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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.

It’s the little things…

by Kaylah Stroup February 23, 2015

At the beginning of last week Jeff text me about how he was so sick of the winter and was dying to go shoot photos. I replied “ditto! let’s get out” assuming that would I mean I would have to grudgingly bundle up and head out into the negative temperatures for a few hours. His response was “let’s go on a trip!” Two days later we’re in the car heading down to Virginia, he had booked us a hotel in Norfolk.

It was supposed to be an escape from the cold but the day previous to our arrival Norfolk had been hit with a pretty intense snow storm. They apparently weren’t too prepared, and the roads were kind of awful so after finding macarons and eating a burger we retired to our hotel room fairly early. As cold as it was there it was still an improvement and we were both excited to escape our city for a bit. While Cleveland was experiencing temperatures as low as -25, Norfolk was around 20 degrees.

The next morning we woke up before the sun so we could hurry down to the beach and watch it rise over the ocean. It was absolutely freezing but well worth it for the sight. This is one of those times where I’m not super pumped about my photos but once I get over the initial “I could have shot that better” I know I’ll be really happy I have them. Watching the sun rise and set with Jeff is one of my all time favorite things. It never fails to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Funny story – For our first date I suggested we watch the sun rise together. We agreed upon a place, time, and date. I woke up super early that morning to make sure I looked extra cute, bundled up and headed to the beach. Nearly a half hour after the sun rose I realized this butthead wasn’t going to show up. I played it cool and texted him something along the lines of “Hey, you didn’t show! Hope you’re okay and nothing happened!” He text me back almost instantly. He had overslept and my text woke him up. We finally met up later that day but I’m probably never going to let him live that down.

I was pretty excited to find coral on the beach. Lake Erie doesn’t really have many interesting things that wash up on the beach, I mean if you exclude giant water bugs and trash, so even frozen coral is intriguing to me. I’m also a fan of sea foam. It was killing me that it was so cold there, I wanted to stick my hands in it so badly.

Back in Ohio, I’m still hating winter just as much as before we left for our quick trip but it was a great escape, even if it wasn’t a warm one.
xoxo

Two posts into my “the little things” series and both include Jeff and a sun setting or rising on the beach. Whoops!

abandoned around Cleveland

by Kaylah Stroup February 11, 2015

I mentioned a little while back how we took some out of town explorer pals around to some of Cleveland’s abandoned hot spots. We hit my favorite, the elementary school, and a handful of other spots. I took a lot of pictures but instead of trying to squeeze a post out of each location I’ve just compiled some of my favorites from the whole day. It’s been snowy and a bit too cold for me to want to do just about anything outside so it feels like the perfect day to share these.

Any Avengers fans out there? The beginning interrogation scene with Black Widow was actually filmed in the place shown in the photo above. They actually cut a huge hole in the floor for the movie. In the film they used CGI to make it look like the holes kept going but in reality there is just one hole there. This was actually one of the very first spots Jeff took me, he was so pumped but I had never seen The Avengers. That night we went home at watched just the beginning of the movie so I could see the part filmed in that building. It didn’t strike me as cool right away but I’ve definitely come to appreciate how awesome that is that one of Cleveland’s abandoned buildings was used in such a big movie.

Hope you have a wonderful day!
xoxo

Cleveland Snow Day

by Kaylah Stroup February 4, 2015

On Monday we had a major snow day. I didn’t have any where to go and even if I did, it wasn’t going to happen. My car was buried! Not only that but since I share a driveway with my downstairs neighbor I always pull into my driveway really far back so it would have taken me ages to shovel my way out which would have only lead to me getting stuck somewhere down the road. It was ROUGH outside. I worked, cleaned, did laundry, and made a delicious lunch all before ten so I decided to get out and explore my new neighborhood.

I’ve been living here for a little bit less than a month but I already feel way more at home here than I ever did in my five years in Geneva or year in Lakewood. The homes are beautiful, the people are friendly and daaaang, it’s going to be fun to bike this spring. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I took a two hour walk. It was just such an awesome time. Walking in the snow is awful tiring but it was more than worth it to get a peek at my new neighborhood covered in snow.

I’m really excited to get out and explore the area even more. I seem to have a habit of pushing things off until spring which is just plain silly, especially in Ohio. There’s so much to see in the winter. It’s not just the beach that’s beautiful this time of the year. Here’s to more long walks in the snow by myself and not using snow days as an excuse to be lazy.

xoxo

It’s the little things…

by Kaylah Stroup February 1, 2015

A few years back I had a little series on the blog called “It’s the little things…” where I just shared little things that made me happy. It was mostly pictures of my cats back then… I hadn’t posted anything related to that series for a while so when I cleaned up all the tags I use at the beginning of the year that was one that got deleted. In an effort to share more of my daily life, and take more photos of just everyday things I’m bringing that tag back.

These photos were taken earlier in the week. Jeff and I had plans to go to the mall but when he arrived at my door he pointed toward the sky and said “What do you think? Wanna go to watch the sunset and take pictures?” Of course, I did! I would I ran upstairs, grabbed my camera and off we headed to the frozen wonderland that is Lake Erie this time of the year.

Within minutes my fingers ached because they were so cold but we still stayed and shot. I’m so very thankful to have found someone who enjoys spur of the moment adventures just as much as I do, and someone who will voluntarily go to the freezing cold beach just to get a few shots. We’re a pretty awesome team. I want a lifetime of moments like this with him.

In the car on the ride home from the mall this night, I panicked. My memory doesn’t seem to be that great anymore, or at least I feel like I’m having trouble remembering things. “I can’t think of any memories that don’t have a photo attached” I cried. Maybe it’s just because I take SO many photos but I have to think pretty hard to think of moments where I don’t have at least one photo tucked away somewhere that is related to it.

The next day Jeff said something along the lines of “I had a lot of fun yesterday!” My response was “I don’t remember what we did…?” A few minutes passed before I remembered what had happened in the car the night previous. We both had a good chuckle about the irony of that.

I don’t know if my memory is getting foggy or if I have unrealistic expectations and just feel like I should remember every single thing but hopefully this series will help me feel a bit more at ease. Evenings like this one I never want to forget.
xoxo

snowy marina

by Kaylah Stroup January 20, 2015

Winter seems to finally have really hit in Cleveland. We held out a while but finally started getting snow. These last two weeks or so have been pretty brutal; below freezing temperatures, and some decent accumulation. My first thought every first big snow is “it’s time to go to the beach!”

I knew the beach I usually go to to do outfit photos, and collect trash from probably wouldn’t be too great, at least not this early in the winter so I ventured out of my side of town and over to the east side. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure where to go but I knew there were marinas over there. Long story short I pulled into a park to turn around, and got my car stuck. My poor little VW Golf is pretty horrible in the snow, combine that with tires that are basically just for show, being downhill, and a warmish day where spinning my tires just turned the snow into ice. I wasn’t stuck for long before I realized I had no chance of getting out on my own and called Jason . We spent over an hour trying to work my car out before crossing our fingers, and just gunning it through the grass toward the sidewalk. It was kind of a fun little adventure. Things like that are way easier to look at from the bright side when you have friends who are always willing to come rescue you from stupid situations.

Anyway, I fiiinally made my way to the marina. It was just as beautiful and other worldly as I’d hoped. I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of visiting the lake in the winter. I feel lucky to live so incredibly close to the water. You guys, my new apartment is a quick bike ride from my favorite beach. I cannot wait til it’s warmer out.

Like I mentioned, these were taken on a warmer day so a lot of the ice had already begun to melt. Since I’ve never actually been to this marina when there wasn’t snow it was kind of hard to traverse. With everything covered in snow I had to be extra careful to not take a wrong step. I’m looking forward to going back when the temperatures drop real low again and I can climb around a little bit more confidently.
xoxo

You can other frozen Lake Erie posts from previous years here, here + here.

abandoned greenhouse

by Kaylah Stroup January 19, 2015

A little while back Jeff, Brandon, and I took a short trip outside the city to check out an abandoned greenhouse. We’d known about this place for a while but it didn’t seem like anyone was in a rush to get there. We were barely inside before the three of us were completely in awe. The complex is absolutely massive. Some glass tiles from the ceiling had begun to fall but had been caught by the thick vines that covered so much of the place. There were huge stacks of terracotta planters in multiple spots throughout, and the sun was in the perfect spot in the sky for great pictures. This was definitely one of my favorite adventures in a while.

Before it closed, this was one of the biggest and best greenhouses in the area. Not 100% of the accuracy of what happened but one story goes that they got the idea they could bypass paying for expensive city water and just pump water straight from the lake to water their plants. They got everything all set up except one of the valves had been installed backwards. When they turned it on, lake water flooded homes nearby. They went bankrupt after that.

Other stories suggest it was an infestation of whiteflies or competition with tomato growers in Mexico that caused the greenhouse to go under. Whatever happened the plants didn’t seem to get the memo. Even this late in they year the growth, although dead for the most part, was hard to navigate through. I can’t even imagine how incredible this place looks in the summer when everything is alive!

I doubt I even have to mention the fact I am absolutely interested in going back to photograph this place as soon as spring comes around. Honestly, I’d love to see it in all the seasons! Don’t be surprised if you see more photos of this place in a few months.
xoxo

abandoned school

by Kaylah Stroup January 12, 2015

Last week we showed some out of town explorers a few of our favorite spots around Cleveland. One of our stops was the abandoned middle school I blogged about a while back. This was my third time shooting it and I’m still not satisfied. I just want to shoot every corner of this place. This school is one of the very first abandoned places I ever shared
here on the blog. It’s also one of the very first I really really loved. It’s just so wonderfully colorful, and even after all these years of being abandoned it’s still packed with things. Things that help you get an idea of the lively place this used to be. Notes filled with secrets, and papers with names. Little pieces of what used to be.

I guess in the grand scheme of abandoned buildings this place isn’t
really all that great but for some reason I can’t get enough. I just feel a special attachment to it. I’ll honestly probably cry when/ if it gets demolished.

The first time I went I didn’t own the 10-22mm yet, which quickly became my absolute favorite lens to shoot with. For the longest time I swore I didn’t need anything other than a 40mm or 50mm but abandoned buildings got me itching to shoot wider. I wanted to show more than the tiny details. Other than my bike, that lens was my best purchase last year. I’m pretty excited about the shots above. The first one is probably one of my favorites I’ve ever taken in that school.

Hope you’re having an awesome start to your week!
xoxo

See more posts about this school here, here + here.

Favorite 10 abandoned spots in 2014

by Kaylah Stroup December 30, 2014

Earlier in the week I was going through my posts from 2014 to make up a little list of my favorites from the past twelve months. It was a great year, so naturally I had a lot of favorites. I was trying to keep the list varied but kept finding I wanted to add posts about abandoned places. They just kept adding up so I thought it might be fun to do a little recap of my favorite abandoned spots I visited in 2014. Well, I should reword that, these aren’t necessarily my favorite spots but ones that yielded the prettiest photos and my favorite blog posts.

The Rubber Duck Factory.

Bombay Beach.

Church.

Victoreen Instrument Company.

Amusement Park.

Home, Sweet, Abandoned Home.

There is still so much to see in Cleveland but I’m hoping, in the new year, to make a few trips specifically to see some abandoned places I have my eye on. Here’s to 2015, may it be chock-full of adventures.
xoxo

You can find the rest of my posts on abandoned places under the “abandoned” tag.

Foggy Cleveland

by Kaylah Stroup December 9, 2014

One day last week Mickey and I spent the day cruising around Cleveland. We stopped at a few abandoned places, got macarons, and spent a bit of time in the photobooth at Big Fun. It had been raining on and off all day, and on our way back toward downtown we noticed fog had rolled in. We ditched our plans of hitting one more abandoned spot and decided to do some walking around the city instead. Shooting the fog was a must. I feel like we don’t get fog that often here, or when we do it’s for a very, very short amount of time. You notice it, grab your camera, and when you finally get somewhere for neat pictures it’s gone.

For once the fog stuck around all evening. We walked around the whole city looking for pretty views. These were all taken within the span of around an hour and a half and are in the order they were taken. As you can see, this time of the year it gets dark SO quickly. I would loved to have kept shooting for longer but I was without a tripod, and we had fed the meter all our quarters.

Cleveland, christmas lights, city at night

I didn’t take that many photos and I realized while editing the ones I
did take, I don’t really have any idea how to shoot city photos. I am,
without a doubt, more comfortable shooting nature photos. Like I’ve mentioned a handful of times before, up until I moved here cities in general were absolutely foreign to me. The time I had spent in them was always short, and mostly just to attend concerts. I was a tiny country mouse in a big scary city, the last thing I was was comfortable enough to take photos. Now that thats all changed photographing the city is something
I really would like to practice a lot more. Since I absolutely love making
goals, I am making “practice taking city photos” one of my 2015 goals! It’s not that I think these are bad, but give me the same amount of time in the woods and I would come out with three times as many photos. I’m just not fluent in city photography… yet.

I already posted the above photo on my instagram a few days ago, but couldn’t resist another chance to show it off. I absolutely LOVE finding buildings that look like they have faces. I love how happy this one looks.
xoxo

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