Estes Park & the Stanley Hotel

After hiking in the Rockies we pulled into Estes Park and stayed at the Stanley Hotel.  This hotel was Steven King's inspiration for "The Shining." They do play it up too, since I'm sure it helps with the tourist trade.  But we experienced no paranormal activity. 

It is a beautiful old hotel, in the ballroom were two grand pianos,  Brandon sat down at one and just started playing.  He started to draw folks in, because he really is pretty good.  The dining room manager came over and pulled the door closed a bit so that people from the restaurant couldn't see into the ballroom.  He told me he hoped people would think it was a ghost playing the piano.  A ghost playing Coldplay, Five for Fighting, and Foreigner,  yeah right!

Brian hated the fact that the rooms weren't air conditioned, but I didn't find it too bad. I loved the wicker furniture on the expansive front porch, that overlooked the lake and had a great view of the mountains.  I spent most of the night just relaxing and reading on the porch.

Photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nhallberg/sets/72157621234773173/