Blumenthal Bros. Chocolate and Cocoa
We finally set out to get back into the urban exploration. There are still plenty of spots within Philadelphia proper, just have to look in the right places. We set out driving on I-95 to get a birds-eye look at the city to spot some likely targets. We hopped off at Cottman Ave. and struck out at a few promising buildings on the riverside. We headed deeper into the Northeast and spotted the busted out windows (Urban Exploration Invitation) on this tower. When we got close enough, we could make out “Blumenthal Bros. Chocolate and Cocoa” in the blue lettering on top. Score!
I have never been in a chocolate factory before, let alone an abandoned one, so I was pretty excited. After maneuvering ourselves closer (and avoiding getting T-boned by SEPTA) we could see that the property wasn’t totally abandoned and, though the exterior looked pretty intact, the place was crumbling apart from the inside. This place was clearly decrepit, but we were still holding on to hope to get to the top of that tower.
The yard behind the property was being used by an auto dealer or scrapper and was filled with a shady assortment of chopped up cars and trucks…and jet skis. After devoting a healthy two minutes of our time to discussing the potential presence of a Rottweiler, we decided the cars were too shitty to be guarded. Thankfully that logic served us well.
Unfortunately, in the end, we didn’t get very far. Most of the first floor was locked up by the owner of this mint car collection. And though we could have climbed into the second story, the condition of the floor would have guaranteed a fast trip back down to the ground. All said and done these two were the best shots. Kind of a lackluster exploration for how much potential we saw in it, my dreams of playing with antique chocolate making equipment melted as quickly as they had formed.
Next up is a North Philly Cathedral that was an epic find..
