Exploring a 16 MILLION Dollar Mansion

April 16, 2018

During our trip to the West Coast, we decided to end our last two days at an incredible spot on the Pacific Coast Line. A stunning white mansion sits on a super busy highway right on the Pacific Ocean. It was built in the 1950's and has really amazing architecture despite the inside being completely gutted. Fran and I met up with our new friend Jack on our first visit there and hung out and had a couple beers. On the second day there Jack, Fran, and I met up with our other new friends Ginger & Jazz and we decided to do some video work. We had an amazing sunset both days and got to hang out by the beach while we got to know our new exploring buddies while taking some incredible photos. It doesn't get any better than that!

Exploring an Abandoned MidWest Jail

March 28, 2018

During our most recent trip to the midwest, Fran & I start one of our mornings driving to the middle of flat lands no where to an abandoned correctional facility. This reformatory was once a female only population. During the time that it was open, it was the only maximum security prison for women. You could definitely see it in the layout of the campus while you walked around. It had an elegant look to the whole place which was nice. The whole campus took us about 8 hours to explore and I still don't feel like we saw it all. But what we did see was absolutely amazing. The photos dont do this spot justice. the colors looked amazing in every building and we got lucky with a great sky to showcase the elegance to the correctional facility's layout. It was such a fun day to explore and create content to share with you. Thank you for reading!

Exploring a Hospital for the FIRST TIME (power is still on)

March 13, 2018

After a pretty decent morning of exploring, Jeff, Fran, and I use the rest of the day exploring a couple hospitals we been wanting to check out. The first one had potential but was a bust. Fran ran around the whole hospital but didn’t find any equipment. The second hospital was another story. After we found a open door, we slowly start tiptoeing around looking for stuff to shoot. We were all pretty sketched out because it was all our first times here. The power was still one and I got a little spooked after finding a room with a couple computers hooked up that were monitoring various parts of the hospital. After a couple empty hallways, we start to find really cool medical lights that were some we haven't yet seen before. For the rest of our time here, our abandoned hospital finds were increasing with each hallway we walked down. Wheelchairs, medical beds, medical lights, X-ray machines, etc. Even the basement was wall to wall full of equipment. We joked and thought some of the equipment from the first hospital was stored here. We got our shots, made a dope video and left only footprints! Thank you for watching & reading!

The Show Must Go On

March 2, 2018

Upon entering the theatre the first thing that hits you is the smell of moldy stale air. All you can think is, “Where is my mask! We put them on and proceed to tip toe through the entrance. The building is incredible. Everything is left behind. Decaying seats, rotten floors, and fallen ceiling are displayed in the audience. Every step was a hazard. As we get to the stage we look behind the hopeful curtains. To our horror, bundles of insulation is piled up. We look at each other in shock. Asbestos! We take our shots quickly. Jason is done and runs out the building. He can’t take the asbestos and mold any longer. Next Alex leaves as Jess, Ginger and I get our last photos. I look around as if it were my last time. And we leave satisfied. The next day I was still full of excitement about my first major theatre. Ginger and I message Jess to talk about it and Jess says, “You know there’s a lobby right?” Being in such a state of awe, we never even thought of that. Our minds run wild and all we can say is, “Let’s go back!” Surprisingly we find the lobby immediately. It was like a moment frozen in time. The ticket booth, soda machines, movie posters, napkins in dispensers, and a cash register so old it looked like a type writer. We walk behind the concession stand and we see the original built in popcorn machine! We slide it open, and to our surprise, there is Popcorn left inside! Moldy, grey, hard popcorn so old the dust had preserved it. Indeed the ultimate find. Dumbfounded we decided to explore further. We head upstairs and find, The film projector! Old movie reels and film displayed all over the ground. Even crumbling ticket stubs for $1.50 dating back to who knows when. So much was left behind. As if the show must go on. We all agree, this is one of the best explores yet.

By: Jazz (mylife_ismymsg)

Exploring an Abandoned Correctional Facility

February 15, 2018

I'm not entirely sure if this was a correction facility, detention center, or small town jail. What I do know is that it was a pretty dope explore. Fran, Jeff, and I head a few hours out of the way to this small prison. Its a good thing it was raining pretty hard because its right next to an active prison so we got lucky early that morning. It seems rather small from the outside and my thoughts were right on the inside. But despite my doubt, this small prison has a TON of dope shots. It had so many cells and left behind items from inmates and employees. It's personally one of my favorite jails and it was an awesome way to start our day!

Exploring an Abandoned Funeral Home

February 7, 2018

On this explore, Fran, our friend Jason, and I head out to explore and abandoned funeral home. This one has definitely been on my list for quite some time since I've seen Jason's posts. It's become pretty trashed over the years and houses a lot of homeless so the smell was pretty intense and the whole explore was sketchy because of how decaying the place is. But surprisingly there is still a lot of stuff left behind like caskets, a hearse, an embalming bed, and so much more. Surprisingly the lights still turn on in various parts of the place like the chapel. It was a quick explore but am definitely excited to be able to check this one off my list!

Let's Go West Coast Shopping!

January 30, 2018

I honestly thought I wouldn’t get this spot. Just goes to show, never take anything off your list. As Jason, Ginger, Jess and I walked up to this abandoned mall, you immediately notice the corrosion. All around the property is crumbling flooring, fallen roofing and broken tiles. It’s very apparent from the outside, this place has been here awhile. The mall is very hard to get into. One reason is the Sherrifs department is right across the street. Another is usually there are 7 security guards on every parking level. This day, there were two. So we finally find the entrance. We’ve arrived at the iconic mall. Upon walking in my eyes wide, taking in the vastness around me. I knew exactly what I was there for. The pillars to heaven, towering like dinosaurs on display. There they are, The escalators!!! Walking up and down the escalator made your imagination run wild. Countless movie, tv shows and music videos have been filmed here for its nostalgic post apocalyptic feel. Unlike other malls, there is nothing left behind. No stores, chairs or tables. No walls. Just this skeleton of a belly. As we scan the building, we image what once was. Looking up at the roofing there’s a beautiful glow coming through the cracks, and we realize one thing. We need smoke bombs! Our buddy Alex was already meeting up, so frantically Jason calls to see if he could bring any. Success! The structure looks amazing either way, but with the hazy smoke, the sun rays were incredible. One of my favorite Days. Stay tuned for.... the abandoned theatre.

By: Jazmine West (mylife_ismymsg)

Abandoned US Army Tanks & Helicopter at an Army Training Facility

January 28, 2018

On this explore Fran and I head out on what felt like the coldest day ever to explore and document a military training ground on an active military training base. They haven't used the site for quite some time but we noticed some new structures built, and we actually ran into some military men and women who explained they will be using the site again, but were kind enough to let us continue documenting. They actually used to use the site for training procedures for soldiers getting ready for battle for Vietnam war. It’s a smaller location but it’s so unique because of the two abandoned military tanks and a U.S army helicopter. The small make-shift village is also littered with blank bullet casings which I thought were super cool. Despite the cold, it was an amazing morning and explore.

Exploring an Old Abandoned House Full of Creepy Mannequins

January 21, 2018

On this explore, Fran, Jeff, and I head to pretty random little find I've been meaning visit for a few months now. It was definitely one of the more sketchier explores as the floors are close to caving in. Fran even fell through the floor! After dusting himself off we head to the main attraction of the house which is a room stuffed with mannequins, mannequin body parts, handmade coffins, and many other odds and ends. Its a pretty small building and its stuffed with random stuff so it was kind of hard to shoot much else. It was more about all the odd things stuffed away all around you. There was even a weird coffin and a fake mummy in the basement. I'm definitely excited we got to finally go and show our out of towner buddy a local odd spot!

Exploring An Abandoned Million Dollar Mansion

January 9, 2018

On this explore, we will be exploring an abandoned mansion. Fran and I had been wanting to visit this spot for awhile and kept putting it off. We thought it was the right time to go because our friend, Jeff, was in town and he had been curious about the house as well. Its a classic spot in the urban photography community and quite a sight to see in person. Its pretty dilapidated but its right on the lake and beautiful during the sunset we had. There is nothing crazy elegant about the inside but a lot of vintage belonging left behind that was really cool to rummage through and get a quick glimpse of the past. We had a really fun time shooting and watching an amazing sunset!

Exploring An Abandoned Hospital (Power Still On & Patrolled by Cops)

December 26, 2017

So Fran & I catch a flight for our next adventure. We got to our new location early in the morning and met up with our buddy Jason. He recently discovered a new hospital and wanted to show us around. Where to park and the trek to the new hospital was crazy. About a mile walk/hike/sprint through wide open fields to get to it. Once we got on the property, we immediately see a few security cars and an undercover police making their rounds around the complex. This place is HUGE and we only got to see a small portion of it. But it was totally worth it. It was still equipped with dentist chairs, a morgue, a decent amount of embalming/morgue tables (which you done see everyday), and of course some surgery rooms. It was definitely a really awesome explore and we are very grateful for Jason's bando hospitality this trip!

Exploring An Abandoned Ghost Town

December 5, 2017

On a recent trip out West, I gambled on one of those name-your-price deals on a hotel, and it booked me about 30 minutes east of where I wanted to stay. Luckily, it booked me about 10 minutes from a pretty cool little ghost town called Two Guns off of old Route 66. I didn't know anything about it, but my friend Zee (@zee__zzz) told me I should check it out. I wasn't expecting much, so I was pleasantly surprised when we got there. As soon as you pull up, you can see an old abandoned gas station covered in graff, with a couple other buildings and a couple big tanks in the back. This kind of place usually isn't the most interesting to me, but for some reason, I really liked it. Maybe it was just the fact that it was literally in the middle of nowhere or maybe it became more interesting to me after I did a little reading about it. I read that a group of Apaches were murdered by enemy Navajos there when the Navajos set fire to a cave that the Apaches were hiding in. I read that Billy the Kid and his gang hid from law enforcement nearby in Canyon Diablo. I read that a group of train-robbers stashed a bunch of money and gold in the area that may or may not have been recovered. They've even dug up Native American artifacts there that date all the way back to the year 1050. Aside from all the history, it was a pretty cool place to shoot. The gas station was decent looking, but I thought the best part was the KOA campground with pool. There was also another small building in the back, but there wasn't much to it. There really wasn’t much to anything, but I knew immediately that I was going to be returning to shoot the sunset and (attempt) to shoot the Milky Way. The sunset ended up being pretty decent, but the dark night sky out West was really the most amazing thing. We could literally see the Milky Way with our naked eyes as soon as we got out of the car. Even more amazing was that the galaxy was almost exactly where I was hoping it would be for the pictures I wanted. I hardly ever get lucky with stuff like that. I couldn't wait to try out the new Sigma 14mm f/1.8 glass and see if I could pull off my first attempt at astrophotography, and I’m pretty happy with how the pictures turned out. I wouldn’t drive hours to see this place, but I definitely recommend stopping there to anyone that happens to be in the area.

Exploring The Famous Trolley Graveyard

November 27, 2017

On this explore, Fran & I get up super early to meet our friends Greg & Jayson to shoot photos and a new video of the trolley graveyard. This is a one of a kind spot with an amazing back story to it as well. Any time of the year is pretty much a good time to visit this location but our goal was to check this place out in the fall. The vibrant colors of each trolley car against the changing leaves made for a bunch of amazing photos. We were only here for about an hour until we were escorted off the property by woman who had an organized tour through the property. She was charging $150 per quest for her 3 hour tour. We offered her money for her troubles but she declined because is wasn't as much as her guest had paid. Fran & I came back a couple days later on our way home to try and get some more footage for our video which was a success. We even caught a really awesome sunset too! This is definitely a timeless location that will always be one of our favorites!

Exploring An Abandoned Middle School

November 8, 2017

Fran, Corey, and I set out to explore a local abandoned middle school. This school is pretty rad. It has a lot to shoot including two gyms, a pool, and a huge auditorium. Fran & I had been here once before. Corey had driven by this school a bunch but never thought it was worth hitting. He was very wrong and super excited to come along on the explore. The whole school has really dope colors and its pretty over grown with nature so the green looks really dope against the decay of the school. We tried some new light painting techniques at the pool which came out super dope. Fran and I also played around with his new Sigma 24mm to catch some new perspectives of the school. Overall, it was a very fun explore and we can't wait to come back!

Exploring Our VERY FIRST Abandoned Funeral Home

October 9, 2017

On this explore, Fran and I are driving far away from home to visit our very first abandoned funeral home. Our friend, Jeff, told us if we were ever in this area to stop by & we are sure glad we did. Though very much decayed, this funeral home is still full of many forgotten surprises. The garages have old caskets stacked up and also a vintage hearse. There are more caskets inside and a rotting embalming room (unfortunately no embalming medical table). It was such a creepy explore but so worth the trip!

Exploring an Abandoned Hospital

September 26, 2017

On this rainy day, Fran, Jeff, our new friend Jafet, and I head to low key hospital down south. We set off for a couple hour drive early in the morning. We were all pretty tired but started to get excited when we reached our destination. This hospital is definitely one of my favorites and was happy that Fran was able to make it this trip after having flight mishaps on our first attempt. This hospital has alot of gutted rooms but the rooms that still had medical stuff was def well worth the drive. Alot of very old medical beds, baby incubators, wheel chairs. There was also these crazy kidney stone removal table (that Jeff and I had a comical debate about), and a medieval looking surgery table. Even after seeing it for a second time, it was so sureal. The weather and the hospital put together made it an amazing trip!

Getting Sloppy in St. Louis

September 12, 2017

After months of Sergio asking about going back to St Louis, we finally made it back out there. For any of you that haven’t been there, you’re sleeping on a gold mine. Led had never been, so he and Term came along for the ride too. Day one started out pretty shitty. I think we failed on like the first 5 locations we tried, so we ended up hitting a couple spots that were wide open first. Not even sure what the first building was, then hit a theater next door. Nothing special.

We ended up returning to, and getting in, most of the spots that denied us earlier. We met Johnny at a church that was pretty incredible, probably my favorite place we went. Place was in unbelievable shape with no graff or anything.

After that, we went back to a factory where a cop was sitting earlier, and luckily he was gone. We were driving around, looking for a way in, and some old dude was shooting pics of the outside, so of course Sergio has to go make friends with the guy and invite him to come with us. We found our way in, along with this random dude, and shot until the sun went down. We were pretty dead-set on eating toasted ravioli, so we ended the night at Anthonino’s Taverna for dinner. Surprisingly, Sergio didn’t invite random guy…

The next day proved to be more fruitful, as we drove around hitting place after place, a lot of churches and schools in Missouri and Illinois, but most importantly, we went to Sugarfire Smokehouse for lunch. Oh, and we also hit an old hotel, a municipal building, and a YMCA (there seems to be several in the area). It was a long day that ended on the roof of Johnny’s hotel with two drones and Mission Taco Joint, which was pretty tasty.

The next morning, we met up at bird-shit church, pretty self-explanatory where the name came from. Flew the drone a bit inside, then stopped by a bus station and a church (which wasn’t abandoned before it had a fire a few months ago). We pretty much took it easy after that. We met with Nic to walk around downtown, then tried one last location, a mall, but we gave up on it as the sun was going down and we hadn’t gotten all the way inside yet.

The last day, Sergio went with Larry to do a model shoot, while Term, Led, and I went to a church to shoot. Pretty incredible church, but the most incredible thing was the shoulder-roll/dive entrance from Term. He suffered a deep bone bruise, but Term makes sacrifices for the entertainment of the masses. He only held his shoulder in pain for like 15 minutes, then he was back at it.

We met with Sergio, Larry, and Zac downtown, where Zac stole a few sandwiches from some party that catered nearby, then we headed east to hit a couple schools. The first one wasn’t anything special, basically an auditorium and a room with decent lighting. The last place we hit was a school in the middle of the projects, where we thought Term was going to get killed when he went back for his tripod by himself. We ended up meeting some local kids inside and shot for a little while until we hit the road for our 9 hour drive home.

-Jeff

www.sloppystick.com

Exploring Abandoned Volkswagen Graveyard

August 30, 2017

On this explore, we are headed back to an amazing spot with some new friends. Our friends Martin & Andy came into town and drove with us to an abandoned VW graveyard. Such a fun spot to visit all year round. Fran and I had been during the winter and it was beautiful. But now that the seasons have changed and summer has brought back a lot of colors to the trees, we decided to go back for another look. Deep in the woods are hundreds of old VW bugs, busses, and other models of cars left vacant and taken over by Mother Nature. We were all very excited to shoot so we wasted no time getting started. After an hour or so of shooting, our trip came to a temporary halt when the owner of the property approached me. He didn't seem very friendly at first. He started to get our info like he was calling the police. But after several minutes, he began to warm up to us and joke with us because he realized we meant no harm. He told us a back story to this location and then left us to continue shooting which was awesome. We all left there with a good amount of photos and were very satisfied with our explore. Andy & Martin left to go shoot the rest of the day as Fran & I headed home. Unfortunately Andy & Martin had their cameras confiscated later that night by police due to a failed explore. So their shots will have to wait until after court.

Exploring Abandoned Hospital - Found Corpse

August 10, 2017

On this explore, Fran, Corey, & I explore an abandoned Tuberculosis Hospital. The construction & colors of these buildings are beautiful. We had been there before so we thought we knew our way around but surprisingly got lost for a little while which we had a pretty good laugh about. After a couple hours of shooting, our day was coming to an end but we saved one area of this sanitarium for last. We heard rumors followed by photos of a creepy corpse that is left in the basement. We started to look around for a few minutes until we finally found it. Laying in the corner is the torso, spine, and skull of a corpse prop. It was definitely a great way to end our day of exploring!

Abandoned Hospital with the Power Still On

August 9, 2017

On this explore, we are shooting a halfway abandoned hospital. I have been to this place before with Chris and Fran but most recently, Fran took our friends Jeff and Sergio. This place is just amazing. Some floors have power still on. That gives it a pretty creppy vibe while other floors look like a fire broke out. To our surprise, even some parts of the burnt down sections still had power running. There is a really dope surgery wing with medical lights and an X-ray machine that still turns on. This is definitely one of my most favorite spots to explore!