What I Did On My Summer Vacation... Part 1

That little red roof is the hotel...

I finally have a few minutes to post about my trip to the Stanley Hotel, which hubby and I took in June. What can I say, but that it was a dream come true to check this off my bucket list?                                                                                                                                                                    We flew into Denver and drove a bit over an hour into the Rocky Mountains. I hadn't been to Colorado before, and the scenery was spectacular! We took our time driving in, since check-in time was at 4:00, so we got to stop along the way for a late lunch and to let Mr. ShellHawk look for birds to check off on his Colorado birding list.

We still arrived early, so we checked our bags in and stepped into the bar for a celebratory cocktail. The bar had been completely re-done since filming Stephen King's The Shining, but even so, it was beautiful!

Since Mr. ShellHawk and I have been discussing a kitchen and bar area remodel, I told him I wanted a bar top just like the Stanley's. Can you believe he said no? Ugh!

I took the above picture from our bathroom. It's in a photo contest at the Stanley, so if you wouldn't mind clicking here to vote for it, that would be great! Great view of the Rockies, eh?

Love the leaded glass!

Since it was our anniversary (lucky 13!) the Stanley provided champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries for us to celebrate.

I would have taken a picture of it all fresh and pretty, so you could see the lovely presentation, but, well, we were hungry and dove right in!

The Stanley Kubrick version of The Shining plays on the hotel's cable channel 24/7. Ape was a little frightened, but seemed to rally well. Personally, I think he broke into the champagne while we weren't looking.

I love the old elevator panel!

We used the old Otis elevator quite a number of times while we were there. It was a bit of a trip to think that I was in the same elevator as Rebecca De Mornay!

And the Stanley itself was just such a gorgeous, grand old place!

I had booked the ghost tour on the first night we stayed. It was a fun mix of some of the hotel's history and stories of the ghosts who are said to still be there. I got plenty of pictures, but didn't seem to catch any ghosts. I did get some nice shots of the architecture, though.

Below, a few different shots of the auditorium, which seated many famous people of the day.

We wound back around into the hotel, itself. I was in love with the windows in the main stairway!

The next morning, we took the historical tour of the Stanley Hotel. The weather was a little clearer for taking pictures of the grand old dame and its fledgeling maze out front.

The old interiors were quite wonderful, too. Below is part of the billiards room.

Just a groovy little staircase on the fourth floor...

They even take you underneath a part of the hotel -- and then they turn the lights off for you to see if you can get ghost pictures!

They took the old ice boxes and turned them into display cases, highlighting The Shining, of course, but also including pics from when they shot Dumb and Dumber there.

The "miniature" Overlook Hotel from Stephen King's The Shining was on display on the bottom floor.

I decided I needed a room for this old stove, too...

Of course, a trip to the ballroom was included in both tours. I couldn't help but see scenes from the miniseries in my mind as I stepped into the room for the first time.

Stephen King, himself, did a cameo appearance as the band's leader.

Loved the lobby...

We spent some more time in the bar...

We snuck into another part of the hotel with our drinks...

It had been the bachelor pad, back in the day.

Ape had a great time, too. He and I took a few pics around the property. He was a very brave Ape...

Ape, enjoying the view from our room.

He wanted to throw water balloons on the tour, but I told him no.
He was sulky for the rest of the night.

Ape at THE Room 217.

Ape wanted to drive the Stanley Steemer, but I was having none of it.

We went to the music room, which had a piano which John Philip Sousa had played and tuned every time he was there. Each time he tuned the piano, he scratched the date and his initials inside the piano. The technician who did the restoration on the piano sanded it all off and told the staff proudly that he "got rid of all that chicken scratch." *face palm*

Well, that's it for part one...