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Travel

ghost town – Silver City, UT

by Kaylah Stroup November 29, 2017

Shortly after leaving Eureka Cemetery, Jeff and I stumbled upon Silver City. Despite having mapped out a great deal of the ghost towns in the areas we’d planned on being in the state, I somehow had never seen or heard of this one. According to Wikipedia, ‘there is nothing left other than a few holes where mines were, and a number of tailings piles.’ And now I see why Wikipedia isn’t a reputable source…

Silver City ranks pretty high on the “Boy, I’m glad we slammed on the breaks and turned around for that one” list. From the road we were able to see a building or two but it wasn’t until we got out of the car and started exploring that we saw just how much remained of this silver mining town. What was supposed to be a super quick stop for a photo or two turned into us wandering around until we were too hungry to go on. Each time we’d thought we’d seen it all we’d stumble upon another building or neat little hole in the ground. It was an incredible find!

silver city, ghost town

Below are my souvenirs from Silver City. I brought a bunch of land camera film (which you can find here) on the trip but this was the location I shot the most. It captured so beautifully. I have so many photos from this location I could easily write a second post just to share my film photos. The film photo displayed below was my favorite, perhaps even of the whole trip. We found that area of Silver City last. We were both starving and ready to leave but there was a building I could see off in the distance that I wanted to shoot real quick before hopping back in the car. I ran over to grab my shot and stopped in awe of that little layout. It just looked so ancient. Something about it just really struck my fancy.

Around Silver City in a few places were little piles of gathered items. First was a pile of pretty rocks. (I shared a photo of that here.) A few minutes later I stumbled upon another pile which included some rocks, pieces of metal, and this nail. I just couldn’t seem to leave it behind. I wanted to bring my own little piece of Silver City home since it stole a piece of my heart. Too cheesy for you? I thought so too but I’m only half joking. I don’t feel like I could ever accurately describe how much these trips, and random stops just like this one mean to me. Silver City may not be your average tourist destination but we couldn’t have loved it more! Unplanned surprises like this are exactly what I love so much about roadtrippin’!!

utah, ghost town Silver City, Ghost Town, Utah

Eureka Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup November 22, 2017

utah, old headstone

After ooh-ing and ahhh-ing at all the incredible animals on Antelope Island I suggested we head to Eureka, Utah. Eureka is listed on quite a few websites as a ghost town so obviously that was what drew us there. The photos looked promising. Upon arriving we quickly realized this was not that case. I mean, there are definitely abandoned houses, and storefronts but there is also a pretty sizable population of folks who still reside there.

Would it have been cool to get some shots of the abandoned buildings? Sure but shooting buildings that are surrounded by people’s homes is something I’m not super comfortable with. It feels like an invasion of privacy. Neither of us had cell phone service, and hadn’t bothered to really think ahead about where we’d be heading next so the only thing we could do was just keep driving. It didn’t take long before we stumbled upon Eureka Cemetery. It didn’t look all that interesting from the road but it seemed like a decent place stretch our legs for a few minutes. The majority of the graves near the front of the cemetery were fairly new meaning not something I’d photograph but then I spotted ‘big deal’.

eureka cemetery, utah, unique headstone

I had to get a shot of that grave marker. I hopped out, got my photo, and realized just how lovely the colors were. I’m generally not a fan of shooting in direct sunlight but I’ve found that when I shoot cemeteries in full sun I usually end up loving those photos the most. The lighting conditions mixed with the gorgeous colors (Utah, I love all your yellows!) yielded some spectacular photos! I’m so happy with how these turned out. The incredible mountainous scenery, the barren cemetery, the unique headstones! I’m in loooove!

headstones, eureka cemetery

Antelope Island

by Kaylah Stroup November 15, 2017

As per usual, before leaving on our latest roadtrip, we hadn’t done much research. I take that back, I actually mapped out all the interesting ghost towns I could find but quickly realized it was way more driving than we could handle on this short trip. Basically, our plan was Cisco (where Jeff proposed!!!) and then decide from there what to do.

Once we woke up in the morning I realized how close the Great Salt Lake was, and noted that there were a few other things in the area that would make driving in that direction seem like the right choice. A quick search seemed to point to Antelope Island as the best place to visit if we wanted to check out the lake so that’s where we went.

Antelope Island is the largest of ten islands located within the Great Salt Lake. It is home to populations of pronghorn, bighorn sheep, American bison, porcupine, bager, coyote, bobcat, mule deer and lots of birds. Sounds pretty promising, right? The fact there was admission to the island made me question if we really needed to go there but we certainly ended up getting our ten bucks worth.

Within five minutes of being on the island we spotted a herd of antelope which was beyond exciting. The very first time we had seen antelope was back in 2014 on the way to Cisco. I had no idea what they were at the time. I just remember shouting “I saw weird deer. They were like deer, but not deer!” as we sped by them. This year I got to positively identify those ‘weird deer’ as pronghorn.

They’re not true antelope like you’d find in Africa or Eurasia but they’re known colloquially in North America as antelope. Whatever you want to call them, they’re cute as all heck. I was SUPER excited to have Jeff’s 70-200mm lens. Gosh, we needed two of them on this trip so that we weren’t constantly trading lenses. I was a bit bummed about not being to get any really nice portraits of one but I really am smitten with the shots I got. How can an animal look so adorable from behind? Look at them fluffy butts!

pronghorn, antelope island

pronghorn, utah, great salt lake, antelope island

After the pronghorn we continued driving around the island looking for more critters. The weather was a bit gloomy, and we were completely underdressed but there wasn’t another person in sight. It was lovely to have such a gorgeous park all to ourselves. I would have to imagine that in nicer weather this place is packed. It felt like we were on our own little self guided safari.

We didn’t have to drive far before we came upon some bison just chilling beside the road. I guess if you lived out here these animals might not be so exciting to you but Jeff and I were both whisper yelling at each other about how amazing it was to be so close. They’re pretty dirty lookin’ dudes. We both took approximately four billion photos of them though…

antelope island, great salt lake, utah

great salt lake, antelope island

After getting our fill of bison, spotting a few mule deer, and admiring some more incredible scenery we were ready to hit the road. Before we could do that though, I thought it only necessary to actually go to the beach at the Great Salt Lake. We followed signed for the beach, parked, and walked what felt like years. Walking in the sand is so exhausting.

A little foamy but otherwise it was really nothing too exciting. I had read that the lake had a huge population of brine shrimp. I was pretty disappointed to not find any…until I realized THEY WERE EVERYWHERE. See those brown-ish lines in the sand? Brine shirmp! The massive clumps that I thought were just… I don’t know, regular stuff that washes up on the beach (??) were actually thousands and thousands and thousands of brine shrimp. Pretty wild stuff!

So, I would definitely say our short trip to Antelope Island was successful. Every animal I saw was something that I wasn’t 100% familiar with which is wildly exciting. I feel like the amount of time we spent there was perfect. Enough to satisfy my curiousity but still leave me wanting more. Utah is a wonderland!
xoxo

engagement story / cisco, UT

by Kaylah Stroup November 13, 2017

Things were pretty quiet on the blog front last week. I actually think that may have been the longest I didn’t blog in the history of The Dainty Squid. Jeff and I took a short vacation, I did a poor job planning content then immediately came home and got a gnarly cold. So, if you don’t follow me on Instagram you may have missed the big news. Uh, THAT happened. (Check out the announcement + ca-yoot photo here!) Needless to say, It’s been a whirlwind week!

Let’s throw it back three years. Jeff and I had been dating two and a half months when we decided to take our first trip together. We flew into Denver, Colorado, rented a car and drove around six states including Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona, and New Mexico. We spent two nights in a hotel, one night in a wigwam, and the other three in the car. In the six days we were on the road we racked up a whopping 3,204 miles. It was the most incredible trip of my life at the time. We had so much fun and really bonded that week. It’s a massive piece of our relationship.

Each year since we’ve taken a similar trip – flying into the cheapest city out West and just driving! It’s something we’re both wildly passionate about and something we talk about endlessly. We flew into Los Angeles back in April of this year for our “4th annual road trip” but as always, as soon as landing in Cleveland, one of us was mumbling about wanting to go back. I figured our big trips for the year were done, that maybe we’d take a small trip somewhere before the end of the year but certainly wasn’t expecting to be heading out on the road again like that any time soon.

Then one day, all of a sudden, we were planning a second trip. A bit shorter than our previous ones but it didn’t matter to me. I was just excited to get out again, and explore somewhere new. For this trip we flew into Denver, Colorado and promptly made our way into Utah where we’re wandered around kind of aimlessly for two full days. Utah is just… a hidden treasure. Truly one of the most underrated states but more on that another day! I have lots of posts from this trip coming in the next few weeks, promise!

On that very first trip in 2014 our first stop was a little old ghost town in Cisco, Utah. We had landed in Denver in the evening, grabbed our rental, and started heading toward Utah immediately. We stopped at a rest area, caught some z’s and started driving again slightly before sunrise. Once we got moving again I opened the Roadside America app and found that there was a ghost town coming up. The timing would get us there right at sunrise. Well, Cisco ended up being the most incredible start to our trip. I wrote this post about it, where I rambled on about how special of a stop and trip it was to me.

Since we flew into Denver this time, and we were heading into Utah, Cisco was once again on our map. I was super stoked to revisit, re-shoot, and just revel in this place that I had built up in my mind so much since the last time I was there. After eating the best BBQ of my life, we arrived in our beloved ghost town right at sunset. The timing could not have been more perfect. I was a little bit stressed we’d get there after dark but considering what was about to happen next, I’m sure Jeff was even more stressed.

The second he put the car in park, I dashed out of the car and started running toward a building I want to shoot. When we’re short on time Jeff and I usually head our seperate ways to get the shots we want instead of wandering around together. After a few minutes he joins me and asks if I want to get a shot of the two of us together. On the plane I had the brilliant idea that we’d take a nice photo together in each ghost town we visited on the trip since Utah is just littered with them and they were going to be our main stops. So, I thought nothing of it. I was just glad he remembered because I was so excited it hadn’t crossed my mind to slow down a second for a photo together.

cisco, utah, ghost town rainbow cloud

Sidenote here – Look at that cloud! IT IS GOSH DARN RAINBOW. That cloud was in the sky as we were about to pull into Cisco. We both freaked out. Neither of us had ever seen anything like that. It’s apparently called cloud iridescence. Little did I know that fifteen minutes later I’d be getting proposed to. How’s that for some cheesy rom-com material?!

I take direction as he tries to line me up for the shot, he runs over to join me, and immediately kisses me. I’m thinking “Oh, Okay? This isn’t really the shot I had in mind but cool.” Then before I know it he’s on one knee and I’m ugly crying. I don’t remember anything that he said, I just remember looking at the ring and nodding my head ethusiastically. It was such a blur. I was shaking like a leaf and just wanted to hug him forever, it felt like the only way I could stand up. Then he’s like “By the way, I got that on video!” and I sob some more.

As much as I’m into super non-traditional wedding stuff, something that was really important to me was that Jeff ask my dad’s permission. I was a bit worried that he didn’t have the chance because my dad was actually in the hospital the week before we left on this trip. Jeff revealed that he had taken a half day off work and visited my dad in the hospital to ask. This made me cry so hard I nearly threw up. Y’all I was already a cry baby but this last week I’ve been a wreck. I didn’t think it’d effect me this much!

So yeah, the man of my dreams asked me to marry him at one of our favorite spots in the entire world. It’s definitely not everyone’s picture of a romantic location but there isn’t anywhere that could be more ~us~. I am so happy and so damn excited to have a lifetime of adventures with this sweet man. It’s been just over a week and I basically haven’t stopped crying or looking at the shiny new addition to my ring finger yet. Life is good.

PS. You’ll have to excuse any typos or sentences that are just plain out of order. It’s hard to type when you can’t tell the dang story without crying.

a few of my favorite headstones

by Kaylah Stroup November 2, 2017

angel of death victorious, haserot, crying angel, headstone, cleveland, lakeview

The Haserot Angel. Lake View Cemetery. Cleveland, OH

Last year around this time I shared a list of my favorite cemeteries but some recent awesome finds have prompted me to start a list of my favorite headstones. Over the years I’ve been to tons of cemeteries. So many headstones look exactly a like, and as cheesy as it sounds, they just don’t make them like they used to. There are definitely exceptions though! So, I present to you, a list containing a few of my favorites I’ve seen made the journey to see in person…

▴ Giant lion

Lake View Cemetery. Cleveland, OH
I’ve spent hours wandering around Lake View Cemetery but only recently noticed this lion. When I turned around and spotted him for the first time he actually startled me. I think part of his appeal is that he just seems out of place.

weird headstone

▴ Specimens

State of Ohio Asylum for the Insane Cemetery
This one had been on my radar for years before I finally took the trip to go see it. I still can’t believe it’s real. Specimens in this case are most likely parts that had been removed during standard procedures and kept to study at the hospital. (Tumors, gallbladders, kidneys, etc) After a number of years it’s easy to imagine they’d probably have a pretty large collection of spare parts that they didn’t know what to do with. I guess it’s also in the realm of possibilities that it’s something a lot more sinister… Either way, this definitely ranks among my top three! The State of Ohio Asylum for the Insane Cemetery contains quite a few interesting headstones, definitely check out this post if you’d like to see more.

▴ Be of Good Courage

Bonaventure Cemetery. Savannah, GA
I don’t know what it is about this headstone but it first caught my eye back in 2014. I loved it immediately. When I returned to Savannah a few years later, though I had completely forgotten about it, I managed to end up stumbling upon it yet again in the massive cemetery. There’s just something about it… Find more photos of Bonaventure here.

▴ Skull with wings

Granary Burying Ground. Boston, MA
This isn’t so much about this particular headstone but in general, headstones with skulls on them are my favorite. It wasn’t until I visited Granary Burying Ground in Boston that I saw my first one. It’s fairly common on older headstones found in the North Eastern portion of the US but definitely not something you see around Ohio. I think I’m drawn to them because they seem like something that would be a Halloween decoration, something you’d see in cartoons, not something that is on a real headstone.

▴ Tom’s collage

Riverside Cemetery. Cleveland, OH
This is easily the weirdest headstone I have ever laid my eyes on. The first time I spotted it I took enough photos to write a whole post about it… but then I felt weird writing an entire piece about one specific headstone. I still don’t even know what I’m really looking at. It has a little bit of everything on it…

girl in blue, killed by a train, headstone, josephine klimczak

▴ The Girl in Blue

Willoughby Village Cemetery. Willoughby, OH
The Girl in Blue was the very first headstone I ever shared on The Dainty Squid. I remember it being such a huge deal to be blogging about a cemetery. I didn’t know how people would react or if I’d lose my readership because everyone just thought I was a giant weirdo. The post was surprisingly well received and I still catch these photos floating around the internet. Read more about her here.

▴ Corrina Shively

Brown Pet Cemetery. Columbus, OH
Brown Pet Cemetery still remains the only cemetery that has made me cry. It’s filled with incredible memorials. I just think it’s so touching that in a time when photography wasn’t as accessible as it is today that someone got glamour portraits of their kitten done. Check out more photos from my visit here.

▴ Seldom Seen Slim

Ballarat Cemetery. Ballarat, CA (a ghost town!)
“Me lonely? Hell, no! I’m half coyote and half wild burro!” That has to be one of the most interesting epitaphs out there!

▴ Unknown man died eating library paste

Goldfield Pioneer Cemetery. Goldfield, NV
Of course this makes the list! I mean, c’mon! The story of this one is that a homeless man was wondering the streets, looking for something to eat. In the library’s trash he found some book paste which at the time was a mixture of flour, water, and alum. Large quantities of alum are toxic when consumed, especially on an empty stomach. You can find more photos of the unique headstones in this cemetery here.

▴ Home for the Friendless

Erie Cemetery. Erie, PA
The Home for the Friendless was a home for orphaned or unwanted children in Erie, PA. (It was later renamed the Sarah Reed Children’s Home, thankfully.) I’m a bit more immune these days to the not so PC names certain institutions used to have but I’ll never forgot the complete shock I felt when I stumbled upon this one for the first time.

lilly e gray, salt lake city cemetery

▴ Victim of the Beast 666

Salt Lake City Cemetery. Salt Lake City, UT
If you’re having trouble reading the above headstone, it reads ‘Lilly E. Gray June 6, 1881 – Nov. 14, 1958 victim of the beast 666’ There are lots of interpretations that seem to just be made up by folks looking to write a good story but no one really knows for sure why her headstone says this as the only information on her death, straight from her obituarty, reads that she died of natural causes.

Laurel Grove Cemetery. Savannah, GA

Other notable spots;

Rehoboth Mission Cemetery. So much character packed in one small cemetery!
Old Sheldon Church Ruins. Cemetery, Spanish moss + ruins!
Tonopah Cemetery. Next to a clown motel, need I say more?
Wayne County Home Cemetery. No names, just numbers.

Mound View Cemetery. Mount Vernon, OH

Eastern Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup September 26, 2017

abandoned, cemetery, graveyard, louisville, overgrown cemetery

A few weekends back Jeff and I took a short weekend trip to Louisville, Kentucky. We had no real reason to go. I mean, not that we ever do when we go somewhere. We just wanted to check out somewhere that we had never been together. Our plans were basically completely open, we just wanted to explore.

While doing research on the area I stumbled across a few mentions of Eastern Cemetery. The golden word ~ abandoned ~ was used. I quickly searched for some photos but nothing struck me as too interesting. It just looked slightly overgrown. I’ve seen plenty of cemeteries online that look overgrown only for me to show up to a pristine cemetery. Not to mention, some kind folks have been working on cleaning up the cemetery for a few years now. My thought was that the chances it was actually abandoned or anything like Mount Moriah were slim.

I added it to my list of things I might be interested in checking out if we found nothing else and basically forgot about it. We leisurely made our way down to Louisville, checked into the hotel, rested a bit, and decided to head out into the city to explore. Using the FindAGrave app I noted that the cemetery was super close to our hotel, and then checking on the Geocaching app I saw that there were two caches. Sooo maybe it wouldn’t be too great of a cemetery but it was close and I’d be able to geocache while we were there. Might as well check it out…

eastern cemetery, louisville, kentucky, abandoned abandoned cemetery, overgrown cemetery

‘Jeff, I’m going to be a while. It’s okay if you just wanna sit in the car with the air on.’ was essentially what I tried to spit out as I slung my camera bag on my back and nearly jumped out of the car. Eastern Cemetery was overgrown beyond what I could have ever imagined. Not only that, it’s SO much bigger than I was picturing.

28 acres, only 16,000 graves but around 138,000 documented bodies! Pauper’s graves account for some of that but in 1989 it was revealed that the owners had been reusing purchased grave sites. Bodies had been buried on top of other bodies, others were excavated for reuse, and medical cadaver parts were buried in-mass. Human bones were found in inappropriate places including a tool box, a glove compartment, and perhaps most disturbingly of all, a fast food bag. When this information was brought to light the cemetery fell into disrepair.

Friends of Eastern Cemetery is a non-profit volunteer group working to restore Eastern Cemetery. Since March of 2013 they’ve been picking up trash, and doing their best to maintain the grounds. They’ve even held workshops on how to properly restore headstones so the volunteers can help, not harm, the aging stones. Weather permitting, they meet each Sunday April through November. There is only so much a small group of volunteers can do though, maintaining such a large area is a huge task.

I don’t even know that these photos properly show how incredibly overgrown the cemetery was on the day I visited. I fell more than once, stepped very carefully but still managed to trip on a handful of completely hidden headstones, and left covered in burs. (To be honest, I’m mother nature’s BFF, I somehow always manage to get covered in burs wherever we go.) There were spots in the cemetery where the grass was up past my waist!

I am so glad we stopped, and that I got to experience Eastern Cemetery. It was incredibly beautiful. I could have easily wandered around for hours and hours.
xoxo

Another beautiful abandoned cemetery – Mount Moriah.

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State of Ohio Asylum for the Insane Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup September 12, 2017

tico cemetery, cemetery, spooky, weird headstone, creepy, specimen

Like any completely normal adult, I have a cemetery bucket list. Bucket list seems very appropriate in this context. Ya know, just a bunch of cemeteries I want to see before I too kick the bucket. At the very top of this list was a single headstone that is actually in Ohio. One word…

Specimens.

What in the world are ‘specimens’?! I mean, obviously, I know what the word means but having it on a tombstone seems… I don’t even know. It’s weird. It’s concerning. Just like skulls on a headstone, I think the appeal to me is that is just seems like it has to be fake. It seems more like a Halloween decoration. But it’s not. This headstone resides in Columbus at the State of Ohio Asylum for the Insane Cemetery. Specimens in this case are most likely parts that had been removed during standard procedures and kept to study at the hospital. (Tumors, gallbladders, kidneys, etc) After a number of years it’s easy to imagine they’d probably have a pretty large collection of spare parts that they didn’t know what to do with. I guess it’s also in the realm of possibilities that it’s something a lot more sinister…

I don’t remember how long it’s been on my radar but it’s safe to say it’s been a loooong time. From the minuscule amount of information I could find about this place I was under the impression that it was private property. Despite what my previously blogged about adventures would have you believe, there are certain places I’m just sketched out about trespassing. Patrolled state property is definitely one of those places I don’t want to be lurking around on my own.

State of Ohio Asylum for the Insane Cemetery, graveyard, cemetery, state hospital

sunken in headstone, numbered headstone, graveyard, columbus

On the way down to Louisville the weekend before last Jeff asked if I wanted to stop at the cemetery. I’ve honestly been begging him to go down there with me since we met but my lack of information on the place made the drive seem like it might not really be worth it. Since I was driving he mapped it out and got me directions. I was nervous we wouldn’t be able to visit but excited that he was finally willing to go with me.

There are a handful of cemeteries that the mental health hospital used and luck was in my favor because two of them have geocaches. I know that just because there is a geocache somewhere doesn’t make it a legal place to be buuuut you have to agree that “Oh, I’m sorry, we were just looking for a geocache.” sounds a lot better to most people than “I like to photograph cemeteries.”

My main priority was finding the ‘specimen’ headstone so that’s where we headed first. Jeff went straight for the geocache while I proceeded to photograph headstones. I’m not going to lie, finally seeing it was sort of anticlimactic. I had a very vivid vision in my head of what visiting would be like and this was nothing like that at all. We parked in a parking lot and walked into a fairly well manicured cemetery. No sneaking, no feeling like I shouldn’t be there, just a regular old cemetery. Still, I was pleased to be there.

About 25% of the cemetery is filled with headstones similar in shape to the specimen one except they have names and dates. At first I assumed the rest of the cemetery was empty or at least had a bunch of unmarked graves but I quickly realized how wrong I was. Small headstones the size of bricks cover the cemetery. Each one marked with a number and “M”for male or “F” for female. Despite the fact the cemetery wasn’t overgrown or abandoned by any means, its easy to see how in another ten years or so any traces of the smaller headstones could be gone. This was only my second experience with headstones that didn’t have names, only identifying numbers so it’s still a bit perturbing to me. (See Wayne County Home Cemetery) These ones especially so since marking with male or female makes it seem even more anonymous.

After the first cemetery, we headed to a second. I was a bit more hesitant about visiting this one but again, geocaching seemed like a good enough excuse to be there. We parked on a little dirt pull off on the side of a fairly busy road and followed a muddy trail back to the cemetery. The approach to this cemetery was a bit closer to what I imagined the other one being like. Despite following a very clear path there, I felt like we had discovered a little piece of forgotten history.

One of my favorite things about the second cemetery was the arrangement of the headstones. There was a grave marker in the middle that was almost illegible except for “C. O. L. Asylum”. Surrounding that were small, rectangular headstones. There were lots of interesting ones including a few unknowns, a handful with names and only death dates but my favorite of the group had to be “(?) GLICK” Was that their nickname and their real name was unknown? Perhaps Glick was their last name and their first was unknown? Either way, I think it’s really interesting to put a question mark on a headstone. headstone, question mark, State of Ohio Asylum for the Insane Cemetery

I am so happy to finally crossed “specimens” off my list of things to see, and even happier to have also visited a second cemetery with equally as interesting headstones. There is so much history packed into these places!

headstone, gravemarker, State of Ohio Asylum for the Insane Cemetery, institutional cemetery, columbus

Check out even more interesting graveyards under the “cemeteries” tag!

Jerry’s Junk 2017

by Kaylah Stroup September 6, 2017

Jerry's Junk

Over the weekend I took a spur of the moment trip to Louisville, Kentucky. The trip itself wasn’t spur of the moment. It’d been in the plans for a couple months. It was supposed to be a huge road trip but with my dad’s surgery being rescheduled for the week we’d planned to be away it seemed only right to cancel. Jeff had already taken the week off work though so we had to get away, even if it was just a short trip.

We tossed around a handful of ideas but after finding a really neat hotel in Louisville decided it was exactly where we wanted to go. We left early Sunday morning and slowly worked our way down through Ohio. The trip itself was fairly uneventful, a few cemeteries, some geocaching, and eating. Holy smokes, Steel City Pops is amazing. Just a nice, relaxing little getaway – exactly what I needed.

While figuring out what to do with the rest of our day at breakfast on Monday I decided to hop on Roadside America and see if we were near anything worth checking out. As luck would have it, we had apparently chosen a breakfast joint less than 300 ft away from Jerry’s Junk!
Jerry's Junk Jerry's Junk, Louisville, Roadtrip, Roadside Attractions

Back in 2014 I took one of my first road trips as an adult and ended up discovering Jerry’s Junk. It’s one of my absolute favorite memories. We had randomly found it on Roadside America and decided to take a little detour on the way down to Nashville. While standing around and taking photos, we were greeted by Jerry, the collector himself! He showed us around his property and I even ended up purchasing one of my absolute favorite possessions off of him, my medical man. I hold that memory very close to my heart. Upon a little bit further reading it seems as though being greeted, and shown around by Jerry isn’t all that rare but I still take the chance to brag about it anytime I can, like when his episode of American Pickers is on!

It wasn’t a huge deal for me to visit again on this trip which is why it wasn’t already on my radar but when I realized I was literally steps away, I had to visit. It was really fun to see it all again. There’s just so much to take in. Everything was essentially the same as I remembered. Although upon comparing photos from my first visit and this one there are a lot of differences. It’s interesting to think about where the things that were missing went. I’d like to think that those pieces have been purchased by other small time collectors, like myself. Like somehow my medical man makes me part of a secret club…

While peeking through the bars of his fence I spotted three little kittens. I can’t think of a more fun place to be a kitty. So many things to climb around on, and places to hide under. I was trying to get a better shot of one of the kitties when I spotted a water dish and food bowl for the little guys tucked behind some of the random objects. I already loved this place but seeing that Jerry is so clearly a cat lover as well, I like it here even more!

Check out my post from 2014’s visit to Jerry’s Junk here.
You can read more about Jerry’s Junk & find his address here.

Wayne County Home Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup August 22, 2017

ohio, wooster, cemetery, graveyard, headstone with numbers

Wayne County Home Cemetery.

I’ve been itching to get back out and look for interesting new cemeteries to explore. Every time I think I’ve checked out everything interesting in the area I manage to dig up something new I hadn’t seen before. I don’t know how but I ended up searching on the FindAGrave app in the Wooster, OH area. It’s only a little over an hours drive away so not a bad drive if I were to find something cool.

As luck would have it, the area is cemetery central. SO many of them! I was mainly browsing for larger ones but using the list feature I managed to spot “Wayne County Home Cemetery” With only 324 burials, it wasn’t the numbers that excited me – it was the name. “Home” generally meaning the county home or infirmary. Most of the time the people who died in these places didn’t have family to claim their body or the means to provide for their own burial so the home would take care of that for them. The headstones in places like this are usually the bare minimum, no names just numbers. …And that was if you were lucky enough to get one. Unmarked graves certainly weren’t uncommon.

Despite doing fairly extensive research on cemeteries like this I still had yet to visit one. The majority of the nearby ones are actually looked after fairly well… at least by security so I was a bit nervous about making the drive to this one thinking that I might not be able to explore. As luck would have it, it’s actually in the middle of nowhere. I felt like I went down a million little roads lined with cornfields before I finally got there. It was worth the drive.

Wayne County Home Cemetery, headstone with just numbers ohio, cemetery, rows of headstones

I thought I had a pretty decent idea of the history of this cemetery. A really interesting story that I was excited to share because it added so much punch to the whole place. I do minimal research of the places I want to visit before hand just to save myself the let down of getting super excited and then not being able to check them out. I dig in after I get home. When I went to confirm and fact check my story for this place though… I came up completely empty handed.

I am so incredibly confused. I swear up and down I read on multiple sites the history of this cemetery. My searches come up with nothing now. I even went through my browser history… still nothing. My only guess is that I simply read about so many other cemeteries I confused one of their stories with this place.

So, I don’t have any back story for you on this cemetery, just that it was established in 1852, but I still think the photos alone are very powerful. There were only a two or three plots that had newer headstones with a name. (One of which was a child that died on my birthday. Spooky!) The rest were simple stones marked simply with a number. Only one of those was decorated.

Wayne County Home Cemetery, headstone, numbered headstones