January 24, 2026
2026 TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY – THROWBACK MASHUP MEGAMIX
Echoes of history, adrenaline, and a vague sense of undefined nostalgia mixed with the nicotine pulsing through my veins as I smoked a celebratory cigarette after a full day of solo exploring while standing barefoot in the ocean, staring out at the limitless expanse of the horizon on one of the eastern and outermost edges of this great continent so far from home and everyone that I care about. I don’t normally smoke. But when you do this sort of thing and you reach the end of an adventurous day to find yourself still very much alive, a little bloody and scraped up but neither hurt nor arrested, and the sun has already gone down behind you to usher in darkness along with the exhaustion you had previously been ignoring, and there’s nothing left of the day except to head back to the hotel and wash away the rust and grime that has caked onto your disgusting body, I contend that there is perhaps no time and no mental state in which it is either more appropriate, satisfying or necessary to smoke a cigarette and to contemplate on all that you have done with this day and all that you have done with this life. The cigarette sizzled briefly as it extinguished in the water beneath a sky no longer illumiated nor warmed by the sun and irrespective of the actual time, it was this closing ceremony which marked the official end to the day. I felt a great sense of satisfaction but also melancholy. I gave it hell, I went hard and I victoriously updated another pin on the map. But now it’s over. As I turn my back to leave I know that I might never come down this road again.
After twenty years, I can’t help but reflect upon my time here and all the awesome people I’ve met along the way-particularly those with whom I’ve explored but also those who have followed along via this stupid blog. I am eternally grateful for the times we shared and for any contributions to the ridiculous and questionable activities we’ve engaged in. We have prevailed together through some of the dumbest risks and situations into which most people would have never succeeded. We have endured fierce resistance through gauntlets of shit to reach the sanctum sanctorum and then we returned home utterly exhausted and truly disgusting at the end of the day. I salute all who have gone before me but especially all who have gone with me into all these terrible, terrible places.
I owe a great deal of gratitude to my comrade Mindwaave who has been with me through much of it* and to my lovely wife who has tolerated and sacrificed more than her fair share to facilitate my stupid hobby.
Whenever possible, I prefer the company of trustworthy friends over the sound of my own thoughts fading away into the silence.. But as in the case of the Florida trip in the following section, or any number of other trips over the years, I’ve had the privilege obligation of successfully pulling off some pretty stupid solo adventures. The opening paragraph was written about a specific trip, but I’ve found myself replaying a variation of this theme no matter where I go. I don’t recommend anyone smoke cigarettes or go on adventures alone. It can be fun but it often sucks ass. And it could always go very badly. When done correctly, however, it can be pretty “fun”.
The work I have engaged in here over the last two decades is the type of fun that’s usually more enjoyable when looked back upon retrospectively, as opposed to while it’s happening. The actual physical work, the time and the financial costs necessary to pull off the real-world aspects of all these adventures has been both significant and exhausting. The blog itself is an additional and distinctly monstrous piece of work which has consumed countless more hours researching, writing, editing, designing, etc.
When I started this thing in 2006, we hadn’t yet seen society collapse under the weight of modern social media or the increasing prevalence of AI which has managed to be even more inherently dangerous and evil than “regular” social media had been before. This blog is now one of the few active holdouts remaining from “the before times”, unaffected by the general enshittification of the internet as a whole. I’m proud to continue doing what I started here so long ago and for the obviously invaluable contributions to society I’ve made herein.
The earliest entry on this blog is the Ghost Town of Allenton Missouri from September 2006. You may have noticed that the current year is 2026. This means that we are entering the blog’s 20TH YEAR in business. So to celebrate, let’s crank this hog ALL THE WAY back to the very earliest photos from the earliest days-for no logical reason at all!
Over a decade before this blog was even a glimmer in your mother’s eyes, I was just some filthy stupid kid kicking ass out here in these streets with no camera and in most cases without even a flashlight. Notable among some of the long lost locations we regularly haunted: the “Equadome” in Weldon Springs and the old Saint Charles County Jail, both of which were demolished in the late ’90s. Although I had no camera, a friend of mine did… So don’t skip the part(s) after the Florida trip to The Phosphate Mine because I’m taking you back to the mid 90’s for no good reason. My friend took these photos, but it’s possible I took some(?) during our time terrorizing patrons of the Saint Charles County Jail which at the time was turned into a haunted house called “Cell Block 13”.
Also, since this is a big stupid ANNIVERSARY EDITION mashup post: I’m throwing in some never before published photos from 2006, which actually, slightly, pre-dates my 2006 post on Allenton. Read on!
The Phosphate Mine
The Phosphate mine is located in the middle of nowehere, Florida. The town was founded in 1905 as a company town. The mine closed in August 2000 and has been abandoned ever since. As a result, it’s one of the few easily locatable areas of interest in this part of the state. Sitting around and swimming at a flat, hot, beach and getting covered in sand has never really appealed to me, so I don’t often go to places like Florida. In this case I had obligations which compelled a visit so I was determined to make the most of it.
This dumb and perhaps mildly entertaining story is 100% true. I don’t exaggerate details regarding things I experienced while exploring because the rest of this blog is awesome enough that I don’t need to resort to making shit up for content; I’m content rich, bitch.
The time came for a visit so I loaded my gear and headed south.
I had very little time for shenanigans (or anything else, really) on this trip and my constraints included the fact that this was not an ‘exploring trip’. I couldn’t do anything ‘too stupid’ because the purpose of this trip was ‘official business’ (a term used to imlpy: vacation or work or some other ‘legitimate’ activity whose origins are none of your damn business). The mine was a couple hours from the ‘official business’ so I took a drive and got down with some ‘serious business’.
From a distance, the mine seemed like the perfect adventure to try to fit into an ‘official trip’. But when I arrived and saw what I’d be up against, I found the situation to be ‘too stupid’ for such a trip.
I decided to try it anyway because I myself am very stupid.
There’s one way to approach this location in a vehicle and the main entrance was almost directly across from some occupied houses, one whose occupant was actually outside at their picnic table and eyeing me suspiciously as I drove past. There’s a big sign near the gate purportedly from the sherrif’s office with a stern warning. I verified that Florida is a state in which you can legally detain trespassers. The sign looked recent and the sherrifs signature on it imparted an added emphasis which was almost itself a sufficient deterrent. My aggressive form of stupidity, however, prevented said deterrence from affecting my decision to proceed. It’s actually a medical condition which is, as yet, undiagnosed/undiscovered called ‘adventuritis’ which means that I can’t help myself and it’s not my fault.
Parking anywhere near the only entrance was not an option so I thought I’d try taking the scenic route. This involved going through a field in which I had seen several trucks and several UTV’s parked-details which I observed on a drive around the main road. This posed an even more significant problem than some silly sign and any reasonable person should have been successfully deterred by the reality of the situation. In my pitiable condition, I reasoned with myself that as long as I stayed low and close to the back fence I should be alright. But there was also a separate field to get through first.
The main road into town was pretty long and flat and for the most part was bordered by swamp, or what looked like swamp to someone from the midwest; there was water surrounded by trees and vegetation. I’d call it a swamp, but I’m not a certified swampologist. The subtle geographic details observed on the way in didn’t really register in my mind until I got out of the vehicle and began walking towards a random field in this random place which I’d never been to before and which was so far from home out in the middle of swamp country USA. I began hiking the route I had selected based on satellite view whereupon I observed thick, unfamiliar, jungly vegetation. Only at this point did I finally have thoughts of large reptiles that were known to live in swamps and which I could picture crawling around literally anywhere I looked, given the swampy environment to which I had just committed my health and well-being for the forseeable future.
I encountered a fairly large alligator approximately …one whole minute… after setting out on foot. It was facing away from me and I couldn’t see it very clearly at first but I immediately recognized the silhouette of the body, legs and claws. I regretted my decisions but mostly I cursed the adventuritis which had led me into this situation completely against my will. “Free will” after all is merely an illusion, right? Unavoidable medical conditions (and/or unalterable pre-determined fate) notwithstanding, I was going to need to get closer to see this thing up close because I had never seen one up close before and getting the chance to do so would be METAL AS FUCK and also RAD AS HELL. But something didn’t quite look right. I continued towards it before I realized it was, in fact, quite dead already. I didn’t check for a pulse but it was missing its head and tail at least -that much I can say for sure. I believe it had to have been dismembered within 24 hours of my finding it because it was not yet decomposing or even bloated. I would have made a joke here about facing down this monster bare-handed and inflicting this damage myself but I wouldn’t want anyone out there to actually think that I had anything to do with its demise. Some of you people are really dense and your sense of humor is not lubricated enough to understand or appreciate my advanced form of comedy. Regardless, I felt bad for the fellow. I noticed that its rear claws were the size of my own hands… and while I was genuinely a little nervous before stumbling upon this gruesome find, I now had a very tangible reason to be legitimately worried about trudging through chest-high vegetation for the next 3/4 of a mile. While it was clear this poor alligator had reached the end of his Florida adventures, my own adventure here had only just begun.
After a hundred feet or so, the tire ruts came to an end and from there the vegetation was generally knee to chest-high. Meandering trails occasionally intersected through the grass. But these paths were wider and more flattened out than the various deer and other wildlife paths I’m used to out in the Missouri woods and I had no doubt in my mind that these were alligator trails whether they really were or not and at this point I had no good reason to believe they were not. I am, however, not a certified animalologist. For the most part, I was bushwacking through stuff which was so dense that I actually couldn’t see where any of my steps landed on the uneven ground below. I kicked and/or nearly tripped over numerous objects, some of which gave off a hollow thud, en route to the destination which my mind immediately imagined was a big fat mean bastard who was about to begin eating my dumb ass.
I made it to the next field without being eaten and the situation was completely different on the other side of the fence. For starters, I knew that there were likely multiple people on multiple UTV’s and they likely had guns and they also had the legal right to detain me if found. To make things worse, this field was sparsely populated by vegetation. So my cover was much more severely limited here than I had once hoped it would be. I followed the fence line up to the mine property border. But I couldn’t just cut over here because the neighbors were too close by. I had to go further down inside the UTV neighbors fence along the border before it was safely out of view of the house neighbors. I always assume people who live next to places like this also know the owners of the vacant property on a first name basis and have their phone numbers on ‘speed dial’. I crossed over as soon as it was feasible to do so.
Near the main mill building the thick vegetation returned and with it the fear of stepping not only into the mouth of a hungry alligator, but also into unseen voids and whatever man-made risks may lie hidden beneath the enveloping green canopy which covered the entire site. This natural phenomenon also nearly cripples one’s sense of hearing whilst trudging through it all as it noisily rakes across your clothes. Someone could drive up right next to you and you likely woudln’t hear anything but yourself until the vehicle was immediately within your peripheral. So I figured to be safe, I’d need to get inside as soon as possilbe and then I’d eventually have to take that ore chute across to the roof of the adjacent building.
The property manager had creatively dumped palm trees and other debris around most building entrances except one. I went around back and walked right in. I explored for a bit, took some photos and video and went outside for a wide shot from the back door. Then I looked up and saw a wireless security camera. They had purposely funneled foot traffic to the one doorway that had a camera above it. Gotta hand it to ’em there; that was a trap well done.
At this point, I had also begun to hear dogs barking and gun-shots roughly in the direction of town which sounded not far enough away so as to be safely ignored. I had been on-site for a good 30 minutes or more since first stepping into view of the camera. The ominous sign posted out front combined with the noises I was hearing along with the knowledge that I could legally be held at gunpoint convinced me that I had pushed my luck far enough. Especially for a trip on which I absolutely needed to avoid doing anything ‘too stupid’.
I made my way back the direction I had come. I carefully crossed back into the neighbors field with known persons on-site and very few options for concealment. I almost made it across without issue.
Just as I was approaching the last field, I realized a UTV was heading directly towards me from the opposite direction I would have expected them to come. I had been so busy looking behind me that I didn’t notice anyone approaching from ahead of me, thus I would have been plainly visible to them for plenty long enough to see me. Regardless, I dropped immediately and crawled over to the fence. When I peeked out at them, they appeared to be heading towards the locked gate which separated the two fields and from which they could drive right up to me. I carefully slithered under the fence and deep into the tall grass knowing that if I encountered any alligators, I’d now meet them face-first. Feeling sufficiently distanced from the fence and covered in vegetation I remained motionless for at least 20 minutes during which time I heard nothing. No sign of the UTV, no sound of the gate being unlocked/opened, nobody approaching. I poked my head up and saw the same: nothing. I gave it another couple of minutes and cautiously crept in the direction of my exit which was also where the UTV had been just moments prior.
I was now back on the tire ruts and thus once again very exposed. I walked carefully and fully expected an ambush around the next jungle bush. And then it happened. This time it was a full-size pickup heading towards me whilst I was once again fully exposed standing upright in a field I wasn’t supposed to be. I soiled myself (metaphorically), again, and once again dove head first into the nearest cover which looked like the perfect place for a nest of gators. I thought for sure I was fucked. They had me cornered, they saw me coming and any second now the game is up. But all I heard was the wind in the trees and the natural world around me. I remained motionless with my heart beating out of my ears for a good 20 minutes or so. The truck never came. After a few quick peeks I got up and walked along the path towards the exit which was also, again, in the direction of what moments ago had been my future captors precise wherabouts.
I made the long walk back to my vehicle and got the hell out of dodge as a free man. I have no idea what the UTV and truck were up to or how it’s even possible that they, evidently, hadn’t seen me the two times in the past hour in which I was effectively cornered by them and thus dead to rights. I could have legally become the prisoner of an armed and hostile Florida Man on two separate occasions just in the last hour. It’s possible they weren’t coming after me, but I otherwise have no idea what they were doing there and then because that field was just an overgrown field with no apparent signs of anything else in it. Maybe they were just really lazy in their attempts to stop me. Or maybe they were doing some illegal offroading and saw me, thought I was legit, and we both, comedically, ran and hid from each other. Either way, it was a good time which could have quickly become a terrible time in a surprising variety of different ways. Variety, they say, is the spice of life after all.
Maybe this was all very normal in Florida, but I found this entire episode to be quite spicy in terms of life experiences. What is “life” anyway if you’re not dodging alligators and hiding from potentially armed and hostile persons who outnumber you in very remote and unfamiliar places thousands of miles from home? As for me, I walked away with a whopping TEN semi-interesting photos from the ordeal, which I now generously provide for your viewing enjoyment below, so I’d call that a win.
Old House (Circa 2006)
These are the oldest digital camera photos which I haven’t lost yet. A long time ago, I lost track of a bunch of stuff from earlier in 2006 which I’m still bummed about. Technically this house should have been the start of the blog, but I never posted it for some reason.
Old Saint Charles County Jail -aka- Cell Block 13 – Circa 1994
The old Saint Charles County Jail was built in 1911. The last recorded execution in the building took place in 1933 when a man by the name of Miller was hung for the murder of a Femme Osage couple. The trapdoor and gallows where the hangings occurred were on the third floor and they were reached by the traditional 13 steps to the gallows. Although the trapdoor was locked after Miller’s hanging, it was still there in 1994 along with the hook in the ceiling. The actual bible which was presumably read to the condemned could still be found in a desk directly facing the gallows. The doors to the cells could still be opened and closed all at once by the use of a set of big manual levers on an old control panel. The newspaper reported that the electric bill cost as much as $26,000/month (that is not a typo on my end, but it had to be a typo on theirs). By the 1970’s, the Jail was becoming outdated and overcrowded. The black and white interior pictures below were actually taken while it was in operation. The damage was caused by a riot which took place there. In 1989, a new facility was erected just down the road and this one was closed and abandoned.
Historic Photos of Saint Charles County Jail
Old Saint Charles County Jail -aka- Cell Block 13 – Circa 1994
In the 90s, my friends and I basically owned this building via squatter’s rights, or something. We hung out in it extensively and chased off anyone we encountered who dared encroach on our spot. We performed seances and Ouija with the last-rites bible. We had a pretty good time doing stuff like this with the non-existent resources we had growing up, in spite of the fact that our real lives were, for the most part, rarely good or fun. Which is why we hung out in abandoned buildings as kids. This was just one of several abandoned locations we claimed ownership of but this one was my favorite.
At some point near the end, a haunted house outfit showed up and called the place “Cell Block 13”. I’m not sure how it happened, but my friend got both of us jobs working here. We never actually got paid. I assumed it was because we were underage but I suppose it’s possible they paid my friend and he never shared it with me.. Either way, I wasn’t too worried about getting paid a couple bucks an hour to do this because we would have been hanging out here drinking, etc, regardless. But now we were actually supposed to be here and it was maybe more interesting this way because on top of the drinking, etc, we were officially there to scare people. All of our practice doing exactly that before was now being put to use professionally. The whole thing was such a wild experience. My usual “job” was to sit in one of the cells and jump-scare people. The cell I was usually in was decorated like a graveyard, because everyone knows that jails have graveyards inside of them. I still have mask I wore back then and it still glows in the dark.
The jail was demolished in June of 1995 at the cost of $34,470. Ever since then the site has been essentially just an empty lot. They turned it into a gated parking lot eventually but I don’t think I’ve ever seen more than a couple of cars ever parked there.
The color photos were taken by my friend during setup for Halloween and then in the January before it was demolished.
*allegedly
STAY TUNED
With this post, the blog’s fortnightly schedule returns from its brief early January hibernation. Up next: One of my other longest-running bucket list locations. Check back in two weeks from now, or subscribe by email using the subscribe button on the sidebar to be notified as its posted.
