With the current tumultuous state of the world, I thought we could veer a bit from my usual article topics. I’ve been researching ways to bring good vibes into my home and discovered many different ideas on how to do so. Most of them are actually pretty simple and use common materials most of us have on hand. So let’s get started!

Ye Olde Farmers’ Almanac

First up, let’s check out some advice from the Farmers’ Almanac, which has been in continuous publication since 1818. Impressive! According to the Farmers’ Almanac, if you stuff fennel into your keyholes or hang it above your door, you will be protected from evil spirits. Another idea is to hang an evergreen branch or an empty hornets’ nest high in the rafters of your house to bring good luck to your home.

Southern Superstitions for Good Luck in your Home

Up next, let’s look into southern superstitions. Eating black-eyed peas (for luck), collard greens (for money) and pork (for prosperity) on New Year’s Day will bring you good luck and health for the year. (My mom always insisted we eat our age in black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day growing up.)

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A horseshoe mounted over a doorway will bring good luck. If hung in a U shape, your luck never runs out. If hung upside down, it gives luck to anyone who walks underneath.

Let’s get a little woo here

Shifting gears a bit, up next we’ll talk crystals. Many believe in the healing properties of crystals. Having them nearby or even on you can provide many benefits. Black Obsidian is well known for its protection and grounding qualities. It eliminates negative energy from both yourself and your surroundings. Citrine is used for good luck and stimulates optimism. Clear quartz attracts good fortune and luck. Green Jade provides luck, abundance and prosperity. Place these items around your house to bring good luck to your home.

Bring Good Luck Home in a DIY way

Finally, I’d like to share a few simple Pagan rituals that help bring good luck and prosperity into your home. You can make your own incense. Any of the following herbs and spices are beneficial for bringing good luck: sage, lavender, chamomile flowers, whole cloves, mint and thyme. Mix some or all of these in a small jar. Adding clear quartz in with the mixture will strengthen it further. Burning this will help clear any negative energy from your house and help bring good vibes your way. For prosperity, place a pinch of cinnamon in the palm of your hand. Stand outside your front door and blow the cinnamon across your threshold.

I hope these ideas help anyone feeling like they need a bit of luck these days. Please let me know if you try any of these or if you have other ideas on how to bring about good luck and prosperity. We could probably all use some!

The post How to Bring Good Luck and Prosperity into Your Home appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Original construction of the haunted Read House

Businessman and politician Thomas Crutchfield built the original hotel in the 1840s, and locals originally referred to the building as the Old Crutchfield House. Over time, the building expanded, and became the now famous Read House, which began operating as a hotel in 1872. In the 1920s, the building continued to grow into an opulent icon of the Roaring Twenties, and never ceased operating the entire time throughout construction. Therefore, it holds the proud title of being the longest continuously operating hotel in the southeast. Impressive! 

Okay so I know what y’all are thinking. Enough history, and get to the spooky stuff already, lady! 

The ghosts of the haunted Read House

In 1927, a young, beautiful woman named Annalisa Netherly checked into room 311. Legend has it her husband caught her with another man. He flew into a jealous rage and slit her throat so violently that he almost severed her head from her body. However, because this happened so long ago, there are numerous rumors of alternate ways Annalisa may have died. Some say she was a prostitute murdered by a jilted lover or even that she died of a broken heart. The fact remains she did indeed perish in room 311.

Since her death, many guests have described paranormal experiences in room 311. Many guests see shadowy figures out of the corners of their eyes, lights flickering, unexplained cold breezes and water running. Quite a few guests also report they feel like they’re being watched. Ick! She apparently doesn’t like men, especially those that smell like cigarette or cigar smoke. The Read House refers to Annalisa as their resident spirit and gives tours of room 311 upon request. 

An infamous guest

But that’s not all that happened in room 311! Oh yes, there’s more. My sister-in-law took a tour of the room while she was staying at the Read House and the tour guide told them that just four years after the brutal murder of Annalisa, Al Capone stayed in that exact room while awaiting sentencing for his federal trial. They even put bars on the window in case he attempted to escape the feds. The hotel removed these bars in 2004 during yet another renovation. 

How to tour the ghost’s room at the haunted Read House

Tours of the Read House are available upon request. A tour guide leads you around room 311, explaining the gruesome history of the infamous room. Guests may photograph all areas of the room during the tour, which boasts original pieces from the 1920s. The most popular place to photograph is the vintage claw foot tub, which is allegedly the location Annalisa’s brutalized corpse was discovered. (At least that made cleanup a breeze?)

If traveling to Chattanooga isn’t in the cards for you right now, you can also tour the room virtually!

The Read House celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, and the hotel will offer room discounts and dining credits if you’re interested in staying. Maybe just ask for a ghost-free room? Or not. I know some of y’all would love to stay in room 311 and try to make contact with Annalisa. If you do, be sure to let me know what she has to say!

Update on 7/11/22: Becky spent the night at the Read House; hear her first-hand account of the haunting here.

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Let’s have a chat about one of my favorite supernatural entities: the succubus. A succubus is a demon that takes on a female form, seduces vulnerable men and steals their souls through sexual activity. Typically this takes place while the man is dreaming, and most of the time there are multiple dream visits, each time sucking out a little more of the man’s soul until there’s nothing left. Sounds kinky!

Above: The succubus sucks out the man’s soul each night until there’s nothing left.
Original photo before modifications by Dainis Graveris on Sexual Alpha

Seriously though, the idea of succubi (yep, that’s the plural form) has been around for centuries. I’m talking waaaay back into biblical times, y’all. Succubus sure has been around! (See what I did there?!?) While it’s said the succubus changes appearance to appeal to her victim, she’s usually depicted as a scantily-clad attractive humanoid with bat wings. I mean, sounds pretty hot to me!

Above: The succubus is often depicted as a scantily-clad woman with bat wings.
Photo copyright by kharchenkoirina for Adobe Stock

Okay, so you know this succubus story has been around for centuries, but why did this whole “sexy winged demon lady will steal your soul through your tallywhacker” come about in the first place? One theory is that it was an explanation to why men have, ahem, wet dreams. Because that answer is way more fun than “it’s just a natural occurrence for those with their plumbing on the outside” am I right?

See you in your dreams, suc-cker! Photo by Dalton Smith on Unsplash

Another theory is that the succubus came about to explain sleep paralysis demons. Have you ever experienced that? You know, you “wake up” but can’t move or speak? Typically those that have experienced this sleep phenomenon also describe a feeling of something sitting or pushing on their chest.

So there you have it! I personally prefer the raunchier explanation above, but it’s probably because I have the maturity of a twelve year old.

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Delphine and Louis LaLaurie

Alrighty, so contemporary accounts may have exaggerated the gruesome events taking place at the LaLaurie mansion, but regardless I think we can all agree that the LaLaurie’s sound like some bad mofos. While we might never know the actual truth of the history, I can tell you definitively that there are ghosts at LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans mansion.

The Ghosts at LaLaurie Mansion

People have heard moans, groans and even shrieks while inside the mansion. Some have described hearing the dragging of chains and scratching from the walls. Over the last few decades there have been multiple reports of people seeing a woman with long, red hair glaring at them in various parts of the mansion. (Did I mention Delphine was a redhead?)

In the 1870s, the mansion was converted into apartments, mostly occupied by immigrant dock workers and their families. While many children reported hearing and seeing all kinds of paranormal activity, the adults dismissed their stories, because children do have active imaginations after all. imaginations. But that all changed late one evening when one of the dock workers came home and found a large African American man in chains blocking a stairway. The dock worker demanded he move out of the way, but the large man didn’t respond. When the dock worker went to push him out of the way, his hands went right through the large man and then he dissolved into a cold mist. Freaked out by his paranormal encounter, the dock worker spread the word that ghosts haunted the building.

In the late 19th century, the building was once again converted, this time into an all-girls school. Students often reported experiencing strange physical assaults like pinching, hitting or scratching. When a teacher would ask them who their assailant was, the poor girls would always answer “that woman” while showing their bruises or scratches. I wonder if any of them described “that woman” as having long, red hair?

A cursed building?

Many people have bought and sold the LaLaurie mansion over the years, and each one of them seems to come into a string of bad luck. Some of them have experienced financial ruin. For others, it has been health issues or even insanity. The house has spared not one owner from these misfortunes. So best of luck to the current owner. It sure sounds like they’re gonna need it!

The post The Horrible, Heinous History of the LaLaurie Mansion (Part 2) appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Lalaurie Mansion: A Grandiose Haunted Mansion

The LaLaurie Mansion at 1140 Royal Street in the French Quarter is widely known for being one of New Orleans’ most haunted buildings. Built in 1832, the original grandiose mansion on Royal Street was an eye-catching baroque beauty complete with intricate wrought-iron balconies all around the second floor.

This impressive house, still one of the largest in the French Quarter, belonged to Delphine and her third husband, Dr. Louis LaLaurie. Yes, this was Delphine’s third marriage; she was already twice widowed when she met Leonard Louis Nicolas LaLaurie. After Delphine gave birth to a child out of wedlock, the two married in 1828. According to those close to the couple, the marriage was not a happy one.

Leonard Louis Nicolas LaLaurie bought Delphine a mansion on Royal Street

Unhappy marriage or not, they had an image to uphold within New Orleans society. After moving into their magnificent mansion, the pair gained a reputation for the lavish parties they liked to throw at their private residence.

Now, the building that stands today on Royal Street is not the original home that the LaLauries occupied. Because, in 1834, an angry mob burned the original LaLaurie Mansion to the ground after the citizens of New Orleans discovered what had occurred in this cursed home. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised they rebuilt the place at all, given what I’m about to tell you.

Still reading? Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you…You see, the details that made the LaLauries truly infamous came to light after a fire broke out in the mansion’s kitchen in 1834. It turns out Doctor and Madame LaLaurie were hiding a vile secret; they had a penchant for inflicting brutal sadistic torture on the enslaved people working in the mansion

Warning: Gruesome facts below about the LaLaurie Mansion

Rescuers broke down the door into the slave’s quarters, and encountered a truly gruesome sight. They discovered mutilated slaves, all covered in scars and held in place by multiple heavy chains. Among their poor enslaved victims, many torture devices were found. The men and women were they chained up, some even suspended by their necks. In addition, they were also routinely tortured with pincers, whips and heavy iron collars with sharpened points to pierce painfully into their necks. Everyone had various shocking injuries. Some people had gouged out eyes, grisly wounds from large areas of skin that had been flayed off and left to fester, and fingernails brutally ripped completely off from the root.

But…it gets worse

As hard as it is to imagine, it gets much worse. The enslaved woman that started the fire was discovered bound by chains in the kitchen. Once freed, she led her rescuers to the attic, where even more men, women and even children were kept. When they opened the heavy door, they were overcome with the smell of decay and rot. Some of these victims had body parts stitched to other areas like tongues sewn onto chins or a severed hand sewn onto their abdomen.

Clearly, the LaLauries were a couple of sadistic sickos!

A few of the women had mixtures of offal and ash stuffed into their orifices. Others were smeared all over with honey in the hopes to attract armies of ants. Some victims even had holes drilled into their skulls so Madame LaLaurie could use a stick to stir their brains around. One woman was locked in a cage and had had her limbs all broken and reset in such a way that she resembled a crab. Y’all, there’s so much more heinousness but I’d like to not lose my lunch. Clearly, the LaLauries were a couple of sadistic sickos!

It could have ended sooner, but…

Sadly, years before this macabre discovery, rumors swirled about Madame LaLaurie’s ill-treatment of her enslaved people. She was even investigated for cruelty in 1828. Records show she paid for legal services to get out of any real trouble.

News of the first responders’ ghastly encounters quickly spread throughout the city. An angry mob gathered outside the mansion, forcing the LaLauries to flee New Orleans. The LaLauries eventually made their way to Paris, where they successfully hid from authorities. Delphine died in Paris almost twenty years later, without ever having to pay for her heinous crimes. And then an investor rebuilt the mansion in 1838 as an African American girl’s school. Eek!

But, is it all true?

While Madame LaLaurie will go down in history as a sadistic serial killer, many revisionist historical accounts say her crimes have been exaggerated over the years. Revisionists say no one was “experimented on,” and many of the more disgusting offenses seem to change with each telling. After all, much of the “reports” of her abuse come from her neighbor, Monsieur Montreuil. Montreuil had a bit of a crush on Delphine, which she spurned. Since that time, the crimes committed by Delphine LaLaurie have gained the allure and life of folklore.

That said, the LaLauries were not saints. They did chain, whip, and brutalize the enslaved people in the mansion. But, it’s likely the tortures they inflicted on these pour souls were no worse than the tortures inflicted on enslaved plantation workers. Genteel NOLA society would have found these methods gruesome. But in the countryside, the LaLauries would have been no different from their neighbors. And that, my friends, is possibly the most heinous part of all.

Regardless, there’s a bunch of ghosts haunting the LaLaurie Mansion

Yikes! I warned y’all this one was especially gruesome! So obviously, with the amount of atrocities perpetrated inside the LaLaurie mansion, there’s plenty of paranormal activity. If you aren’t too freaked out, come back next week to get the deets on the ghosts haunting the mansion today. And if you get the chance, check out some of the haunted tours that include the LaLaurie Mansion.

The post The Horrible, Heinous History of the LaLaurie Mansion (Part 1) appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Why the strange name?

Sure, they look odd, but what’s up with the supernatural nomenclature? Well, apparently folklore has stated that a witch cannot fly on a broom through any tilted opening. That sounds, erm, interesting for sure. However, the theory doesn’t hold much weight as there are plenty of other non-slanted windows she could just zoom through instead, right? I mean, I would assume most witches would be smart enough to just pick any of the regular windows to enter through…

Witch windows are also sometimes referred to as coffin windows. (Aha! Now we’re talking!) The reasoning behind this ghastly name is the thought that perhaps it was easier to get a coffin from the second floor out of the house through the slanted window instead of attempting to maneuver it down a narrow stairway. But hold up. That doesn’t make much sense to me either. How would shoving a coffin out a second story window be easier? Is anyone else picturing poor Farmer Joe’s coffin squishing a chicken or three when it violently landed in the yard below? Yikes!

That’s strike two, isn’t it? Well, hold on to your pointy black hats because I’m about to explain the actual reason these weird windows were installed! It’s actually, well, not a spooky reason at all. Sadly for us grim ghouls and boils, the windows have nothing to do with anything slightly eerie. Witch windows were simply a way to get sunlight and fresh air to the second story of the home by utilizing a small wall space. While that definitely makes the most sense, the truth about witch windows is definitely a bummer to those of us that love all things dark and creepy. Darn it!

Photo below actually taken in Russia by Anton Maksimov juvnsky on Unsplash

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The Sloss Furnaces Guided Tour

I have to say, the tour was fascinating. Even though we took the tour in the morning, the place is still creepy AF. Most of the areas are rusty and vegetation pokes up between giant, defunct machinery. The furnaces towered high above us as the tour guide explained the men who worked here would have to eat salt tablets to keep from passing out. Working near the furnaces, whether shoveling coal inside the burners or collecting the pig iron, temperatures could reach almost 130 degrees. I mean, I enjoy taking hot yoga classes, but that is freaking HOT!

The tour spooked me the most when we ventured into the area below ground level. We descended wet, steep stairs, then ducked under a small entryway into this tunnel of sorts. The air felt dark, damp and ominous.

There was even a large, rusted handcart they used to move the pig iron still just sitting there.

Fun fact: “Pig iron” gets its name from the shape of the cooling trenches the workers would dump the molten iron into to cool. These trenches looked like a sow feeding piglets.

Each of these blocks of pig iron weighed around one hundred pounds, and had to be picked up and placed onto mule-driven carts. Needless to say, only the strongest men were able to do that job.

But are the Sloss Furnaces haunted?

After completing our tour, the guide asked if anyone had any questions. I had to know if these famous Sloss Furnaces in Alabama were haunted! Of course I’d heard the rumor about Slag Wormwood, the cruel foreman that allegedly worked the men at Sloss to the bone. The workers, fed up with their ruthless leader, claimed one night Wormwood fell into the furnace, which is odd as he never really went up to the top. Not suspicious at all, right? Anyways, now his menacing ghost has been spotted haunting the furnaces.

Or has it?

My guide burst my excited-to-hear-a-ghost-story bubble when I asked him about Wormwood and he replied that the story is made up. Seriously?!? Apparently, a now defunct haunted house company started the rumor to drum up excitement for the haunted tour they put on every year at Sloss. Well, damn! The guide could tell I was super bummed about this news and went on to say that while the story of Wormwood is fictitious, it is (loosely) based on an actual event.

The Wormwood Origin Story

Calvin Jowers worked as a foundryman at the nearby Alice Furnace in the late 1880s. One night he walked around the top of the furnace to loosen a bell that had gotten caught. Calvin lost his balance and fell straight into the molten iron. Yikes! Rumors swirled of his ghost being spotted soon after his death. When Alice Furnace was torn down in 1905, Calvin’s ghost reappeared at Sloss Furnaces. While not quite as exciting as an evil foreman being murdered by his crew, it’s still an interesting tale and Calvin really did exist, unlike Wormwood.

If y’all are ever in the Birmingham area, I highly recommend you go check out Sloss Furnaces as one of the more interesting ghost tours in Alabama. You can either book a guided tour or just do a self-guided tour. It’s now a National Historic Landmark and rightfully so.

The reason Birmingham is the city it is now is mainly due to furnaces being built in the 1880s. These furnaces created thousands of jobs, and therefore brought thousands of workers to the area. While a self-guided tour would be fine, I would recommend the guided tour as you learn so much more about the history of the furnaces and the Birmingham area in general. Also, at the time of this writing, it’s only $10 which is a steal!

The post Deciphering Fact from Fiction at the Sloss Furnaces in Alabama appeared first on Homespun Haints.

The residence, built in the early 1860s in St. Louis, Missouri, has quite the grisly past. Yet the Lemp family story starts out as a positive one. Johann Lemp immigrated to America in the 1830s from Germany and brought with him the traditional light lager associated with his homeland. Back then, the only beer available in the States was the stronger English ales. So, as you might imagine, Lemp’s brewery was quite the successful booze business.

But that’s not what you’re here to read about, right? You’re here to learn about the Lemp mansion hauntings! As you’ll soon learn, the Lemp family history is riddled with suicide.

The Tragic Lives (and Deaths) of the Lemp Descendants

The tragedies of the Lemp mansion start two generations after Johann Lemp built his historic mansion. At the young age of 28, Johann’s grandson Frederick died suddenly of heart failure. Already on edge from the loss of his son, William was pushed to the brink when a few years later his best friend Frederick Pabst (yes, that Pabst) died.

William shot himself in the head, ending his suffering. With the patriarch of the family business gone, William’s other son Billy took over the family booze biz. But when the U.S. government enacted Prohibition in 1920, Billy couldn’t handle the pressure and he ended his own life. Then, Billy’s sister Elsa also committed suicide—she suffered a strained marriage for years and shot herself in the heart. And yet another of William’s children, Charles, killed himself as well. Needless to say, suicide ran rampant in the Lemp lineage.

The Lemp Mansion Architecture

The mansion itself is grand but ordinary from an architectural standpoint, so no staircases to nowhere, secret rooms or labyrinthine layout. However, practically every single room in the mansion has a story to tell. As you supernatural enthusiasts are well aware, with pain and suffering comes ghosts galore.

Lemp Mansion Hauntings

Visitors to the mansion will see random small items float around in Charles’ room. The putrid smell of raw sewage is prevalent at times in another bedroom. Pianos play randomly and doors will lock and unlock on their own. The living spot spirits all over the mansion, from a child in the hallway to the man that periodically sits at the dining room table. There’s even a ghostly figure that lurks in the basement. Small faces are seen from the windows when there are no children in the residence. The attic is haunted by an illegitimate child of one of the Lemp men. The child was born with Down Syndrome and sadly confined to the attic for his entire life. Women have even reported a spectral peeping tom in the downstairs bathroom.

Eventually, the Lemp family line was extinguished and the mansion was sold and turned into a boarding house. In 1975, the mansion was once again sold and renovated into an inn and restaurant and still functions as such today. You can book a private event or even a wedding at the location. If you’re in the mood for a spookier experience, they provide ghost tours and mystery dinners. If you aren’t able to visit in person, have no fear! Simply go to their website and purchase the Haunted Lemp Mansion board game which can be yours for the price of $51 (including tax and shipping). Just be warned, if you pull both the “revolver” and “bullet” cards and land on the “suicide” space, well, the game is over.

Visit the Lemp Mansion’s official site at https://www.lempmansion.com/

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The hauntings that make up the legend of the Bell Witch

The family endured hearing chains being dragged across the floor, banging on walls, gnawing on bedposts and even choking sounds. Basically, this shit was bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S. In fact, it got so unruly that the family asked a neighbor for help. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson from down the road agreed to stay the evening to see these spooky shenanigans for themselves. These events freaked the couple out so much that they created a committee to help investigate this insanity.

While the auditory hauntings were probably eerie enough, the Bell Witch decided to step up her game. She was now able to use her voice as well as physically torment the living. She was particularly cruel to the patriarch John and his daughter Betsy. The Bell Witch pinched, beat, scratched and pulled hair whilst shouting curses and threats.

Let’s get back to that investigative committee, shall we? By communicating with the Bell Witch, they uncovered her name was Kate Batts (a former neighbor of the Bells) and she wanted to kill John Bell and prevent Betsy Bell from marrying her paramour. There were no real reasons given as to why these were her goals, but there you go. Hell hath no fury like a lady poltergeist scorned. (Or just pissed off, I guess.)

But was the Bell Witch actually a witch, or a ghost?

You’ve probably realized by now that the legend of the Bell Witch was not about a witch named Bell. No, her moniker comes from the family that she haunted, poor dear. Furthermore, why is she referred to as a witch if she was actually the ghost of the dead neighbor?

Well, here’s the thing. Kate Batts—the strange woman who the “witch” claimed to be, was still alive at the time of the hauntings. The real Kate did have an unfortunate reputation in town for being a witch, but she denied any correlation to the Bell Witch activity.

Another thing to keep in mind is how murky the waters become in Tennessee folklore when using words such as “witch,” “ghost,” or even “haint.” Folks around these parts tend to use these words interchangeably whenever they talk about something that’s supernatural and bad.

Now, back to the legend

After almost 4 long years of enduring the Bell Witch’s ghoulish bullying, John Bell succumbed to death by poison. The Bell Witch took full credit for being the poisoner. A few months later, Betsy broke off her engagement. With her goals accomplished, the Bell Witch vanished from the property.

Or did she? Legend has it that she still haunts the cave, known aptly as Bell Witch Cave, near the original Bell homestead.

Creepy right? Kate the Bell Witch sure sounds like she was a dreadful piece of work. Word spread all over the south about this nasty poltergeist and people would even flock to the farm to try and get a glimpse of the formidable ghost in action. In fact, you can still tour the grounds today. There’s even a Bell Witch Fall Festival that occurs every year around Halloween which includes a tour of the nearby cave, the cabin and a midnight hayride around the property.

The Bell Witch in pop culture

The Bell Witch is one of the most well-known supernatural legends in the south and has been the inspiration for many movies and novels. The Blair Witch Project is probably the most famous movie influenced by this folklore. An American Haunting attempts to follow the legend of the Bell Witch pretty closely, while deriving its own conclusions. There have also been about a dozen novels and songs written about the Bell Witch as well as a handful of television specials.

I don’t know about y’all, but I find it fascinating that some spooky shit that happened over 200 years ago is still relevant and inspiring all mediums of entertainment today. The Bell Witch sure was a malicious mofo! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to plan a trip to Tennessee and book a Bell Witch tour.

Want to learn more about Tennessee folklore and witchcraft?

Listen to our podcast episode above on Appalachian witchcraft and folklore.

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Fast forward many decades later, my husband and I were in Colorado for vacation and decided on a whim to drive to the Stanley Hotel. (Okay, so maybe “whim” isn’t exactly the right word to use here. I learned it was a mere hour away and I strongly hinted that we really needed to go. But I digress… ) I gasped the moment I saw this magnificent hotel in the distance: the ornate colonial-style white building with a red roof and beautiful mountains in the background nearly took my breath away.

A casual visit to one of the country’s most haunted hotels

We parked the rental car and got out for a closer look. Clearly we weren’t the only people around wanting a peek at the Stanley Hotel. People meandered all around the grounds, tour guides led groups around the property and tourists packed the souvenir shop. King fans will get a tickle to see quite a few Shining memorabilia for purchase; I was quite tempted by the REDRUM wine goblet. If you aren’t a guest at the hotel, you are only allowed on the first floor. So I didn’t get a chance to see the infamous room 217, which was a bit of a bummer. However I understand the hotel not wanting a bunch of King lookie-loos creeping around. Apparently that room number gets stolen off the wall at least once a week.

Disappointed I couldn’t go upstairs, naturally we headed to the bar to drown my sorrows. Y’all. This bar is incredible! I mean, not only did they have a ton of enticing beverage options, but the actual bar itself is such a superb mix of dark wood and ornate copper ceiling tiles giving it an elegant, opulent feel.

Drinks in hand, we looked around a bit more then landed on the front porch to finish our cocktails. We had a picturesque view of the hedge maze and snow capped mountains in the distance. (Yes, the mountains have snow on them in the summer even when it’s 98 frickin’ degrees out.) The maze is a fairly new addition according to the plaque posted at the front. Thankfully there were no topiary animals to be found. 

For those interested in ghost hunting at the legendary Stanley Hotel, they actually list the high paranormal activity rooms on their website. Obviously, those rooms do book quickly—ghost aficionados seek these rooms out first! So if you’re planning a visit to the Estes Park area and get a hankering for some spooky stuff, make sure to book in advance! 

The post Visiting The Overlook, errr, The Stanley Hotel appeared first on Homespun Haints.