Inside the Asylum

Today, I want to show you some pictures from the inside of The Trans-Allegheny Insane Asylum. I love the aged look of this place. The paint is coming of the walls....the floors are stained with water marks.....Windows are broken, doors are falling off the hinges~ Mind you someone came in and stole the middle hinge out of all the doors on one floor.....and they stole a lot of shutters and door knobs. Sad!! That stuff has history in it, and when your butt's getting haunted, don't ask yourself why...DuH!! You shouldn't steal for a place like this, that's just asking for bad karma!!

OK...So he we go. These pictures are in no particular order...I won't show you everything....Wouldn't want to ruin any one's visit. I do highly recommend getting out here and seeing this thing, It's so Neat!! So here's my take on it...

I believe this room was used to house people-troops durning the Civil War.

Like I said, there's a lot of history in this place. If you check out yesterday's blog...You can find a couple of links to more information. And, before we went I found this link: http://garritygal.blogspot.com/2009/04/trans-allegheny-lunatic-asylum.html
Turns out it is a blog to a Polymer Clay Artist.......:)
She has a lot of useful info in her post! So check it out when you can.

Now this was cool......They didn't have wallpaper back then...So they used stencils. And it was the patients that did this.....Go ahead and make it bigger so you can see how awesome of a job they did!!

And what about a Nice Pink Bathroom, hehe (the patients got to pick out the colors you see around the hospital)......Our tour guide was telling us that the nurse was in charge of the toilet paper, and depending on how much she trusted you......you either got only a few squares, or you could borrow the whole the roll. Crazy people might try and eat it, or put several layers together and try and strangle someone with it....or if they got bored they might clog up the toilets with it~ so they could watch it flood. Eating toilet paper! Could you imagine???

Now I thought this was strange....Look all those dead bees in the window.

The wash room made me think of Nikki and her green algae stuff she paints.....

lol.....People leave candy for the ghosts, and then the raccoons break in here at night and have a party:)

Look out the window....see the circus?.......What about that vine that is growing through the window?

Or this window shot.... This is what this person saw Everyday.

This gurney was in one of the halls. Not much has changed about those, huh......

This place has been vacant since 1994, and no one was able to keep up with the grounds, so paint is peeling, floors are starting to rot.......Just look at how this paint is coming off this door....

The Seclusion Room......a place they'd put 'rowdy' patients to calm down.......Nothing in here but a drain in the floor...

Well.......one room did have this: So they could chain them to the wall so they wouldn't hurt anyone or them selves.

But what I don't understand....You'd think the room would be padded or something......But instead, it's all tiled.....So it could be easily cleaned, hence the drains in the floor. Love that blue door!!

This window is rotting out....You can see all the way down to the brick.

Hehehe......Here's the bf posing for us. I think we'd of fit right in here, LOL!

LOL....BF also noticed that I took a lot of pictures of windows....wonder what that says about me?? LOL....Not that this building didn't have like 200 windows or something.....Yes, it was designed to have lots of windows. The theory was that the sunlight would make people happier.........I think they were on to something there!!

And on the fourth floor, there were sky-lights! If you looked up, you could see the clock tower.....the staff lived up here and were able to see the time as they came through the hall.

I thought these heating grates were neat....I love what paint does over the years....

And now what I think was the strangest picture I took. Now let me tell you that when we were in here, neither I, nor the bf got any sense that we were surrounded by anything abnormal. My camera, however, acted like an idiot the whole time. It wouldn't turn on when I wanted it to...or off for that matter.....When I turned it on, the lens would come out, then go right back in, or it would pop out but not pick up anything but a black screen....I tried to ignore it, but this nonsense followed me right though the asylum. Never once did I feel odd.....actually felt quite comfortable in this big 'Home away from home'! So......it wasn't till we got back that I got a chance to actually look at my pictures, and when I got this picture loaded up, I spotted this: Go ahead make the picture bigger, and look....there's 4 of them......one in the middle, on the left....one in the middle of the floor...and 2 on the right....

They look little halos/bubbles.... floating through the air. As you can see I didn't have any spots on any of my other pictures, so I know it wasn't the camera. The bf thought maybe it was dust particles.....But when I blew up the picture.....it didn't look like dust, See.......(Look at the right hand side, in the middle of the first picture...see...that's the area I enlarged for you~ I put a green circle around it so you could find it easier!) It looks like a 'orb' of light or something.......Can you see what I'm getting at here?? Pretty eerie, huh?? Makes one wonder!

I hope you enjoyed these pictures...... I tried to show you things that may help jog your imagination~ I know it's got me thinking. All the texture, the peeling paint and the rust....the bars on the windows......the circus out front.......What an interesting trip!!

I'd love to go back to this place. Hopefully the people who bought it, can bring back some of it former beauty!! I think it would be neat to do different rooms from different periods of time. Show us how far we've come in this 'profession'...They need pictures on the walls of the renovation projects to show people what happen when it was abandoned, and how they brought it back. I'd like for the grounds to be open so one could walk around and take pictures of all the buildings. Listen to me....Like what I want matters, lol.....Just hoping someone out there reads this, and goes: Hey! That might be a neat idea!!!.....Hopefully next year, we can return to this place:)

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

Sunday, after we dropped the kids of at camp, we headed over to the The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, WV. Please take a minute to check out it's history here: http://www.trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com/main/history.html; it's also a link to their homepage....you can find out more info about visiting here, too! Lots of interesting things go on at this place!! So...

When we first pulled into town, we could see the clock tower over the once lived in town. Yes, they're are people who still in town, but there's also a lot of abandoned buildings, too!

This place is BIG!! This is the front Entrance: Could you imagine driving up to this place on a dark night??

It's a 1/4 mile from one end of this building to the other...

The stonework is just something that makes you think.....This whole place was hand carved!

The detail is incredible!!

Remember, this hospital was built in the late 1800s, but stayed open until 1994. You will see a lot of old things, as well as newer things....

Don't forget to click on the pictures to make them bigger...

There's a lot of detail to see!!

These pictures are still of the front side of the main building....We were only aloud to explore the front outside. Due to gopher issues......there's lots of holes, and they don't won't anyone to get hurt.

Click on this one and check out the 'gargoyles'....interesting theory, huh....keeps out evils spirits.

One thing that really blew my mind was there was also a small traveling circus out front. Now how crazy is that??? A traveling circus on the front lawn of the asylum, lol! What a site!

We had time to kill before our tour started, and naturally we were drawn to the 3 tigers that were behind the circus tent!

This one used her (We know it was a girl because their handler told us that all of them were females!!)....anyways, she's using her paw to scoop all the water out of their water bowl!! It was neat to stay and watch her...and when she got done, she went over and sat in it! The water that is, not the bowl:)

After we got done drooling over the tigers, we walked over to a building that flanked the left side of the asylum. It was known as the Psychiatric Unit. I found another great site with some really useful information if you want to know more. You can find it here: http://www.thehospitalrudeawakenings.com/id5.html

You couldn't go in here......It's not safe. But, I tell ya.....We really wanted to, we'd of explored all of the building if we could of.....But the only one that is safe, is the main one. Even so, I was still able to get a couple of neat photos from it!! I would love to see what the inside of these buildings looked like when they were first built, and when they closed. From a miniaturist's stand point, I'm very intrigued!! Who knows....maybe one day I can do a mini asylum!! Now wouldn't that be something?

Look to the top right of this building.....see the caged in area....interesting! This is the other end of the Psychiatric Unit.

Next is the cafeteria...Look at the catwalk.....It was built so patients could get to the cafeteria from the second floor.

This next brick building is the Medical Building....I'll get to that in a minute.....but first look at the back right of this picture...it's the 'Forensics Building'...also known as Criminally Insane Building....the worst of the worst were housed here...I read somewhere that Charles Manson spent time here, but I'm not sure if that's a rumor or not.

Back to the Medical Building....It is what it sounds like....a hospital. After awhile it made more sense to have a hospital on the grounds than it did to take 'sick' people across town. Here's where everything from a cold to depression was 'treated'........ Although I still don't know what good all those Lobotomies they were doing, were actually doing. I spent some time reading about them before we left for the trip, and all I can say is WOW!! If you care to see what one is, watch this You Tube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0aNILW6ILk Let me warn you now....It's harsh!!

We heard a few stories, but nothing tops that video...That man actually did Lobotomies here, too....He drove around in a van, and did on average 10 a day...And we were told he did over 20 one day!

These are all the pictures I have of the outside buildings...There are more buildings.....but like I said, we we told to stick to the front, and stay with our tour guide. Next time, I will come back with the pictures I took inside the main building.

Taking the Kiddos to camp: Part One

Every year my 2 oldest kids go to camp in West Virginia. It's a special camp for kids with Asthma....and this is their 3rd year!! On the way up, I always make sure to find all the neat places to stop.....this makes the drive seem quicker when you can take time to get out of the car and stretch for an hour or 2!

Our first stop this year was at Sandstone Falls. I'm obsessed with waterfalls, so whenever I can squeeze one in, I do! And this is definitely one I want to go back to!! The best part...It was free:)

Walking down the boardwalk, the first stop is Beautiful! If you look out there you can see beaver damns~ You should be able to click on all these pictures to make them bigger!

You have to keep walking all the way down the trail to get to the falls. AND WOW!!! I could stay here forever!! Honestly I could....Just pull my trailer right up over there on that hill and I'd be a damn Happy Girl:)

I liked how you could walk out on the rocks...Here's the bf and Drew investigating....

And Cora and the bf talking a walk....

I had to lie down on the rocks to get this picture~ Always remember your angles!! LOL

...the bf really enjoyed this place, too! He explored everything!!

...and the kids just followed along!

....and You know they Just had to stick their feet in!

But than again....so did I!!

LMAO!!! And as usual, my Oldest 'fell' in.......I told them kids those rocks were slippery!! LOL~ He's got his head turned cause he's laughing so hard!!

After we left the river.....We headed for our hotel for a good nights rest! The next morning....Our first stop was at The New River Gorge Bridge. It's the second longest steel-arch bridge in the world.....and the biggest in the Western Hemisphere! There's a visitor center, where you can get out for a better view.....and Guess what? It's free, too!! Hehe...you seeing a trend here:)

At the visitor center, you can walk down a million set of stairs for a better view....

...and look down into the valley!! It really is pretty in West Va!!

We dropped the kids of at camp after lunch.......This year they were doing a Western theme.

We got them signed in, and then it was time to leave....I always feel so weird just 'leaving' them there....Camp itself is about 8 hours away from our house....and it just makes me feel like I'm abandoning them!! They'll stay for the week, and Grandma will be picking them up for me! My youngest is with her now to spend a week alone with 'Grandma and Grandpa':)!!

After we left camp.....Me and the bf headed for the loony bin! LOL....Seriously we did!!! I will be back later with another blog about that trip.....I took so many pictures, I'm still deciding on which ones to overwhelm you with:) There's lots of inspiration pics for old haunted places:)

....So.....

Until Next Time:)