Urban Exploration

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I went up to Centralia for a little bit of urban exploration. It was very cathartic to see the inside of gutted-out buildings and realizing that somebody once lived there. However, I knew that this would not be the end of my journeys exploring gutted-out buildings. I eventually met somebody while working at a grocery store who was very interested in urban exploring and doing things in "The Great Outdoors" as well, and before I knew it, we became friends.

For the sake of the story, we will call him Chris. I was talking to a gentleman about my travels, mentioning Centralia, and then Chris was behind him and overheard this part of the conversation. So, we exchanged contact information after he showed me some pictures that he took of abandoned buildings. Two weekends later, we were out exploring these abandoned buildings. We stopped by an old Penn Mar waste building, only to find that the inside was inaccessible. We also visited the old Sawmill on Kings Mill Road and the York County Prison, but both were sealed up tight.

However, when we got to Manna Pro, and old Grain and Feed Factory in the heart of York City, we discovered that there was a door that could be cracked in two. We gave it a good Spartan Kick and climbed inside to explore. Chris had been here a few times before to take photos with up and coming models who wanted a first unique shoot. So, already being familiar with the layout of the building, he took me on a little tour.

There is something quite intriguing about exploring the inside of an abandoned building. It is a weird and eerie feeling to know that you are the only human beings to view the inside of the building in a very long time, especially since the triple reinforced (but open) door was discovered by us. Of course, it's also meant that the building was starting to deteriorate, as nobody had set foot inside the building since 2002. The air was very musky, but through the low light of our flashlights, it was incredible to see the grain hoppers that still had grain in them, the catwalk between the buildings, the vandalized office spaces, and the remains of offices. There were also at least $4,000 worth of industrial grade batteries inside the building that still worked, which surprisingly enough, we're left untouched.

The only scary part of the experience was fallingthrough a floorboard. I was able to catch myself before falling down to the floor below and breaking my legs at least, but it was still a heart-stopping experience. This won't stop me for going and exploring more buildings though. Exploring this old grain factory was only the beginning.