After a 15-hour drive, we arrived at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado around noon on Monday, November 21, 2011. My sister had driven the entire 15 hours it took to get here. She did that because she doesn’t like my driving. HA! Guess I showed her.
The Stanley Hotel
Estes Park, Colorado
Of course arriving that early means our room isn’t ready. I’m wide awake while sis is exhausted! Luckily the lobby has super comfy leather chairs that we take over. I read. She sleeps.
Lobby
When we finally check into our room around 2 or 3-ish, sis is still exhausted. Our room was on the third floor. Room 217 is checked out WAY ahead of time and the fourth floor does not have rooms with two queen beds – and I ain’t sleeping in a king with my sis! The view was nice, though. We could look out towards Estes Park Lake and some low-lying mountains. The big peaks were towards the front of the hotel.
View from room 326
I wasn’t sure if I could get her out of the room. The movie Eagle Eye was on, so I sat and watched it. Wow – that was pretty awful. It’s a complete Will Smith/Enemy of the State rip off. But who cares about that. We’re at the Stanley!
view from the front of the Stanley Hotel
I finally get her out of bed and we head over to the Estes Park Brewery which is supposed to have top-notch beer. The place was a dive. The red was a good beer. The others weren’t. The food was awful. They really should name it the Hole In The Wall with One Good Brew. Eh, no problem. I have some snacks back at the room.
The next day we ate breakfast at the Big Horn Restaurant. The food was good. It was the accents that we noticed most. Sis said they were German. I said Austrian. Of course, I asked! It was Slovakian. We came across this accent constantly while in Estes Park.
We went to the visitor center next and the friendly chap showed us a trail in Rocky Mountain National Park we could take. The main road - Trail Ridge Road – was closed. So we couldn’t drive peak to peak. No worries, we took every road we could! In the park we saw wild turkey, several deer, magpies, a raven, and small herd of elk.
Rocky Mountain National Park
driving through the park
Later that day we took the Ghost and History tour at the Stanley Hotel. We visited the ladies and gentlemen’s parlors, the top of stairs landing with mirrors and paintings, room 217 where Stephen King was inspired to write The Shining, the fourth floor where the children are heard playing at night, room 401 where many unusual things happen, and the tunnel under the hotel.
the ladies' parlor
top of the stairs
In room 401 I volunteered to stand in the closet where the several ghostly happenings have been reported. Did anything happen? No, but I did freak myself out a bit. The hair on my arms rose and I swore I felt something. I reached over and realized it was the ironing board! HAHA
me at the top of the stairs
Stephen King and his wife were in Estes Park back in the early 70’s. During this time the Stanley had changed owners and it was in a more dilapidated state which probably suited Mr. King just fine! The hotel was closing for the winter months. No guests were there. The employees were closing up when Stephen King persuaded them to allow him and Mrs. King to stay the night. They stayed in room 217. During the night several strange things occurred – one of which was “someone” unpacked their bags while they were out of the room. Keep in mind it’s against hotel policy to touch the guests belongings! Also, that evening Mr. King had a dream about the fire extinguishers, located just outside his room, attacking his young son. At the time, the extinguishers had the white hoses attached. The hoses are now gone, but the pipe is still there. The Kings checked out the next day, and he began writing The Shining.
nope, I couldn't get into room 217
I’m sure you already know that Kubrick’s The Shining film is not located at the Stanley and Stephen King was upset with several changes Kubrick made to his story. It’s still a great movie – but Stephen King put out his own mini-series and filmed it at the Stanley! He also made a cameo as the band leader.
Stephen King
The fourth floor is where guests report hearing children running and playing through the halls. Unfortunately, we did not witness anything. However, my camera and telephone were both wonky. Yes, I said wonky! There were two pictures on the camera that neither my sister nor I took. It may have just accidentally taken the photos or it may be GHOSTs!!!! Also, I turned my phone off at night to save the battery and it was on the next morning. Interesting stuff, huh?
photo taken by ghost?
That metal faucet is the old fire extinguisher.
another ghost-taken photo
What were they trying to show us?
Later on Tuesday, we walked through half of the little town of Estes Park. It’s a quaint little touristy area full of stuff you don’t need but just want to buy! LOL
downtown Estes Park
That evening we ate at Chicago’s Best and had the white pizza. It was pretty good. We arrived at the perfect time, walked up to the counter and ordered. After we sat, about fifty other people showed up. Good timing. J
We get back to the room around 6 p.m. and I’m exhausted! I know we want to do our own ghost hunt anywhere from 2-4 a.m. so I pass out.
We woke up later than we wanted because the alarm didn’t work. Ghost? We went up to the fourth floor. Have I mentioned how incredibly creaky the floors are at this hotel? It WAS built in 1909. Well, we went to all the hotspots and took photos. We were doing our best to sneak around and not make any noise, but every time it squeaked we broke out into giggles. We were sure someone was going to come out of their room and yell at us. No one did. Nor did we get anything on film!
4th floor - girls area
view from the 4th floor
the girls' bench
if you leave them candy, they'll eat it
On Wednesday we chose Notchtop for breakfast. The food wasn’t bad but they’re definitely not top notch! We weren’t greeted or spoken to. No big deal right? The employees greeted and spoke with everyone else! I’m not sure what either of us did?!?!? I smiled and was friendly and got nothing in return. It reminded me of that pub in American Werewolf in London where the boys walk in and it gets completely quiet. Creepy and rude. Oh well – no tip for you!
We spent some of the morning walking down the other half of Estes Park. I make it sound as if it’s a large place. It isn’t. It’s just the shops open late and close early. We did more unnecessary shopping.
downtown Estes Park
At one point, we saw an elk sitting in front of the library. Yes, a real elk. A real LARGE elk. It didn’t care about people taking photos or getting near. I didn’t get that close!
Elk in front of the library - downtown
We decided to head back out to Rocky Mountain National Park. This time we went up to the top of Trail Ridge Road – at least up to the point where it’s closed. Then we drove down the mountain to Bear Lake.
Trail Ridge Road - closed :(
Welcome to Bear Lake!
Where are the bears? Where's the lake?!?!
For lunch/dinner we ate at Poppy’s. It’s an Italian-type restaurant and was pretty good. Yes, I had pizza again. What can I say? I like pizza. Then we came back to the hotel.
Again I was exhausted. It was only 5 p.m. I wanted to take a nap so that I can be awake at 2:30 a.m. for ghost hunting madness! Unfortunately, we found nothing again.
looking up into the bell tower
someone has a sense of humor :)
room 217
The next day was Thanksgiving and check out time. L We headed out to Estes Lake and walked around. It was extremely windy but a nice day nonetheless.
Estes Lake
At noon we ate at the Stanley’s Thanksgiving feast. It was delish! The funny part was the couple next to us kept getting up for more buffet and every time they left, the busboys would clean off their table. The couple would come back and everything would be gone. It happened three times. The manager came over and comp-ed their meal. I told my sis to get up and walk away! It didn’t work for us. LOL
We began our 16-hour drive home. It was longer because we decided to take the interstate all the way back which added an hour or two to the driving time. It was worth it!
Now I need a vacation from my vacation.
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