Category:

abandoned

Abandoned Motel

by Kaylah Stroup February 26, 2015

While the first day of mine and Jeff’s little escape was fun, the second day of the trip was the real highlight. We drove the back roads from Norfolk, Virginia to Baltimore, Maryland, and even dipped into Delaware just so we could add another state to the list of them that we’ve been together. (Sitting pretty at 17 right now, can’t wait to add more!) We were stumbling upon incredible looking abandoned places left and right but sadly, due to the weather, we couldn’t stop. There was no where to park. Places that would be perfect to pull the car off the road were covered in enough snow that getting stuck was a real risk and not one we were willing to take.

Somewhere in Delaware, we stumbled upon this motel. We both saw it at the same time and looked at each with pure excitement. Luckily it was near a few other businesses that were still in use so we were able to whip around and park across the street in one of their parking lots. We trudged through the snow and snooped around this truly spooky site.

I’m obviously unsure of any back story on this place, and it’s hard to tell how long any place been abandoned. This place was so far gone. The inside was absolutely trashed and clearly, the outside is a wreck. I love colors but honestly, I think my favorite part might be that sign! It’s so creepy looking. I would love to see it in the spring, the vines covering it with leaves on them. I bet it’s lovely!

Rushing around like we did at the motel reminds me of when Jeff and I were out west last summer and we stopped at a ghost town called Two Guns*. I found it on Roadside America and it ended up being right on the way to where we were heading except we were majorly crunched for time. We had reservations, and had to check into our wigwam before the front office closed for the night. But Two Guns!!!! It looked amazing. We had to stop, there was no two ways about it. We agreed we’d only spend ten minutes there so we both got out of the car and literally ran from building to building snapping photos like crazy. The ten minutes was up in no time at all. We got back to the car gasping for breath and full of adrenaline. My pictures weren’t that great, and I’d love to reshoot it but it’s honestly one of my favorite memories from the whole trip. Now we’ve started referring to times that we rush around an abandoned property due to any kind of time restraint as “going Two Guns”

This motel was totally awesome but I think my favorite part will always
be the adventure of it. It was wide open and not a challenge to
get to at all but running across a divided highway and dashing around in
the freezing cold was so much fun. We definitely went Two Guns on that place!
xoxo

*Some of my Two Guns photos can be found in this post.

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

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.

abandoned apartments

by Kaylah Stroup November 18, 2014

Last week Jeff, Brandon, and I met up early in the morning to do some exploring. I had scoped out a few abandoned buildings while cruising around the East side of Cleveland, things I wouldn’t necessarily snoop around by myself. That day we made our way into and around three abandoned apartment buildings. The first was actually the tallest abandoned structure I’ve ever been in, 10 stories tall! We, of course, hiked up the stairs and to the roof first. The view was incredible but I was more interested in what might be inside. As it turned out, there wasn’t much at all. Most of the apartments had been completely cleaned out. A few had a handful of items left, and then there was one that formerly housed a hoarder. (I’m sure it won’t be hard for you to figure out which photos those are!) Anyway, here’s a mix of photos from all three buildings…

As we were exiting the last building and approaching the car, a cop rolled up to us. Instead of feeling us out on what we were doing, as if it wasn’t painfully obvious, he said “Hope at least of you is packing!” On that note, we were outta there!
xoxo

home, sweet, abandoned home

by Kaylah Stroup November 12, 2014

Last week Jeff and I got out and explored a few abandoned homes. I do believe they were my first real homes. Earlier in the year I was able to explore a handful abandoned trailers in Bombay Beach but being as those were part of the decline of the whole area it’s kind of a different vibe. At Bombay Beach the whole area was in disrepair. The entire town was essentially in ruins. These homes, alone, surrounded by churches, and businesses are easily overlooked, partially due to the growth around them. Trees, brush, and weeds have taken over the areas surrounding both. If you blink while driving by, you’ll miss them. In the first; a spacious kitchen, large living room with gorgeous natural light and a fireplace, a small den, two bedrooms, built in cabinets. All left for mother nature to take back over.

In the second house; two bedrooms, a gorgeous retro kitchen, living room, quaint sun porch, large upstairs loft, and a brightly colored bathroom.

Houses are weird to explore, so many emotions. I like them for the same reasons I like exploring any other place, I like to document. These are places that meant something to someone, a home especially. Clothes in the closet, board games in the living room, food in the pantry. Those belonged to someone, they belonged to a family. It’s hard to convey all the different emotions when you see these things. I’ve seen thousands of photos of abandoned homes online but there’s nothing like actually being in one. I’m sure with every home I find I’ll become a bit more desensitized to it but only time will tell…
xoxo

Abandoned Church – revisited

by Kaylah Stroup November 4, 2014

This church was one of the very first abandoned places I ever shared on the blog. At the time I still only had my 40mm lens which is amazing but not quite wide enough for buildings, and on top of that I wasn’t all that experienced at shooting abandoned buildings. I still hadn’t found my footing. Now with around fifty buildings and hundreds of photos under my belt, I’ve been wanting to re-shoot the church.

It was originally built in 1913, then rebuilt in 1928. The church closed in the 80s but wasn’t completely abandoned until 2002. In those twelve years the building has essentially been gutted. The stained glass is gone, scrappers have long since taken all the metal, and most recently vandals have taken to writing dumb crap on the walls. It just makes my blood boil to see people painting obscenities on walls. STOP IT. In all reality though, for being probably one of the most popular spots to explore in Cleveland, it’s not in that bad of shape. I mean, it still has a roof! Guess they just don’t build ’em like they used to.

My first visit was fairly brief but on this one I took my time and poked around the church a little more. I ventured into the basement, and even up a very old ladder to the top of one of the steeples where I found even more ladders. The wooden one shown below took you to the very top of the steeple on the outside. I passed on that, partly because the floor wasn’t in the best condition and the last thing I want to do is fall through the floor of a big old church while climbing a ladder. But I’m still happy to have seen a view that people who have lived in the neighborhood their whole life have never seen.

xoxo

abandoned factory

by Kaylah Stroup October 23, 2014

A little while back, on my six month in Cleveland anniversary, I visited a new to me abandoned building. I’ve been holding on to these photos while I tried my hardest to research more about the building. I’m finally throwing in the towel. I can’t seem to find much at all. This is an abandoned factory that did metal plating, aside from that I have no dates or history. It was still an interesting building, and I’m rather pleased with my photos so here they are…

All the machinery has been removed since this place closed its doors but the upstairs offices have tons of paperwork, books, and records strewn about. That kind of stuff is always my favorite but I am always curious who was the one to make such a mess in these places. Was it a former employee trying to prove a point before he left the place for the last time? Young kids just having fun making a mess? I mean, you can’t deny it would be fun to just go nuts in place like that, let out a little steam.
xoxo

PS. If you’re as curious as I was when I first saw it, that “hot!!!” file tab literally had nothing exciting in it. I was hoping for juicy office gossip, or maybe some nudie pictures (we found some fairly graphic ones in another part of the building!) but it was just regular old paper work! Booooring.

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