Colorado Adventures - The Historic Stanley Hotel

Monday, October 10, 2011
The weather -it's conspiring
This weekend's Colorado Adventure was a stay at the Historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.

We left on Saturday at about noon, and once again, the weather did not cooperate. It snowed/rained during the entire drive, which meant I had to pay attention to the road instead of the scenery. Since Estes Park is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, this was no small sacrifice, thank-you-very-much.

Once we arrived, we checked into our room in The Manor House, which is in a separate building than the actual hotel. The room was a bit small, but this was the view:


Sorry for the quality - the window was a bit dirty due to weather.
We could live with that.


Since the destination was actually the hotel for this trip, we decided to take our meals at the hotel restaurant, the Cascades. Dinner was a Bison Rib-eye followed by Goat Cheesecake with Huckleberry Compote for the Smart Man and Crab Cakes with Risotto followed by Pumpkin Crème brûlée with candied pecans for me. Everything was delicious, although the cost was a bit steep for a restaurant that was situated RIGHT NEXT TO THE BAR.* But I'm sold on the flavored Crème brûlée at this point.

The Stanley - Wooo!
The Stanley is famous for being "haunted," and was the inspiration for the Stephen King book The Shining. The hotel makes full use of this, of course, offering "ghost tours" and even has a resident psychic named "Vera." Needless to say, the Smart Man and I skipped the woo tour, but made sure we cracked jokes throughout about how the static on the clock radio was CLEARLY caused by a ghost rather than by the proximity to a cell phone, how a small bug bite on my leg was OBVIOUSLY the result of being bitten by a poltergeist rather than a bug, etc. Hilarity ensued. 

Each room also had a registry of Historic hotels, and the Smart Man and I got several new ideas for future adventures. 

All in all it was a successful adventure, especially since the Smart Man got his Huckleberry fix. Next month: The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa in downtown Denver.

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*If the bill for two people to eat a meal is going to exceed $100, I better not be able to see a television from my table. Just sayin'.

7 comments:

Eric said...

Y'all got to stay in The Overlook Hotel? Envy, I has it. The Shining remains one of the best novels in SK's bibliography, though the Kubrick adaptation left me cold and the TV miniseries was mediocre.

Janiece said...

Eric, the hotel plays the Kubrick adaptation on continuous loop on one of the channels.

The Hotel and its ground are neat, though.

Gristle McThornbody said...

"Hilarity ensued" - is that what they're calling it now? Mwah!

Ya missed a photo op! I was expecting a to see you in a bathtub filled with tomato sauce, tastefully submerged, with one arm draped over the edge and a come-hither (but also dead) look on your face.

I'm with you on TV in restaurants. In the bar? Fine. In the dining area? Not so much. And I better not be able to hear it no matter where they've got it located. But what an excellent meal.

Sounds like a great trip!

Anne C. said...

I've dined there and I'd definitely agree with the "pricey" judgment.

Jeri - I'm trying to imagine what a "come-hither (but also dead) look" might look like. Definitely having an #imaginationfail.

Jim Wright said...

Whoa, talk about freaky - I was just reading about the this hotel last week! It couldn't be a coincidence, no way! What does it mean!

er

Sorry.

I was, uh, reading WorldNet Daily this morning, I'm still a little overloaded with the conspiracy virus.

Like Eric said, Envy, I has it.

Stacey said...

I enjoy Estes and it was our first time earlier this year and enjoyed a beer on the patio.
JR took me to Brown Palace for Mothers' Day a few years ago and we had a great time.
I'm glad you are enjoying your Colorado Adventures

Nathan said...

Jeez,

In NY, you've gotta slip the Maitre D' a hundred bucks to have a decent view of the TV. :)