because Jackson misses me

I have a class all weekend in Northern Michigan. Jackson couldn't make it up with me so I promised him lots of pictures of things that will invariably bore him. That's how we work, his schooling involves pictures that make me want to vomit and mine put him to sleep.

I have a four hour drive up to my hotel so I had to stop for some essentials.

The view from class.

The view from the hotel. I am not sure if I am on a Great Lake or not, I should probably check into that.

Now to the exciting stuff. We got to take a two hour tour of an insane asylum. It was built in the late 1800's and used until about the 1970's. Now a private developer has purchased it and is renovating and restoring parts of it. This is the old air shaft/water main under the asylum.

The outside, it really is an incredible building. They have renovated half of it, turning it into condos, restaurants (the restaurant is where the morgue was) and shops.

Original tiling in one of the condos.

We got a tour of several of the condos. They are kind of strangely shaped because the rooms were very small before and didn't easily convert into what we call livable space.

Another room

One of the hallways. They have tried to keep the hallways as open as possible to try and respect the historical significance. I didn't get it either.

The plaster was almost three inches wide. They have pulled most of it off to expose the brick.

We also got to tour the space that has yet to be renovated. It still looks exactly like it did when it was abandoned. We had to sign a waiver to tour this part because the floors are not terribly stable and the walls and floor are full of chipping lead paint. We were continually told not to so much as brush up against the walls.

This was the chapel and it was amazing. They are going to renovate it to be a community cultural area.

The brick

A sign in the kitchen that read "Positively no smoking"

The marble floors. These last three pictures represent the space they are planning to turn into another restaurant.

We couldn't actually walk to this part because the floors would have caved.

This was a patient ward. It was kind of creepy to look into the mini rooms and imagine their previous residents. Apparently the workers have had a few "haunting" experiences.

One more day of class to go (at least for this weekend) it is one of my favorites so far. We are learning all about the evolution of different American architectural styles. Now off to dinner for one.