looking at these photos makes me feel. (Yeah, I know it sounds weird. It’s a bunch of random abandoned buildings…) But the way it feels driving through the middle of the desert where it seems like there’s no one else around for miles and miles. Spotting the crisp, sun baked, ruins of buildings that haven’t been used in ages, and stopping to poke around those places. Just being somewhere that is complete opposite of home! Those are some of my favorite things. I don’t know that I would ever want to actually live out there. Well, maybe a large Arizona city would be nice. That miiiight be my favorite state. Regardless, these places still hold a very special place in my heart. These are the things that draw me back to the desert year after year.

In an abandoned gift shop I found the photo below. I really love that they thought it would be a cute idea to leave this. They look so happy, and I enjoy seeing evidence that others are having just as much fun as Jeff and I while checking out these random places.

I, obviously, tried searching on social media for them but came up with nothing. If by some super strange coincidence you know them, let them know they made at least two people smile with that photo! Also, please check out that dust bunny on my finger. I wanted to photoshop it out at first but it honestly made me laugh too much to get rid of. Sooo gross.

Until next time, desert!
xoxo

If you’d like to check out more photos from this trip – Roswell, NM, Rehoboth Mission Cemetery, Two Guns + The Apache Death Cave, + instant film from out west 2016.

Or if you just want more desert abandonment – 2014 + 2015.

Kings Park Psychiatric Center

by Kaylah Stroup September 26, 2016

Jumping back to August – the very last stop of our New England road trip* was Kings Park Psychiatric Center, an abandoned hospital complex which closed its doors back in 1996. My big stop of the trip was Dead Horse Bay, and this was Jeff’s. I hadn’t done any research on the area, and was generally pretty pessimistic about it. There was no way we’d be able to get in, I thought. With so many huge abandoned buildings in one place it has to be teeming with police, right? It was only fair we went though and no matter what it’s always fun to see the outside of these places.

I did a tiny bit of research right before we got there and gathered that maybe, just maybe, this would actually be possible to explore. I’m obviously not promoting trespassing, because it’s dangerous you guys, seriously, but let’s just say this was probably one of the easiest spots we’ve ever gotten. I couldn’t believe it.

It felt too easy though. We went in one of the largest buildings on the property, a patient ward built in 1939. My legs shook the whole time. I just couldn’t calm down. Maybe it’s because I’m out of practice or maybe it was the spirits that haunt this place. You know I’m joking, right!? We haven’t been doing much of this lately but I just had a bad feeling I couldn’t shake. Jeff could tell I was unnerved and said it was more than okay if we finished up after a few shots.

We made our way back to the car, cooled down in the air, and drove around the rest of the property scoping everything out. Jeff spotted a second building he wanted to explore. After how nervous I was in the first I was thiiiis close to offering to drop him off and just sit in the car while he did his thing. I knew I’d regret it though so I put on a brave face. I was cool as a cucumber inside the second building. This is only my second hospital (see number one here!) so they’re still very very exciting to me, unlike factory buildings.

It was extremely hot when we visited so knowing we had a bit of a trek back to the car Jeff suggested we start to head back before we were both completely drained. This is the part where we got lost in an abandoned hospital, you guys. We made our way down to the level we thought the exit was on and wandered around hoping to find where we came in. You realize you’re lost when you start passing the same graffiti turn after turn. For me it was a tag that just said “Steph Curry” I saw about six times. After about forty-five mins of this, Jeff eventually say “You know what, just go out that window. It doesn’t matter what direction we’re facing, we’ll find our way to the car.” While he was packing up his camera equipment, he encouraged me to go first. It was a bit of a drop and by “a bit” I mean second story window. I rode a skinny tree to the ground like a fire pole. As soon as I got to the bottom and looked up to Jeff for approval like “Did you see how awesome that was?!” I could see something was wrong, his face said it all. He muttered “Don’t freak out but you’re in the courtyard.” which meant I was completely trapped between walls. I went out that window for nothing. I had to climb back in… somehow. I had a brief moment of “I’ll just live here. No biggie.” before the adrenaline started to pump. Back up against the tree, and feet on the bricks, I wiggled my way up to the window where Jeff helped pull me back in. Your body can do some crazy stuff when it needs too!

Once back inside we wandered around in circles for a bit longer before
peeking out a window where I was able to recognize a structure I spotted
near the entrance when we originally went in. After looking for it a
bit more we realized we were on the wrong floor the whole time. Whoops! Five more minutes and we were outside at last.

I’ve seen numerous horror movies where people are stuck in abandoned buildings and I think “go out the window, you dummy!” but I guess that might lead you to being stuck in the courtyard. As someone with a pretty great sense of direction, it’s really amusing how confusing hospitals can be. Everything looks the same after a while. Floor after floor is the same, and each of the wings on those floors are normally laid out exactly the same too.

I don’t think there could have been a more perfect way to end this trip. The drive home was extremely boring, I-80 might be the most boring road ever, but we talked about the hospital nearly the whole way back. The amount of history in these places hold is incredible. I’ve spent so much time since our visit there researching KPPC and I just keep finding new things that intrigue me. This hospital, despite clearly being a very well visited spot which would normally knock a spot down a few pegs for me, just might be one of my favorites!
xoxo

*For more posts about my visit to New England check out these posts; On the cutting room floor – road trip edition, Old Bennington Cemetery, Acadia National Park, Pemaquid Point, Giant’s Stairs, Maple Grove Cemetery, Granary Burying Ground + Dead Horse Bay.

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