Rocky Mountain High - part 2
Jun. 28th, 2010 07:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
agt_spookyPart 2 of my Colorado adventure!
John and I spent some time in Estes Park, where the downtown area is adorably quaint, with blocks and blocks of shops for the tourists. You can find anything from candy to jewelry to t-shirts. I ended up buying things for myself and a few friends and I had the BEST chocolate malt when John and I stopped for lunch. Yum!
The reason I wanted to go into Estes Park was to visit the Stanley Hotel, made famous by the movie The Shining. I’d heard stories about it being haunted, and the hotel ran a Ghost Tour, so I had to go. :-)
Our tour guide was a young college guy and he was AWFUL. He wanted to talk more about himself than the hotel or the ghosts and I wanted to strangle him and turn HIM into one of the ghosts.
Amongst his ramblings he did finally talk about the hauntings. Apparently the Stanley’s cat, Comanche, haunts the Manor House, appearing to guests and jumping up on their laps to be petted. Lord Earl Dunraven’s ghost is a bit of a pervert and on one stairway in the hotel likes to touch young ladies inappropriately. Mrs. Stanley’s ghost likes to play the piano in the Music Room on occasion. Steven King stayed at the Stanley in room 217 while writing The Shining and the room has been reported to be haunted.
The most interesting paranormal activity takes place on the 4th floor of the hotel, which is where the team from Ghost Hunters visited in 2007. The 4th floor is where the children of the guests staying at the Stanley, and their nannies, lived.
Room 401 is particularly haunted, which was the breakroom for the nannies. All sorts of things have happened in there to guests over the years, though nothing particularly harmful. Now I know why Jared Padalecki’s short lived series on MTV was called Room 401! I never knew the significance of the name!
Our tour guide said that sometimes the ghosts of the kids will come out to play if a toy is put in the center of the floor and a nursery rhyme is recited. So we all sat down in a circle on the floor with the toy in the center and said Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Now let me first say that there are NO guests ever booked in this wing on the 4th floor. We were the only ones up there. Second, where I was sitting I had a clear view all the way down the hallway to the end, where there was a glass door that led to a stairway outside.
We had no more than finished Mary Had a Little Lamb when BANG! It was the very loud sound of a glass door slamming closed. We all jumped. And I can guarantee that door never opened or closed. So we tried it again, saying Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. BANG! It happened again! All of our eyes were as wide as saucers, let me tell you. We tried it a third time, and this time we heard the sound of someone pounding on one of the hotel room doors just down the hall – where all of the children’s toys used to be kept. Freaky! LOL!
I’m glad something happened while I was there and now I have the urge to write Sam and Dean going to the Stanley. :-)
Oh, one line the tour guide said stuck in my head. He said that no one had ever died at the hotel, that’s not why the ghosts are there. They’re there because being at the Stanley was one of the best times in their lives.
“Happy guests. Happy ghosts.”
I like that. :-)
John and I spent some time in Estes Park, where the downtown area is adorably quaint, with blocks and blocks of shops for the tourists. You can find anything from candy to jewelry to t-shirts. I ended up buying things for myself and a few friends and I had the BEST chocolate malt when John and I stopped for lunch. Yum!
The reason I wanted to go into Estes Park was to visit the Stanley Hotel, made famous by the movie The Shining. I’d heard stories about it being haunted, and the hotel ran a Ghost Tour, so I had to go. :-)
Our tour guide was a young college guy and he was AWFUL. He wanted to talk more about himself than the hotel or the ghosts and I wanted to strangle him and turn HIM into one of the ghosts.
Amongst his ramblings he did finally talk about the hauntings. Apparently the Stanley’s cat, Comanche, haunts the Manor House, appearing to guests and jumping up on their laps to be petted. Lord Earl Dunraven’s ghost is a bit of a pervert and on one stairway in the hotel likes to touch young ladies inappropriately. Mrs. Stanley’s ghost likes to play the piano in the Music Room on occasion. Steven King stayed at the Stanley in room 217 while writing The Shining and the room has been reported to be haunted.
The most interesting paranormal activity takes place on the 4th floor of the hotel, which is where the team from Ghost Hunters visited in 2007. The 4th floor is where the children of the guests staying at the Stanley, and their nannies, lived.
Room 401 is particularly haunted, which was the breakroom for the nannies. All sorts of things have happened in there to guests over the years, though nothing particularly harmful. Now I know why Jared Padalecki’s short lived series on MTV was called Room 401! I never knew the significance of the name!
Our tour guide said that sometimes the ghosts of the kids will come out to play if a toy is put in the center of the floor and a nursery rhyme is recited. So we all sat down in a circle on the floor with the toy in the center and said Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Now let me first say that there are NO guests ever booked in this wing on the 4th floor. We were the only ones up there. Second, where I was sitting I had a clear view all the way down the hallway to the end, where there was a glass door that led to a stairway outside.
We had no more than finished Mary Had a Little Lamb when BANG! It was the very loud sound of a glass door slamming closed. We all jumped. And I can guarantee that door never opened or closed. So we tried it again, saying Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. BANG! It happened again! All of our eyes were as wide as saucers, let me tell you. We tried it a third time, and this time we heard the sound of someone pounding on one of the hotel room doors just down the hall – where all of the children’s toys used to be kept. Freaky! LOL!
I’m glad something happened while I was there and now I have the urge to write Sam and Dean going to the Stanley. :-)
Oh, one line the tour guide said stuck in my head. He said that no one had ever died at the hotel, that’s not why the ghosts are there. They’re there because being at the Stanley was one of the best times in their lives.
“Happy guests. Happy ghosts.”
I like that. :-)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-28 12:45 pm (UTC)Looks like a great vacation.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-29 01:47 am (UTC)Once we got past the awful tour guide, the hotel was actually quite neat and so full of history. Not just the ghosts!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-28 12:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-29 01:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-28 01:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-29 01:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-28 01:31 pm (UTC)Well ghosts have a right to be happy, too - right ?
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-29 01:49 am (UTC)I'm telling you, if I'd have seen the ghost cat, I'd have been on the phone to the Winchesters. ;-)
Well ghosts have a right to be happy, too - right ?
Exactly! They don't all have to be tortured souls!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-28 01:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-29 01:51 am (UTC)Once we got past the awful tour guide, the hotel was actually quite neat and so full of history. Not just the ghosts!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-28 01:45 pm (UTC)"how many people died there?", but the ghosts just return there cause that's where they were happiest..Interesting..
I hate when tour guides are a dud. Guides can make or break a tour..
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-29 01:51 am (UTC)Once we got past the awful tour guide, the hotel was actually quite neat and so full of history. Not just the ghosts!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-28 02:32 pm (UTC)And yes, you TOTALLY need to write Sam and Dean visiting there.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-29 01:53 am (UTC)Apparently some really freaky stuff happened in Room 401 while the Ghost Hunters were there, so I think it would be worth Sam and Dean investigating as well. ;-)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-28 05:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-29 01:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-28 06:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-29 01:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-28 07:58 pm (UTC)Happy Ghosts. Lol!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-29 01:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-30 02:22 am (UTC)I like that too. :-)
Wow, um, Jared had a show on MTV? Not the target audience, so never knew about it.
Now I wish I still lived in Golden so I could take a drive to the Stanley and check it out. Sounds pretty spooky. It definitely deserves a episode of Supernatural. Or at least some good fanfic ;-)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-30 07:30 pm (UTC)It's nice to know that not all ghosts are tortured souls. :-)
Wow, um, Jared had a show on MTV? Not the target audience, so never knew about it.
It was a blink and you'll miss it show. Lasted about 3 maybe 4 episodes and was HORRIBLE. Here I thought Jared would actually be IN the show, but he was just the narrator sitting in front of a green screen. Lame!
Sounds pretty spooky. It definitely deserves a episode of Supernatural. Or at least some good fanfic ;-)
There were actually a lot more ghosts there than I even mentioned, most of them children. Being there reminded me so much of the episode Playthings, especially since the bar in there was modeled after the one in The Shining. :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-30 04:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-30 08:10 pm (UTC)There were actually a lot more ghosts there than I even mentioned, most of them children. Being there reminded me so much of the episode Playthings, especially since the bar in there was modeled after the one in The Shining. :-)
OWOWOW
Date: 2010-07-01 01:51 am (UTC)I dieee for be a witness of something supernatural!! but never happened to me!!! of course I don't want it to happen at night!! naaay! at he morning, or evening but not in the darkness!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TELLING ME THIS!!! YOU ARE SO FREAKING great when trying to tell a person how imagine the things!
Re: OWOWOW
Date: 2010-07-01 07:25 pm (UTC)The hotel was built in 1909, and at the time it wasn't a hotel. The Stanley's were quite rich and had many, many friends. So they built it so that all of their friends and their families could spend the summer out in Colorado with them.
While their guests were there, the children and their nannies had their rooms on the 4th floor (the top floor) so as to not disturb the adults.
And now the hotel is haunted on the 4th floor by the ghosts of the happy children and their nannies. They liked it there so much when they were alive that that's where their spirits wanted to go to be at peace after they died.
of course I don't want it to happen at night!! naaay! at he morning, or evening but not in the darkness!
I'm very glad that my "ghostly encounter" took place during the day! LOL!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TELLING ME THIS!!! YOU ARE SO FREAKING great when trying to tell a person how imagine the things!
You're very welcome! I'm glad you liked my little ghost story. :-)