The Stanley

Brian has this fascination with all things haunted and I am fascinated by anything old/historical. Add this to the occurrence of our anniversary in the Month of October = we usually have a rather "creepy" anniversary, which, let's be honest, is what most couples are pining for. Okay, we're a little odd. Our first anniversary since moving to Colorado just had to be spent at The Stanley Hotel.
On our way up to Estes Park (the quaint town in which you will find The Stanley Hotel) we chanced upon some car troubles. Our power steering pulley exploded and took out the fan. We spent 3+ hours in the parking lot of Checker Auto Parts. The people there were WONDERFUL. Plus a customer came back to make sure we were going to be okay and helped us for the last hour. When we finally got it road worthy we had missed our dinner reservation by a lot and we ended up getting Del Taco. So romantic.
We checked in just before midnight. This ended up being a blessing in disguise. We were able to roam the hotel with no other guests around and in the creepy wee hours of the morning. The desk clerk was named Virginia and I think she took a liking to us after I told her that was our daughters name. She told us to go ahead and explore. I took a gazillion photos hoping to get home and find an aberration. I won't subject the blog-viewing world to all of the pictures. The hotel is GORGEOUS though. Loved it.
Recognize these steps? Jim Carrey hands out $100's to the hotel staff here in Dumb and Dumber. He also stayed in the legendary room 217 during filming until the middle of the night when he came downstairs and requested a room change. He never explained why. (Yes, we had Tag with us. It's the first time we've had to bring a baby with us. Bonus= got creeped out by him being so entertained by the head of the bed. He stared at the same spot smiling and cooing for what seemed like a century. Of course this could easily have happened at home and we would have thought nothing of it.)
Lobby after midnight. To the right of this photo is the MacGregor room. It looks like a ballroom and has a stage which is a newer addition. To the left are the billiard room and a large music room which was set up for a wedding the next day. This place was seriously a journey back in time.
Original Otis Elevator from when the hotel opened in 1909. This thing was awesome. Brian looking ghostly in the mirror above. If you are a history fanatic like I am you can read more about the Stanley on wikipedia. Estes Park is the gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park. We really wanted to drive up into the park but since our Jeep was being held together by blood, sweat and tape we figured it would not be wise. This means we'll have to make another visit!