So Reptile, btpp, and I set off for a day of urbex, only to have every single abandoned location we tried end up a total bust. On top of that, my car's tire blew and I was rolling with my spare on. On the way back we ended up sitting in traffic for 2 hours as a major accident resulting in multiple fatalities forced all lanes of I-4 to close down in both directions. We were determined to not let the entire day be this much of a bust so we stopped in the city to try some non-abandoned urbex.
First, we noticed a door into a private highrise that was usually locked was being held open by a draft of wind. We went in and took the elevator as high as we could go without using a key card. From there we took the stairs the rest of the way, and we were greeted with an unlocked roof access door.
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
Getting to the roof of that building felt easy, almost too easy, so we decided to try another building that was much taller.
I'm not going to share the exact details of how we got to the top of this building, in part because I can't even remember all the details, but it was really complicated. Most of the stairwell doors were locked from inside the stairwell, but it was those few unlocked doors that allowed us to get to the top. Different stairwells had different unlocked doors, and different elevators could access different floors depending on what floor you got on the elevator at. So getting to the top involved going up and down and up and down many times before we found a viable path, the building was like a giant puzzle game.
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
Eventually we got in an elevator that would take us higher, and when we arrived at the floor we selected, the doors opened to piles of boxes and other construction equipment stacked up against the door. We didn't even realize the top floors of the building were still under construction! We stepped out of the elevator, squeezing around the boxes, ready to bolt if an alarm went off. We went on some of the balconies of the unfinished rooms to get some pics.
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
We eventually made it to a chamber in the pinnacle of the building.
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
The blue lighting made everything feel so surreal.
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
From there we made it to the highest point.
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
We had to go back down a little bit to get to a fully exposed portion of the roof.
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
Untitled by
michaelbrnd, on Flickr
So yea, that's how a total bust of a day turned into an amazing night.