We could take a ghost tour with "experienced ghost hunting guides" (where can I get a job like this?) to explore "all the dark recesses of this massive Gothic asylum". 

But no, we were far away, so we chose the day tour to roam this 242,000 square foot asylum. You know, back in the late 1800s, one needed a large asylum to hold all those people suffering from "feebleness of intellect" and parents who were cousins.

As with many abandoned buildings, there was a certain beauty in its decay.  As many who frequent the Eleven Shadows website know, I have a fascination for abandoned buildings.  And when abandoned buildings are old historic insane asylums that are haunted, I'm especially interested, oh yes.

I love the patterns and colors created by decades of paint flaking off this locker door.

The haunted lunatic asylum operated from 1864 until 1994, and was abandoned for years until Joe Jordan purchased it in 2007 for $3 million, opening it up for tours to raise money for restoration.

The rooms smelled, as decaying rooms left to neglect always do.  While I wouldn't want to conduct tours here, spending a couple of hours here was so fascinating that it didn't matter.  Still, I appreciated the fresh air after the tour was over.

It is said that a straitjacketed patient has roamed these halls for years.  See if it's true by waving your mouse over the photo.