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UER Forum > Journal Index > Wretch in Beggar's Clothing > "Oh brother buy me one more drink/I'll explain the nature of my pain" (Viewed 2590 times)
"Oh brother buy me one more drink/I'll explain the nature of my pain"
entry by EatsTooMuchJam 
8/2/2004 9:43 PM

I got done with work on Friday and drove up to the Catskills area to meet up with a whole bunch of people for neopex (a gathering of UE people in the Northeast). After a few little misadventures I found the campground and the other campers. Friday night we pretty much just chilled out around the fire and chatted. People showed up all through the evening and we didn't want them to find an empty campsite. Also, most people were pretty tired from travelling. It started raining really hard and there was lightning so Drie and I went to play frisbee in a nearby field while the others acted like a bunch of wimps. Then later we all went for a long walk around the campground which ended up in a really neat rural area with super cool atmospheric fog coating the ground. It was really beautiful.

On Saturday morning Drie took a small group of us (me, psxjsv, Av-X, N-Zero), to The Pines (with a brief stop at a local diner on the way). The Pines is an abandoned resort hotel in the Catskills. Apparently the area was at one point the premiere tourist destination in the US. Over the years it all fell off, though, and several years ago all of the resorts but one were vacant and disused. The Pines was one of the biggest and most luxurious, apparently. Drie's usual entrance was a bit iffy due to a car being parked next to it so we used the entrance I noticed instead. Drie gave us a tour of a lot of the highlights including the pool area, the lobby, some really neat hallways, and the honeymoon suites (complete with heart-shaped tubs and a cheesy sunset mural on the wall). When we were preparing to leave we heard a car outside the room we were in and Drie peeked out. She said it was a cop. We waited a few minutes for him to leave the grounds and he didn't. Then a red pickup pulled up and stopped near where we were briefly. I think they probably saw me (if not someone else) when I was taking pictures of a glass hallway that could be seen from the main road. I tried to be sneaky, but it was really exposed. Otherwise others were walking in well-lit areas too, but it was pretty close to the time I was in the glass hallway. Our escape was awesome, though. We used the buildings' tunnels to get right near Drie's usual exit which is only about 15 feet from an easy place to hop the fence.

Afterward the same group went with Starman and Snows to the Hudson River State Hospital. We only went into a couple of the buildings, but the place was great. The complex is quite large. First we went into the rehab center which had a bowling alley and pool among other neat things. We found a bunch of old christmas cards so we filled a few out with greetings from UE groups/people and left them tacked to a nearby bulletin board. I was also making hanging sculptures out of hangers, but nobody else seemed interested. Next we went into the medical building which was quite large. It was the tallest building on the campus at 8 stories. There were some wheelchair races and I had someone take a picture of me in the stirrups on a gyno table. I took a bunch of pictures of the various wings as well and some of the other UE people in a pulpit in the church section. Finally we roofed the place and I took some pictures from up top and then we left.

By the time everyone made it back to the campground they were too tired for the night's trip to Harlem Valley.

The next morning we all got breakfast at a nearby diner and then psxjsv, Lou, and I went to the abandoned Bennett School to check out Halcyon Hall. What a gorgeous building! I absolutely adored the place. I think it's an old residence hall. It's quite large and was built in several sections. We mostly stuck to the older section which was brick and stone outside and wonderfully decaying wood on the inside. The floors were still mostly solid-feeling, but there were some pretty huge collapses as well. The whole place made me giddy.

Finally, psxjsv and I went to Harlem Valley. I didn't have much time left before I had to leave to catch my flights, but I was really hoping to do some candlelit photography in the morgue. I never had been in the morgue of any place and I've always wanted to take pictures in one. I guess it's the little goth that lives in my belly that sometimes makes me do things. I managed to light all 100 candles in the time I had remaining and did several exposures. Hopefully they turn out. I couldn't accurately time my exposures as I had no watch and psx's phone does not display seconds. I'm sure they'll come out pretty close, though. The nice thing about a 2.5 minute exposure is that being off 10 seconds here or there probably won't ruin the shot. When my exposure finished we blew out the candles and took off. Either a future explorer can use my lighting setup or a bunch of teenagers will find it and think the candles were from a satanic ritual. Either way, they add to the exploring experience!

Then I drove back to the Newark airport and flew home. I pity the other passengers on the plane. It was a hot sweaty day and there was no way for me to shower before hitting the airport. Oh well. There are worse things.

Now I'm bruised, scraped, cut, and ever so depressed to force myself back into the real world. This summer is all about the perfect weekends and the depressing reality of the working week.

There's a good chance that work is sending me back to NY in about a month for a follow-up visit. If that happens I plan to find a way to visit for another couple of days! I feel like we had to gloss over most of the sites due to time constraints which is very sad.


[last edit 8/12/2004 4:23 PM by EatsTooMuchJam - edited 2 times]
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Scaggs 


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Re: "Oh brother buy me one more drink/I'll explain the nature of my pain"
< Reply # 1 on 8/13/2004 3:02 PM >
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I grew up in Kingston NY, which is about 30-45 minutes from Catskill, NY. That area is BEAUTIFUL, and most likely abandoned. I used to spend the summers in the Catskills with my grandparents who lived out in the middle of nowhere. Very serene, and it's a perfect climate during the summertime. Gosh, I miss that place. Now that I think of it, there were a LOT of abandoned places when I was growing up. Of course, at least your job allows you to travel. Mine keeps me in a chair all day long staring at numerous screens. Of course, it could be worse: I could work in a non-technical job and shovel manure for a living




EatsTooMuchJam 


Location: Minneapolis, MN
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 24 likes


Squirty "Stickybuns" von Cherrypants

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Re: "Oh brother buy me one more drink/I'll explain the nature of my pain"
< Reply # 2 on 8/17/2004 5:48 PM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Ha. Sometimes I do the programming equivalent of that. Well, not really, but it feels like it every now and then.
I passed through Kingston on the way, actually. I crossed over the Hudson at the toll bridge. Very scenic.

You may want to plan a trip home in the semi-near future. Some of the abandoned asylums near your home town are nothing short of amazing.




"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away."
-Tom Waits
Scaggs 


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Re: "Oh brother buy me one more drink/I'll explain the nature of my pain"
< Reply # 3 on 8/18/2004 2:17 AM >
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Were you in the town of Catskill? There's a downtown Catskill, and then there's "The Catskills" and "The Adirondacks." All three are equally beautiful. I've been meaning to take my wife to NY and show her where I grew up. Maybe I'll get to that next summer. I have to take her to where I lived in Mexico first.




EatsTooMuchJam 


Location: Minneapolis, MN
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 24 likes


Squirty "Stickybuns" von Cherrypants

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Re: "Oh brother buy me one more drink/I'll explain the nature of my pain"
< Reply # 4 on 8/18/2004 2:30 AM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
I did not go through the town of Catskill, I'm afraid, but they were indeed beautiful. I'd say Mexico would be more adventure for her if she's not into UE.




"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away."
-Tom Waits
UER Forum > Journal Index > Wretch in Beggar's Clothing > "Oh brother buy me one more drink/I'll explain the nature of my pain" (Viewed 2590 times)


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