The Retromantic

09/22/2026

This abandoned school is over 100 years old. The basement had a storage room that contained classroom media items from the 70's and 80's.

09/20/2026

This is crazy.

-Opened in 2008 as "Hard Rock Park" and marketed as the world's first rock n' roll amusement park.

-Went bankrupt after one season and closed.

-In 2009, the park was rebranded as the more family-friendly "Freestyle Music Park."

-Still struggled financially and closed permanently at the end of the 2009 season.

-Sat abandoned for 12 years.

-In 2021, I decided to explore it myself, while on a trip to Myrtle Beach.

-In 2022, it was demolished.
(though a large sign out by the road, somehow remained until this year)

I have many more photos and video footage of this place--I'm so glad I went. I consider this one of my all-time favorite explorations.

09/17/2026

Escape from the city...

09/11/2026

Are you with me?

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09/09/2026

I can't remember Walmart before I was a teenager. They weren't in my area. Crazy to imagine now. Growing up in Richmond, VA, it was Kmart that I remember in the 80's. Shopping trips with my Mom. I was sad to see them go. There was even a smaller one in my little town here in Western NC. Now sitting abandoned for years, the building never used for anything else. I enjoyed shopping at that Kmart as an alternative to Walmart. I recall purchasing many baby and children's items there when my daughter was small. In the fall, they had a great Halloween section too, still have many of my Kmart decorations. Came across this one in the summer of 2026 in Asheville, NC. Closed in 2018. It also had a rotting auto shop that I didn't get pictures of because it looked like a drug deal was going on in front of it.

It's funny that we have such nostalgia for everyday places of the past. I took it for granted then, but if given the chance again, I'd still pick Kmart over Walmart every time.

08/26/2026

Find out who you are. And do it on purpose.
-Dolly Parton (1946-2026)

Dolly always resonated with my kid, but it wasn't her music. Dolly encouraged folks to be themselves and accept one another as they are. That's always been Annabelle's mantra and I'm proud of her. 🦋

08/24/2026

Innsbruck Mall
1965-2020
Originally built as Asheville's first modern enclosed shopping center, later receiving a gingerbread
style Bavarian makeover in the late 1970's.
55 years.
Pretty good run for a mall.

08/08/2026

Sit a spell...

07/27/2026

I recently explored abandoned condos that used to be rooms in a resort. The condos were cited for many safety violations and a fire destroyed some of the other buildings nearby, leaving the entire community uninhabitable. Each unit was decorated differently, most unremarkable, however one retained a sense of pizzazz, despite being abandoned for years, vandalized and exposed to the elements. Pink-trimmed cabinets, ornate switch plates, drop-ceilings with fancy details, mirror walls and even a mirrored kitchen backsplash (I believe some mirrors were leftover from the resort days) and of course this fine, brass chandelier. Albeit in a strange spot, in my opinion. I really got a sense of their style and taste in this one, and how surreal to see such a place with graffitied walls, among other things. It didn't seem like a pretentious thing, in this small unit among many, but moreover a choice to enjoy their living space according to their unique taste. Even in abandonment, this space stood out to me, and I felt their individuality here.