Abandoned

So far in this blog, my photos have been.....pretty.  Portraits of people, dogs, and a lot of snow pictures.  Well, there is a subject that I love to take photos of that is not.....very.....pretty. Abandoned places.  Places where man invaded nature, built something new, left, and nature returned. 

I think what truly draws me to places like this are the stories behind the abandonment.  I mean.....someone invested in building these places, and then left them to rot.  Something must have happened to cause these people to leave.  And it is just amazing to stand in a place like this, and
imagine.

The photos below depict an abandoned, small-scale, theme park in (you guessed it!) the Outer Banks.  Every year, I drive by this place, and I finally had to explore.  Here is what I found.

This park had mini golf, water slides, and a raceway.  This shot was of the decorative pool in the mini golf area.  The pool was nearly drained, leaving the sides to dry out and rot.

The end of a water slide.  I like the converging parallels to the door blocking the slide.  It's like a door to the past.

Yep, there was still some rotting water laying around in places. No--I did not get in it to get this shot.

Believe it or not....this used to be a water slide.  Now completely overgrown with vines and left to the forces of nature.

I found this pile of wood.  Like, "cut nicely from Lowes" pile of wood.  Did someone try to rebuild at some point, but couldn't keep going?

I LOVE the frame in this photo.  Yes, I could have straightened it out so the frame in the photo could be parallel with the sides of the photo, but chose to keep it crooked.  It echoes the brokenness of the park itself.

More converging parallels....like a lot of them!  This was not at the top of the tower in the previous picture.  I was only able to climb a few stairs before they were blocked off. This was an overhang above the raceway.  I had to awkwardly bend over a railing to get this shot.

I love the red of the rust with the aqua-blue of the old paint.

Someone got sentimental.  Another clue to the story of this abandoned place.

What do you think happened to this place that was once filled with laughter and is now only filled with the blowing of the wind?

Cheers :)