Abandoned Trailer Park
When I was back in Ohio recently, I got an Instagram message from Kaylah (of The Dainty Squid) asking how long I was in town and if I would like her to show me some abandoned spots in the Cleveland area. Luckily, JMP and I had set aside an entire day devoted to exploring abandoned Cleveland delights, so I replied to her a very enthusiastic (and exclamation-laden) yes, please!!
We had breakfast at a great (and cheap!) diner in Ohio City, where my ham had a face so I knew it was going to be a good day. It was actually a great day—despite running into just about every obstacle you can run into when trying to explore abandoned spots—and I'm so grateful that she reached out.
Kaylah posted about our (mis)adventures last week, and mentioned that she was initially mad when she discovered that I was in town and hadn't contacted her—which is exactly how I felt when I found out she had been in New York and hadn't reached out. Turns out that we're both just equally shy and didn't want to impose on each other, which we quickly decided was seriously misguided. I am forever worrying about what people think of me and I know I let my dumb insecurities rule in far too many situations so I'm glad that we were able to both kick aside our awkwardness for a minute and make a plan (a huge thank you to her boyfriend, Jeff, for being the voice of reason, and for the pizza!).
After failing—pretty hilariously—at getting into most of the spots, we made a last-ditch effort to salvage the day by driving to an abandoned trailer park that Kaylah has visited multiple times. The park is a bit of a mystery as to why and when it was abandoned, but it looks like it was maybe a part-time or vacation community. There is a row of tiny one-room cabins on one side of a gravel road, and a row of colorful trailers on the other.
The cabins had more interesting stuff inside of them—piles of books, dishes, couches, chairs, tables, beds, clothes—but the exteriors of the trailers are painted the most wonderful colors. They're sun-bleached, rusty, covered in crawling vines and brush, and the paint is peeling off in sheets, but each one is different and together they just look so damn cool.
Jean-Marie and I had had such fantastic luck when we had gone exploring two days prior (if you don't count the Great Greenhouse letdown), that I guess the first part of this day was just the universe balancing things out a bit. I'm eternally grateful to Kaylah for reaching out and being such a good adventure companion, to JMP for driving us all over Ohio and to the burgers and curly fries that saved us all and gave us the energy to make it to this magic place.