"Old Bates Hotel"

Hotel Room, a photo by corinne.schwarz on Flickr.

There's this abandoned place on US12, not too far from my house. It's one of those places that I've always wanted to stop and photograph, but I worried someone might see me.

Last year I photographed the back of the hotel



but I never worked up enough nerve to go up front for pictures.

Yesterday I took a second to pick my fear apart. What was I afraid of?

Cops? Not really... there aren't many cops out there, so someone would have to CALL the cops, and by the time they got to the hotel, I'd probably be done. And even if I wasn't done, I'm *pretty* sure I'd just get off with a warning. Worst case senario is that I get arrested, I suppose. But... are they going to arrest some lady out taking pictures of the outside of a building?

Probably not.

Vagrants living inside? No. Too rural of an area, and the place is too dilapidated to provide good shelter.

Owner/Neighbor coming after me with a pitchfork? No.

People driving by on US12 and seeing me? Yes.

But that's a dumb thing to be afraid of.

So I finally went and took pictures!

When I first walked up to the building I could smell something. My first thought was, "dead body!". But I'm pretty sure it was just mint or something aromatic growing in the yard.

Yes, I realize that dead bodies probably don't smell minty.

If you know anything about this place, or even if you cant point me in the direction to learn on my own, let me know!