The night before my twenty-ninth birthday was spent on a ghost tour of The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. The Stanley Hotel is the most (positively) haunted hotel in the United States and the Music Hall that sits on the property is the fourth most haunted place in the country. The hotel is famously known for its association with the the film The Shining, which is played on repeat in the guest rooms.
Having previously been on haunted hotel tours and experiencing some paranormal activity, I was very hesitant in my excitement to get to know The Stanley. The level to which I experienced any paranormal activity, whether intelligent or residual, was certainly less than others on the tour. I did, however, still witness the door in Lucy's room independently close itself and felt resistance on the same door when I tried to later open it. The sucker I held out in the palm of my hand also twirled around when the lights were off in Lucy's room. Others I was with had their shoes untied, felt resistance while playing a hymn on the piano in the Music Hall (the same piano also played by Bob Dylan by the way), saw apperitions in windows, and caught varying facial expressions in the same one photo during a photoburst capture.
The stories continued at the bar after the tour. Guests and staff alike shared their experiences at the hotel while I ate a plate of Brie cheese that was served with a birthday candle in one of the slices. Birthday Brie is now a thing. The stories did not end at the bar. Once on the fourth floor, where I wondered if I would actually get any shuteye throughout the night, there was a gathering of guests. We got out our suckers and held them in our hands while others got out their phones to turn on their ghost hunting apps.
This gathering of people sat and shared and experienced together in the hallway for so long that it started to feel like my freshman year of college, which was an easy and eager time to make friends. Having similar shared experiences on the tours and around the hotel made for obvious conversation starters and made for a memorable stay at The Stanley.
As unbelievable as it is to me, I excitedly await another chance to stay at The Stanley.
Happy birthday to me.
