Where do I get started on this one? For a while now, I have been hearing about this place. Never really too much about people getting into it but I've known it was an abandoned sanatarium in Connecticut in the middle of an active campus, sounds like a bad idea right? Maybe thats why I haven't heard much about people being in there. A week or so prior to this Travis and I were talking urbex and he tells me he was invited on a trip to Cliffside by someone that knows how to get in. I got in on the trip and got the details as the week went on.

We decided since we were meeting everyone at 5:00 in the morning we'd just not sleep, which granted is good in theory but in practice it becomes alot harder. Travis came up to my area Friday night and we hung out at CVS till i got out of work, then we hung out at my house and around the attleboro area until we started to pass out, at which point we decided maybe it was a good idea to drive down to CT. At some point I must have passed out because when i woke up it was 2 am and we were in a Denny's parking lot and Travis was waking me up. We went in and got some food but when we left we still had some time to kill, and I used it to sleep because I was fading in and out as it was.

We got to the meeting spot which as far as what I'm used to was a little open, since we were leaving from that point with bags flashlights and cameras. A couple of minutes later Amy shows up, then Nicksan, Motts and Co. They drive over to the other side of the lot and head up the hill and Amy, Travis and myself walk over there. and head up too. We meet up on the other side of the fence and make introductions.

I should point out that am at this point unable to see clearly because I have had a hangover since I woke up Friday morning. Combine that with the exhaustion I had from not sleeping very much and I'm in pretty bad shape to climb up and down rocky hills. When we got around to the side of the campus covered enough to make our way over to the building we made the first infiltration I've ever done with walkie talkies. Without going into too much detail about that we got in fine.

Once we were all in we all made our ways around the building, rather than stay in one group, for the most part Travis and I stayed with Amy. The first Section was alot newer looking than I expected, actually I remember stumbling upon a couple of windows95 diskette packs and OEM packs in fairly good condition Alot of the front was "clean" and sterile in the fashion that new buildings are. Clean cut corners not too much as far as ornate design goes.

When we found the smaller, older, more dilapitated section, I loved it there was one hallway that reminded me of the Bliss School alot. The ceiling tiles were either on the floor or hanging from the ceiling, debris was everywhere, for some strange reason thats my kind of place. I found a furniture tag on one of the walls. There were only a few rooms in this section which was dissapointing but what was waiting on the lower floor was going to make up for it.

After spending some time in the higher floors we ventured down to the lowest to find the theater. I wish I had taken better pictures here because this was a nice dilapitated theater. There was actually even still some snow on the stage. A couple of things that really stand out in my mind were the ceiling lights, which had fallen from the ceiling and were now laying across the seating, and the other thing that i dont think i'll forget is saying the word mopsicle. You know your exhausted when you say the word "Mopsicle" I found a mop bucket next the the theater entryway with a chunk of ice floating in it, then I noticed that it was rooted on sometihng (the bottom of an old mop) so I pulled it out, dropped it on the floor and said "Hey Travis I found a mopsicle".

After that we headed into some of the upper floors or the newer section to look for some stuff we had seen in pictures or heard about. I went out onto the roof for a second but once I was out there for a second I realized that I was in plain view of the campus and surrounding area. It's a shame because it was actually rather nice up there. After seeing quite a bit of the hospital we headed back downstairs and eventually everyone was in the same hallway. We all talked about trips and listend to each otheres stories for a little while then decided it was time to make our way out.

The way back was in a way easier but in a way much much more shady, we walked/climbed along the bad side of a fence over a deadly drop behind a large department store. When we were back in the lot we all said our goodbyes and went our seperate ways. It was overall an amazing trip with some great people, the only downside was the crushing headache I had from that hangover. I think I will be going back to take some hopefully better pictures at some point in the future.

~Matt Fallout