This is a tale of 5 urban explorers and an eventful night. I write this story here because I want to remember this night and I want to have somewhere to go to relive this experience if ever I need a laugh!
These days, I mostly prefer to get out and explore alone so I can explore on my own terms, my own schedule etc.
But sometimes it’s fun to meet up with a group and let loose, and this past weekend we let loose!
On this trip, together with ddogg vlogs, LifeofDeeg , s0s1nc3r3 and DecayingRay, we all met up with one specific location in mind where we would all stay the whole night.
That plan was quickly called off when there were some unexpected workers at the location.
Left with only two options, we decided to do them both, starting with the location in these photos.
While access used to be extremely easy, on this occasion it really put us to work – I can’t and won’t get into specifics but it required a great deal of effort and teamwork.
Once inside we got to work, exploring, touring, joking, laughing, ball busting and more. We would all go our separate ways, meet up, and go our separate ways again.
Earlier in the night, we ran into a gaggle of students just wandering around, they had inquired if we were going to try and enter a certain facility, Deeg gave his instagram handle and told them to check in later to find out.
They checked in later and Deeg invited them to join us at the plan B location, so now we are 5 explorers and a gaggle of about 10 curious students who were about to have one of the best nights of their university experience.
We all schemed on how to scare the living crap out of these students, so while deeg and ddogg gave them a tour, Ray, Jamie and I got into position and waited for the tour to come to us.
Tapping on metal, ghostly noises, tossing things down from the upper levels and ultimately throwing a broom at them – we succeeded in terrifying these poor kids.
I have shot here several times over the years, so I spent most of my time roaming, wandering and trying out different things with my lights. I also did a small horror set with Jamie and Ray.
This part of the night wrapped up at around 3am and then it was time to head to the second location in town .
At 3am, it was time to move on. There was another location in town that we had gotten word might be open to explore. This one is hardly ever open and I rarely hear about people successfully getting in.
I explored this location several years ago with a group of friends and while we had a very good and successful night inside, at around 8:30am, somehow the security patrol was onto us.
After a game of cat and mouse that lasted several hours, we finally made it out.
Well, this time things would not be ANY different.
We followed the usual protocols of scouting, stealth, reconnaissance and cover of darkness and we found that the intel we had on access was accurate, we found ourselves inside.
Following light and noise discipline, we navigated the long dark tunnels and hallways, several stairwells and obstacles to finally find our place to rest for the night.
I headed to a far wing to observe the security guard to see if he had been alerted at all, I then watched as he did one whole patrol and returned to his spot. He was in no hurry, had not been on alert, he lit a cigarette and looked at his phone – we were in and safe for now.
By 6:30am it was time to get a little bit of sleep so we could wake up with natural light and hopefully spend a good few hours. I slept like absolute crap and rose from my hammock at around 8:45am.
I greeted the others, Deeg had asked who wanted Starbucks. He was ordering UberEats to deliver an order from Starbucks and he would leave specific instructions on where to leave it for us. I gave my order and headed over to set up my first photo but first I took a look outside – the security guard was now parked outside the part of the building we were in and he was coming inside.
We all gathered around the window, listening quietly, watching to see if he returned in a hurry. He would return to his truck to put on his SECURITY jacket. We all laughed as we watched him struggle to get the zipper done up on his jacket. Looking frustrated, he spent a good 3 minutes fiddling with the zipper on his coat, until he gave in to his beer belly and proceeded to enter the building with the coat unzipped.
It was just after he entered the building that deeg told us that the UberEats driver is almost here!
It was also at this point that we decided to stick together and go hide somewhere, he was clearly coming inside to look for us and something tipped him off that we were inside.
We retired together to a small dark room in the attic, we sat in dead silence, motionless for what felt like one hour, until we heard doors closing below us and footsteps coming up the stairs.
Suddenly, the dark turned to light as our unzipped security man entered the very room that we were in, his flashlight zipping all over and his keys jangling. The jangling gets closer, the light comes directly to the opening we crawled into to get in the attic, and then just as fast as he appeared, he turned around and left.
You could feel the tension in this small cramped space lift, we were all certain he was going to catch us – he was RIGHT THERE, literally 2 steps from us.
We sat for possibly another hour in silence as he completed his search for us. I nominated Deeg to go out and see if the coast was clear. Reluctantly, Deeg headed out, bong in one hand, camera bag in the other and he went to investigate – the security vehicle was no longer parked where we last saw it. He did a little more investigating and determined that the coast was clear, so we all scurried out of our dark cold sanctuary within the attic of the asylum.
I had suggested that before we head to the exit, we need to know where security was, so we headed to the far wing where he had been parked all night – there he was, sitting in his truck, probably still trying to get that coat zipper up.
At this point, one of two things will happen – the door we came in through will be locked and we can’t just walk out. Next, we find any door we can open and then have to climb up and over a very high, very slippery, very wobbly fence and get 5 explorers up and over and hope that he doesn’t drive by at that moment.
We arrived at the door we entered through to find it had indeed been locked, and this was likely how security knew we were inside. It took very little non-destructive effort to get that door open, we would not have to climb the fence.
I peeked through the crack in the door to ensure that the security guard wasn’t parked at the door (in 2017 when this exact same scenario played out, Carlo and Ddogg went to leave out this door and the security guard was parked right there, knowing we would try and exit that way)
This time, the coast was clear, we opened the door into a nice crisp summer morning and made our way to a safe place to walk.
Out into the world, 5 explorers, covered in dust, plaster, raccoon feces and cobwebs, camera bags and bongs in hand – trying to look like we’re just enjoying the scenery.
As we walk past some locals, one of them looks at Jamie and Ray and asks “Were you guys inside there? I heard someone named Freaktography has some great pictures on his website, he went inside there”
This gave us all a good chuckle
We had been out for less than 5 minutes, walking, laughing and replaying this whole scenario in our heads when we remembered that Deeg ordered us coffee and told the driver where to put it – THE COFFEE ORDER WAS GONE! HOW….WHO?????
As Deeg is messaging UberEats for a refund on his lost $40 Starbucks order, the security guard drives by us on his patrol, I stop him and ask if he has seen a Starbucks order that was delivered here? With a very guilty expression, our still unzipped patrolman mumbles “Uh ya, it’s gone”. I say “IT’S GONE? WHERE?” He replies “It’s just gone”
That sonofabitch stole our Starbucks order, we just KNOW IT!
At this point, there are now TWO security vehicles doing rounds, one seems to be wearing a bulletproof vest – I wonder if he was able to do that up!
We would wander and pass these two security patrols several times on our walk off of the property, yelling obscenities at the coffee thief with each pass.
This would be my second and final attempt at exploring this location, with this visit, 4 years after my first visit being an exact carbon copy…I really don’t care to go through that a 3rd time!
Thanks to Life of Deeg, Ddogg, S0S1NC3R3 and DecayingRay for making this such a memorable and eventful night, and to Mr Security Guard/Starbucks Thief, a few less beers, a few less Vanilla lattes and a few more sit ups and that zipper will slide up like a knife through hot butter!