Weather's nice...anyone gone exploring?

[Megster]

Come on...you can't ask for better weather than this in the winter.  Has anyone gone out to explore?

I haven't, admittedly, but I have been scouting out abandoned department stores because of The Caldor Rainbow blog I found...had some interesting results and maybe I'll post a new album or two soon.  Found an abandoned Ames in Dayville CT that still has the sign illuminated at night.

And anyone from Coventry, RI knows about the KMart/Almacs plaza.  I tried learning to drive standard there but every seagull in the state decided to land in the parking lot all at once and I kept stalling when I was braking because I didn't want to hit any of them LOL.

Actually the main reason I haven't been going out is because of Christmas shopping and my car breaking down...grrr.

[mcboobalot]

Just started getting into this...looking to do my first exploration some time soon. I want to do something cool but not too hard or risky since I've never done this before, any ideas?

[undeath]

Just started getting into this...looking to do my first exploration some time soon. I want to do something cool but not too hard or risky since I've never done this before, any ideas?

Depends on where you're at. Southeastern CT has one of the easiest but somewhat disappointing places to go if you weren't there while it was still open. Broad Brook Dairy. Am I right, Megster? Haha... easy as it gets...

[Megster]

LOL even I'm weary of getting caught going there because it's so close to the road and another house, but you're right, it's a breeze getting in.  When Zack and I went, he'd never been there when it was open but I think it's one of his favorite places he's been.

One of the easiest, stress-free places I've gone was Holy Land USA in Waterbury.  You can park in front of the entrance at all hours of the day and spend two hours there without worry of getting caught.  And then Little People Village is about 10 minutes away, easy access as well.

[mcboobalot]

Thanks...I'm in the New Haven area, so I'm nicely positioned in the middle of the state. I happened to drive by fairfield hills the other day when I was in the area and saw a sign for it and I figured I'd check it out. I seriously can't imagine how anyone ever gets in there...the place was very well patrolled to say the least. Are all the hospitals around here that well sealed up?

[Megster]

I think Fairfield Hills is so sealed & heavily patrolled because of all the attention it received in recent years, but other hospitals aren't.  Norwich State, while heavily patrolled, has buildings that are wide open.  I don't know much about CVH in Middletown though.

I just spent New Year's Eve at a party in Hamden lol

[mcboobalot]

haha nice...you were probably 5 mins from me. As for CVH, I was under the impression that it is partially active still, but who knows. I should do some more research. Oh well, I'm sure i'll end up going somewhere one of these days...

[Megster]

LOL probably, if you're familiar with Hamden I was at the Broadmoor apartments behind the Hamden Plaza & Shaws...I took great amusement in the little bowling alley there with all the lights burned out on their sign so it just says "B  LING"

[mcboobalot]

I used to live in Broadmoor, actually. Now I just moved to one of the other appartment buidlings. Hamden actually has some interesting things to photograph if you look around.

[mcboobalot]

Oh yeah and oddly enough, that whole plaza used to be abandoned too. If you go in between shaws and marshalls there's a sign about it. Apparently it was nicknamed the "car graveyard" or something like that. It was several years ago that it was finally cleaned up.

[Megster]

Oh weird, next time I'm there I have to see the sign.  The book Weird New England has pictures of the cars that were paved into the parking lot there up until a couple years ago.  I'll be there again in a couple weeks I think (I used to go to SCSU and still have friends who do so I'm occasionally around lol).

[Ladd Curator]

Most of CVH is still active. There is one building, however, that is not. I was there maybe four years ago. Very interesting place. At the time, a couple of turkey vultures were nesting on the roof. But I wouldn't go up to the second floor. I've walked on soft floors, before, but nothing like that.

Might I ask ... what is Holy Land?

Speaking of the Almacs Plaza in Coventry - the woods there, at the edge of the lot ... it's more like a marsh, I guess. Anyway, when I was a kid, there used to be a totem pole in the woods/marsh, between the parking lot and the street, visible from Tiogue Ave. One day it just disappeared. Around that time, I remember my mother and I saw a very big, strange-looking bird flying out of the marsh at dusk.

So I've long had the feeling that the area over there is kind of spooky. Of course, it is Coventry.

If I recall correctly, I've read some things about the woods in Hamden. Something about Native American dwellings? I might be wrong.

[Megster]

That's Little People Village in Middlebury/Waterbury, which I thought was pretty nifty.  But Hamden does have some local legends about a haunted road called "Downs Rd" and some other stuff as well...actually the same day I went to Holy Land USA and Little People Village I walked the entire abandoned section of that road but it doesn't feel all that haunted...actually it was a very nice walk.

Holy Land USA was a religious amusement park which closed in 1984.  If you've ever driven through Waterbury and seen the big cross on top of the hill that overlooks the city, that's where it is.  I have pictures posted in the member galleries (I have pictures of Downs Rd. but they're not posted...maybe I'll post them another time...)

[arkone]

i used to go to fairfield hills all the time until i had a run in with the cops at 4am.  i havent been back inside since.  that was 2 1/2 years ago.  theyre doing construction on the litchfield house currently.  the construction will make entering either real easy or real hard.  anyone been in the building on skiff st. in hamden that is visable from 15?

[mcboobalot]

I'm intrigued...which building on skiff are you talking about? And Megster thanks for mentioning Downs Road, i had no idea about that I should check it out.

Anyway I did go to Holy Land USA the other day to mark the beginning of my UE experiences. The place is so weird, I had a great time.

[arkone]

if youre on 15N you go through the underpass that says skiff st. and the building is immediately on your left.  mcboobalot let me know if youre interested in scoping it out.  i would be down...

[arkone]

if youre on 15N you go through the underpass that says skiff st. and the building is immediately on your left.  as far as downs rd. goes ive been down there at night -- used to camp on the water company property, nothing is up with that road as far as i know.  in 2006 i bought a jeep wrangler and i was pumped to hit up downs rd. but when i got there i noticed the entrance is no longer open to vehicles due to a houseing developement.  mcboobalot let me know if youre interested in scoping out the skiff st. building...

[fairground_way]

megster what do you want to know about the kmart/almacs plaza? i can give you whatever info you need about it, i go by it often.

[Megster]

How long has it been abandoned?  I started dating someone who lived right on Tiogue Lake in 1998 and it was mostly empty (if I remember correctly the Radio Shack was still open then).  I tried learning to drive standard there in 2000 so I know it was completely empty then, but I was just curious as to when Kmart & Almacs closed and if it was related to Walmart moving in next door.

And why did they close the little side road that went into the parking lot that was next to the little red house?  There was a cemetery behind the house like right on the edge of the parking lot.  The last time I was there and took pictures (Nov. 29) there was a large fence at that end of the parking lot and you couldn't get back there at all.

As for Downs Rd...if I have my pictures resized I'm thinking I'll post them today lol

[arkone]

there is a road in wallingford off of whirlwind rd. that goes through "tyler's mill."  ...does this ring a bell to anyone?

[mcboobalot]

Arkone I'm down for checking out that building...the sign on the side of the building says that it is sold so hopefully nobody is there yet...

There's that running trail that goes by there, I remember there was this homeless dude i saw down there sometimes with his shopping cart, I'm not sure if he lives in there or not

[fairground_way]

The Almacs has been abandoned since 1991 or so, i remember my parents started going to stop and stop and soon after almacs closed. the kmart was open at the advent of the wal*mart but quickly closed probably in 1995 which is when i remember the coventry wal*mart first popping up in my memories. everything else closed by the new millenium, though there is a free standing citizens bank drive-thru at the front of the lot. i'll ask my father about the road because i honestly can't remember going down it since the days of almacs. the burger king next to it is still open and they have been using the plaza for parking for people working on various projects such as the amgen plant building and all of the sewerwork being done throughout coventry. all of the signs are gone from the building and from the sign at the entrance of the plaza. the cops frequent the lot as well alot of kids try to skateboard in it and it seems to be a popular place for truckers to stop and rest awhile (probably because of the burger king next door). they've been trying to turn the area into some type of town center or housing development but nothing's come out of the proposals that had been kicked around in 2003. the wal*mart next to it actually just closed its doors and relocated/expanded to the centre of new england shopping hell hole off of the new london turnpike.

interesting story, right before almacs closed me and my father were in the bank next door to it and all of a sudden the walls shook and something came through it. the dumbass kids working at almacs were fucking around with the forklift and drove it into the citizens. iwonder if it was ever fixed because i seem to remember citizens reloacated further down the plaza

[Megster]

Well that little road was in pretty bad shape in 1998/1999 or so, with a huge hole in the middle that was kind of hard to miss. 

And while the signs are gone, the label scars remain!  haha

I'll write more probably tomorrow but right now I'm wicked hyped up so it's damn near impossible for me to sound intelligent lol

[ruiner9]

Ok, just to clear a few things up about Hamden..... That abandoned building by the Farmington Canal trail used to be called FDT... my dad worked there about a decade ago.  They built commercial jet engines.  It's been sold, and from what I hear they're gonna  tear it down and build a shopping plaza, so if you wanna explore, get to it quick.

Also, the Hamden Plaza was never abandoned.  That plaque was in reference to those buried cars that used to be there.  The art piece was actually called "The Car Graveyard," so it wasn't a nickname.

I live right down the street from the Broadmoor apartments, and I've lived all my life in Hamden, so it's neat to hear you guys talking with such reverence about places I can walk to.   

Oh, btw...... Hi!  I'm new here! 

[mcboobalot]

Ok, just to clear a few things up about Hamden..... That abandoned building by the Farmington Canal trail used to be called FDT... my dad worked there about a decade ago.  They built commercial jet engines.  It's been sold, and from what I hear they're gonna  tear it down and build a shopping plaza, so if you wanna explore, get to it quick.

Also, the Hamden Plaza was never abandoned.  That plaque was in reference to those buried cars that used to be there.  The art piece was actually called "The Car Graveyard," so it wasn't a nickname.

I live right down the street from the Broadmoor apartments, and I've lived all my life in Hamden, so it's neat to hear you guys talking with such reverence about places I can walk to.   

Oh, btw...... Hi!  I'm new here! 

Whats up Ruiner. Thanks for the info about that building. When did it close? They've started gutting the place and taped up all the windows. The other day some guys built a fence around the whole thing. I'll post pictures of my little trip some time.

[ruiner9]

It closed at least 10 years ago, maybe more.  It was finally sold pretty recently.

[Samiix3]

I live in Coventry too.. The last thing I remember being open in the Almacs plaza was the radio shack.. I'm not sure how old I was though. I learned how to drive in that parking lot too. My dad used to bring me over there when I was like 12. I don't remember anything about the totem pole though? Do you remember when it "disapeared"?

[PSD1874]

Weather has been awesome, no doubt. Debating whether to hit South County, RI or Go up to Central MA?
Anyone have any ideas? Let 'em rip.


P.K.

*If you can't fight nice, don't fight at all*

[fairground_way]

they're going to start devloping the kmart/almacs plaza into condos soon. check them out while you can, but be careful, several of the lights in the parking lot have rusted through and fallen or are threatening to fall.

[Kabli]

Happy New Year, everyone.

With warm weather forecasted for this evening, any one planning on going exploring?