Exploring a burnt down factory

So this isn't exactly legal, and I don't know how appropriate it is to post these pictures, but my friend Roland, and I did a little exploring today. He's been getting at me for weeks to go for a ride with him on his motorcycle, and things kept coming up. Finally we made plans for today, and I made myself stick to them even know I have a million other things I should be doing.

We went to a burnt down factory a few miles away from my house. It appears it used to be a peanut processing factory after a little investigating and opening out eyes a little bit as we wandered around inside. Roland tells me this place had a terrible fire a few years ago. And it is definitely illegal to trespass here. But where's the excitement in following rules, right?

We walked around and around, careful to walk on things that were sturdy, and only on hard surfaces. It can be very dangerous for the average person to explore a place like this, rotten wood in the main room that we had to cross to get to the back side was a little terrifying. Especially since I wore flats with little or no tread on them. Of course I led the way and Roland kept telling me to be careful, pointing out things to avoid. 

I love the brickwork in this place. It was built in the 1800s but with the mint green paint job, you can tell it was recently in operation. I need to do some digging in public records and find out when it was built, all the different things it was used for in it's lifespan, and how it burnt down. 

Ah! I want this brick wall in my apartment! I love the distressed paint.

My favorite part of the whole place was this opening you see above. It was at the end of the walkway in the picture before the one above. It looked like the perfect place to model the new shorts I made. 

Shorts I made from an 80s pillowcase. Matt and I were going to a barbeque on Saturday and in my mind, I had nothing to wear. Of course I did, but I wanted an excuse to sew something and wear it. My friend Sarah gave me an old pillowcase she was going to give to Goodwill. I used a vintage high-waisted pair of shorts for a pattern, and in 20 minutes they were finished! Tutorial coming soon!

These shorts are perfect for southern summers! All cotton, thin fabric, high-waisted (my favorite part of course), and a fun fabric. I think I'm going to make a ton of these and sell them in my Etsy shop.

It was absolutely terrifying standing in this opening. The bricks I am standing on were about 2 feet wide and on the other side was a 30 foot drop! But even though it was scary, I plan to come back here for more outfit shots. 

Silos on the back side. It appears they held peanuts. I think local peanut farmers would being all the peanuts in by truck. The silos would store them, and this place would them bag them or just load them onto trains to be shipped elsewhere.

 Crazy Roland, climbing the silos.

Ohmigoodness, see how high he is? I had to walk so far away just to get both the ground and him in the frame! He is nuts. His sunglasses fell off his head and said, "oh no," or something and my first thought was, "Oh my, he's gonna fall!" But he didn't, thankfully.

I can't wait for more adventures with Roland. He knows some great spots in Augusta and South Carolina. I love seeing things that aren't normally seen. Investigating and exploring things that are supposed to be hidden and avoided. Next time though, I need to wear better shoes!