Stanley Hotel

The rally organizers arranged for a tour of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. The hotel was built by F.O. Stanley, of Stanley Steamer fame, and opened in 1909. The hotel is well known as the inspiration for Stephen King's novel, "The Shining", and has the reputation of being haunted. The TV mini-series version of  The Shining was filmed at the hotel.
 

The hotel lobby. Much of the wood trim is not wood at all, but is plaster painted to look like wood. It was originally white, but was painted for the filming of The Shining.
 

A 1906 Stanley Steamer in front of a painting of F.O. Stanley. He had developed tuberculosis and  came to Estes Park in 1903 for relief. He was very impressed with the area and started the hotel as a business. The elk in the area had been killed off by excessive hunting. He reintroduced the elk, having gotten them from Yellowstone National Park.
 

Room 217, where dignitaries stayed. The tour guide, on the left, liked to tell ghost stories related to the hotel. It seems that a gas explosion blew a hole in the floor about where he is standing. A maid was in the room at the time and fell through the hole and was seriously injured. She continued to work at the hotel for many years and became head of housekeeping. It is said that her ghost still roams the hotel. Stephen King stayed in this room when he first visited the hotel and got the idea for his novel.