A big part of the appeal of vacationing in Boulder was it's proximity to other places we wanted to be. I was DYING to see the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, about an hour from Boulder. Stephen King and his wife stayed there the night before they closed for the season one year, and ate in the dining room all alone. That stay at the Stanley inspired The Shining, one of my favorite Stephen King books. So I got a little fan girl and had to get my picture taken on the steps at the Stanley.....
I'm freaking out in this picture, you guys. Stanley Kubrick's movie version of The Shining wasn't much like the book. In the 90's, Stephen King helped put together a mini series filmed at the Stanley that followed the book very closely.
THE dining room you guys. Where The Shining was effectively born. The birth of the story happened here.
The life size dollhouse from the mini series filming.
They do offer ghost tours of the hotel (for $20/person), but I was more interested in just being there and The Shining the book and not so interested in their ghost stories. So we paid $5 to park and look around and it was amazing. Also we had gelato here that was exceptional. Dumb and Dumber was filmed here too (the parts that were supposed to be in Aspen)!
Here's the view from the Stanley's front porch:
The Stanley is located in Estes Park, which is known as the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. Those mountains were calling our name and I was about to get socked in the face by nature...stay tuned for Part 4 of our Colorado adventure!
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