Friday Adventures: Forest Lake Academy

Yikes...  This is a weird one.

When researching things to do for a Friday Adventure I happened to pass over my old high school on the Google maps satellite view.  I noticed that the P.E. field looked abandoned.  This peaked my interest and when Ryan said he was down for anything I suggested we go check out the old Alma Mater.  

It was a weird impulse, I know.    

Neither of us had been to the campus in probably more than 15 years.  My feelings about my time at Forest Lake Academy are extremely complicated.  I assumed that stepping foot on the property would bring back nothing but negative feelings.  I thought that a fight or flight response was a strong possibility.

While I did get a full body shiver as we approached the administration office to acquire visitor passes, I soon learned that the FLA I used to know doesn't really exist anymore.  We spoke to several of the staff that brought us up to speed on the current state of the school and discovered that it has suffered from enrollment losses and budget restrictions.

I won a softball championship on that diamond.

The once thriving and oppressive institution has been reduced to shade of its former self.  The boys dorm was torn down a few years ago.  The track and field are all but completely abandoned and over grown.   There is now a large fence that borders the entire property.  It appears to not to keep out threats or danger from the world but to hold tight to what remains of its past.

It seemed... pathetic.  Like seeing your childhood bully take your order at a fast food place.   It has been de-fanged.

This is where Amy and I first kissed.
(Ryan rejected the suggestion of a reenactment.)

We actually had a lovely time.  

The following video chronicles our visit to the campus, featuring the site of the boys dorm, the gym, the field, the bird bath, the flag pole, and the auditorium.  Our FLA trip would be incomplete with out a stop at Taco Bell where we would frequent when the cafeteria was unpalatable, and the graveyard where we would escape the Orwellian eyes of the faculty to engage in rebelliously smoking cigarettes.