If the last few trips had unusual beginnings, this one was absolutely weird… starting on the bus ride home from Cincinnati, I began to get unsolicited calls from apparent explorers (caller ID blocked, of course) telling me to go to Philly next weekend for some mysterious UER party. Of course, this being the Fuck It Tour, I obliged; the goal, after all, has been to explore a new area every weekend, and meet new people, who might be part of my comeback, and whoever these strange characters were, it seemed as it might be in my best interest to meet them. Obviously they could be setting a trap, but I’d be more likely to trust people I didn’t know, than people I know, in the UE scene. So, to reduce the odds of getting screwed, I made conflicting plans, both in Philly, and decided I’d go with whoever showed up first, then regardless of what I did during the day, show up to the mystery party.
About an hour after I got to Philly, surprisingly, Christian and Melba actually showed up, and we decided on one of their favorite places, Embreeville State Hospital, or something about a hippo. I never saw any hippos there, must be the wrong time of year.
After what seemed like an impossibly long tunnel from the entrance, we emerged into the main (or perhaps only) building abandoned by the hospital, apparently a school for disabled or mentally unstable children.
I wonder if this is where the hippo used to be?
Someone tagged Kings Park up with “URBEX” all over everything. Here, they had the wonderful idea of putting “UER” in the middle of the wall, like it’s some gang tag or something. Which I guess it kind of is.
How the hell is this bathtub full? Did someone actually bring water in for a photo, since there isn’t any plumbing left…
…and then we noticed security starting to circle around and found our way back into the tunnel and out of here. But the fact remained, only a few months after I thought I’d never get to explore an asylum, this was my fifth in a year, and finally a place I’ve been that the UER types are going on about. Even if I never got the chance to ride the hippo.