I was a major horror film buff growing up and I still am. That’s why I agreed to take up Dasha's suggestion to check out the Stanley Hotel while in Estes Park, CO. Especially since it was the weekend before Halloween!
If you don’t know, the Stanley Hotel was famously the inspiration for Stephen King's thriller novel The Shining. After Dasha and I hiked Rocky Mountain National Park, we made a stop to experience all its spookiness.
What we discovered was a lot of people, a blustery day, and some unexpected facts about this iconic resort inn.
I finally made it to Key West, Florida! I visited the Florida Keys back in summer 2016 and again in summer 2019. Both times, I didn’t make it as far as Key West, the last key in the coral cay archipelago off Southern Florida.
But on a long weekend in late September, Ivana and I made the drive there at the perfect time of day. We avoided all the traffic and spent 3 nights and 3 days exploring the area mainly by bicycle!
From planning the right snorkel trip to booking our accommodation near happening Duval Street, these are my recommendations for having the best time in Key West!
A common experience while walking around Portland was coming across the uncommon. The city had some completely weird and random art displays spread throughout. Portland seems to breed or attract inventors and creators who think up the most interesting visuals and entertainment spaces. This post highlights just three aspects of the city that I felt "keep Portland weird"— street art, people's yards, and the Kennedy School.
To give you an example of what I mean by street art, I don't mean your typical mural found in Brooklyn, NY. I mean seeing that someone spilled a bucket of blue paint on the sidewalk and that then decided to make the best of the spill and use the excess paint to draw a blue smiley face right next to it. I wish I had gotten a photo of that one. Instead, here's a picture of a fire hydrant with eyes.
