Our anniversary weekend at the Stanley Hotel

Last weekend was our third anniversary, and we celebrated by going away for the weekend. Every year so far, we have stayed at the luxurious Brown Palace Hotel in downtown Denver, and I could never get bored staying there! It will always be my favourite hotel. But this year we decided to do something different and so Rich made us weekend reservations at the Stanley Hotel up in Estes Park.

The hotel is rich in history and we really enjoyed the (ghost) tour we took before checking in. Mr. Stanley was a famous Easterner who came to Colorado for his health and ended up being responsible for really developing the town and area around it in order to build and support his hotel. The hotel was elegant and used the Stanley Steamer cars to pick up their guests in Longmont or Lyons, as the train didn't go to Estes Park.

The Stanleys are best known for their Stanley Steamers, steam cars, but Mr. Stanley and his brother made their fortune back east. Here is a blurb I found on "Infoplease" that briefly explains their story:

"Francis and his twin brother Freelan formed the Stanley Dry Plate Company in 1883 to manufacture dry plates for the photographic process invented by Francis. They sold the company to Eastman Kodak in 1905, as their interest had turned to steam-powered automobiles. They had invented the “Stanley Steamer” in 1896, the first steam motorcar in New England, and formed the Stanley Motor Company to manufacture them. Francis served as president of the firm. The pair actively competed in auto races, pitting their steam power against gasoline-fueled engines and often winning. Using one of their steam cars, they set a world record in 1906 for fastest mile, 28.2 seconds (or 127 mph [205 kph]). The brothers sold the business in 1918, having manufactured more than 10,000 “Steamers.” Francis died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident that same year.

Freelan, or F.O. was the Stanley brother that built the hotel.

Now there is more to the hotel- and what it is known best for now- ghosts. The hotel is said to be haunted by both Mr. & Mrs. Stanley, the swindler of a man they bought the property from, Lord Dunravin, and a maid who hangs around room 217. Stephen King stayed at the Stanley back in the early 70's and reportedly had so many spectral experiences, it inspired him to write "The Shining". The original movie was not shot there, but the miniseries that was filmed in the 90's was filmed at the hotel.

Part of the movie "Dumb and Dumber" was filmed here too. Jim Carey had room 217 for a night- but apparently came down in the middle of the night, asking the desk to make him reservations at the Holiday Inn- and then he waited outside for the car to get him... he has never publicly said what happened to him in that room... hmmmm....

I am no ghost hunter and am pretty sceptical about the whole supernatural thing, but I did keep hearing a music box playing and I could never tell where it was coming from. Our room was over the music room and we heard lots of piano and cello-playing as there was a wedding both Saturday and Sunday- but the music box sound was sometimes over top of that and I could only hear it in our room, no where else... (play Twilight Zone music... lol)

Anyway, here are a few photos. It's a lovely location and we had a really nice, relaxing weekend. Just the perfect thing to start off the new year!

Happy New Year!

To all who visit me here, my wish for you is a happy, healthy, fun new year! I don't make resolutions, I am continually trying to learn things and be a better person ;) But a new year is a great time to improve things, change things, try new things, and so that is what I will do!

The holidays are quickly coming to a close. Rich is always off this week between Christmas and New Years and so we get a nice long time to be together and a little time to wind down after the hustle and bustle of having all of the kids home for a few days.

Of course, with our wedding anniversary on January 3rd, we get to end the holidays with a private celebration. In past years, we have spent some time at the Brown Palace in Denver as our getaway. This year, we will be going to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. I have never been to that area of the state and am very excited to go there!

Till I have photos to post from there, here are a few from Christmas at home with all the kids.

The gang's all here!

The kids arrived from Canada on Monday- a day late, but safe and sound. We are all very thankful that the delay only meant an extra night at home, not being stranded in an airport...

We have been keeping very busy with last-minute shopping, cooking, and outings. Today is reserved for tomorrow's preparation and lots of eating!

Yesterday the kids and I went into Denver for the day. We took the light rail in and spent a couple of hours at the 16th Street Mall. None of us had ever been there, and we enjoyed looking around, despite the wet-ish snow that fell persistently all day.

We checked out the shop at the Hard Rock Cafe, had lunch at Einstein's, and browsed (not for long enough) in the Tattered Cover's flagship store.

Then the girls and I headed up to the Buell Theatre to see "Little House on the Prairie- The Musical", starring Melissa Gilbert, while Ben stayed downtown to wander and explore.

The show was FABULOUS! All of us enjoyed it immensely! I even brought my bonnet (yes, I actually own a prairie bonnet! lol) with a Sharpie to get autographs if that was a possibility, but it wasn't. No matter. We all had a great day.

Fortunately, I kept myself pretty organized this year with everything- gifts, menus & cooking, cleaning... so though I have things to do every day, I am keeping the stress (at least the stuff I can control!) to a bare minimum. It was such a treat to be out having a fun day two days before Christmas!

Now Rich is off too, his boys are here, and Becca will arrive sometime today. It is busy and much more crowded than we are used to, but it is very cool to have everyone here together for the holidays.

Merry Christmas everyone!

The tree is up!

Yesterday after we got Chloe from riding, we headed over to the tree lot to choose our Christmas tree.

It's a beautiful Noble fir- so full and perfect, it's hard to believe it's real!

I helped the girls put the lights on and then they went to work decorating it- though it really didn't need much, it was gorgeous with just lights on it!

Now I need to start wrapping and filling up the space below it!

Date Night!

We went out to dinner last night to the 9th Door, a tapas restaurant in Denver. The food is just SO yummy there! We have been there before and it never disappoints. We had some lovely red wine with it and it was such a great evening. I am so lucky to have a husband who not only loves to eat, but loves to take me out.

I love any excuse to get dressed up, and we even remembered to take a couple of photos before leaving (well, Chloe took them). We used to take photos all of the time, now we hardly ever take them of ourselves. We must get back into that.

The girls stayed home because they had their outing last week, going to see Wicked with me and our neighbor, Elizabeth. That was a great show! Next will be Little House on the Prairie with Melissa Gilbert in December- Holly will get to come with us. YAY!