THIS IS HALLOWEEN!!!

Well my little gnomes, Halloween weekend is finally upon us. The weekend will be full of ghost and goblins and the skanky women in an "animal" costumes. For all of those who are looking for something fun to do this weekend in my happy stomping grounds of good ole Dallas Texas (and have been too lazy to read my blog till today) I have some fun little options for all of you to part take in. There's a lot, so the quips will be at a minimum.

First there's the Dallas Women's Chorus and their wonderful Masquerade (my mommy sings with them), it's a lovely evening with silent auctions, tastey wine, and a reason to wear formal wear with a haunting mask. All the money goes towards the Chorus! It's a great cause and a wonderful party for those looking for a classy event. http://www.thewomenschorusofdallas.com/Masquerade.html

Next is the Oak Lawn Block Party, for those of you NOT looking for a classy event to attend. The block party takes place on Cedar Springs in uptown Dallas and is a blast, from the five clubs all around blasting fist pumping jams, to the (what seems like) fifty vendors selling your favorite booze right there on the street, but the costumes are the real treat, the effort put into them is clear because you can't turn without seeing a jaw dropping masterpiece. http://www.caven.com/

If those don't suit your fancy then there's a few haunted tours for you to go check out like:

• The McKinney Ghost walk http://www.chestnutsquare.org/programs/mckinney-ghost-tour.asp
• The Grove in Jefferson Texas http://www.thegrove-jefferson.com/

Or there's always the famed Haunted Houses (theme park style)...

• Thrillvania http://thrillvania.com/
• Screams Theme Park http://www.screamspark.com/
• The Cutting Edge http://www.cuttingedgehauntedhouse.com

Don't forget there's a whole mess of rumored haunted hotels all over the metroplex from the Adolphus, the Lawrence, to even Miss Molly's bed and Breakfast in Fort Worth, where ever you go this weekend, the chance of a good scare is right around the corner. There's bound to be something somewhere for all your Halloween needs and delights, even if you stay home checking out your favorite scary movie is taking part in the holiday fun. Just make sure you're having fun... You don't want to upset the spirit of Halloween.

From a Wide Eyed view... Part 2

Good morning and welcome back for the second entry into this series. Today is going to be a great blog because I'm writing about one of my personal favorite hotels and it's my birthday. Yep I'm now somewhere between eight-teen and a hundred. Moving on, today I will proceed with my alternate Halloween activities idea, but still on the same path as yesterday.


Next on the list, the Adolphus. Allow me to make some things clear about the Adolphus, it's one of my favorite hotels in the world. It to me is up there with my precious Augustine in Prague. It is a classic, gorgeous piece of Dallas history, that has stood the test of time and came out as the ultimate luxurious hotel in downtown Dallas. It's one of those places where you feel you should wear black tie to walk through the lobby, but the staff is so kind that they treat you like royalty even when you're slumming it in flip flops and cargo shorts (I was there to look for ghost so I dressed comfortably!). When I started doing research for this project I felt my heart skip a beat because it meant that I had a valid reason to go stay at one of my dream hotels (there may have been a moment where I squealed and did a little spin in my chair).

Onto the Halloween spooky stuff, we'll start with a brief history lesson. Once upon a time there was a girl getting married, so excited about her wedding she decided to have it on her birthday and not just anywhere, no it had to be the perfect place, so she planned her wedding at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas Texas. She waited for her husband to be, but sadly realized that he had left her jilted at the alter. Lost in her despair and her heart riddled with pain, the bride took her own life hanging herself in the ballroom where she was meant to marry the man she loved. The grand ballroom where the sad bride took her life is now a shell tucked away hidden on the 19th floor of the Adolphus, it's rumored that the bride is still there that she walks the hallways waiting for her groom to finally arrive, but never finding peace for her restless soul.

Of course after hearing about this Faustian story, I knew that I had to stay at the Adolphus on the 19th floor, I needed to see if a grief stricken girl did roam around looking for the man who clearly sucked because he bailed on her wedding day. There's a lot of documented creepiness that I was looking to see if I could encounter:

• Phantom big band music playing
• Bride walking around
• Sounds of a woman crying echoing through the hallways

Those were all the clues to look for, or so I thought. I found that the elevators on the 19th floor were also a draw for those who wish to see the proof of the bride. The videos I have seen were all the same, at a random point in the night (maybe day) the elevators on the 19th floor begin to randomly open and close at the same time over and over again while the phone in the waiting area rings. Should you pick up the phone it will either call down to the lobby, or you will hear the sobs of a mystery woman.

I unfortunately did not get a room on the 19th floor of the hotel, which is fine because the research wasn't meant to be done in my room, it was in the hallways of the floor, so it didn't matter where my decadent room was (on a side note, if I could have stolen my bed and taken it home with me, I would have, it was the best bed I have been on). My partner in crime came with me, and she was ready to shoot pictures but the moment she put fresh batteries in her camera (twice!) the power from them was drained, a classic tell tale sign that we were not alone.

We decided that we needed to go down to the gift shop and try our luck with some newer batteries, we went down the stairwell from our 20th floor room and came across the entrance to the now sealed off ballroom, the look of it made the hairs on my neck stand on end and then of course I tried to look into the open hole in it. All I saw was the blocking of the door keeping us out of the infamous ballroom. While my friend got her batteries in order, I spoke to one of the staff about the ballroom and the bride, I asked him to show me the ballroom and he declined so back to the 19th floor I went. We sat for a while, I jumped a little every time someone came up to the floor, but there was no dance of the elevators. However there was some sense of unease while we sat there, and the middle elevator did this odd thing. It would trigger the light indicating it was going to open and even heard it dock at the floor, but it didn't open. It did this several times and each time was just as hair raising as the first.

All in all my findings were, that this is a magnificent beauty of a hotel and if you're looking for ghost or not, it's the Adolphus. Few hotels in the world match up to it when it comes to elegance and luxury, as for the ghost hunt, it's fun there. You can hunt around all night, the staff is happy to talk to you about all the spooky legends. It's a wonderful stay, oh and if you plan on doing the elevator door stake out, make sure you bring a drink and snack.

Fun from the Wide Eyed view... Part 1!

This is the beginning of the end, the final series of blogs for the month! This brainchild started the whole Halloween themed blogs in October. Granted, yes, October being the month of Halloween was a wee bit of the reason too, but let’s focus on these blogs being a labyrinth of twist and turns of true Halloween inspiration (cue Halloween-y themed music)! The honest inspiration of this is simple, for most people who don’t have kids to take trick or treating, or love to go to a bar typesetting, Halloween is lost on them. Because let’s face it, they can’t show up to some strangers house asking for candy without it being a stranger danger moment, and some people don’t find it a hoot to pour copious amounts of booze down their throats while trying to figure what animal ears the woman in the Victoria’s Secret nightie is wearing.  These people shouldn’t be counted out when it comes to Halloween fun because they refuse to be creepy and sloppy, and for those gentle souls, I present to you some options that are suited to your fancy.

We begin with the Hotel Lawrence a historic building tucked away in downtown Dallas. This hotel is classic and you can’t help but feel completely immersed in Dallas history. When walking into the swanky lobby, the fact that this is rumored to be one of the most haunted locations to stay in the Metroplex seems to drift away. The art deco décor is lavish and inviting, and the promise of milk and cookies makes it almost impossible to want to leave the comfortable seating area. But this stay isn’t about comfy couches and tasty treats, alas no, it’s about the bumps in the night and the fables haunting the halls. Legend has it that there are several haunted hot spots in the Lawrence and of course, my devotion to my readers I went to find out for myself how haunted the rooms where.

I imagine my staying at the Lawrence was what it was like for Mr. King to stay at the Stanley Hotel. If I had been left there alone with nothing but my room and a typewriter, I probably could have written a masterpiece. There are a few specific tales of why and what is haunting the Lawrence, in room 1009 is rumored to be the dwelling of a congressman who took his life, and in the basement the sound of children can be heard and the laundry carts move on their own. But the most recordings and scariest stories are of the legendary room 807, the haunt belonging to the deadly and devious Smiley.  There is debate on how he came to an untimely demise, some say it was a brutal butchering, other’s say it was by his own hands that he made his way into the afterlife, but all agree that Jack “Smiley” Jackson is no ghost to fool around with, from chocking guests with towels to allegedly slitting the throat of a man named Brookshire. I will admit the fear of staying in a hotel with such a devious spirit was a little uneasy, so naturally when I called to confirm my room I made certain I was staying in room 807.

When I arrived in my room, I got a true sense that I was stepping back into the past, making it easy to let all the spooky senses become heighten, and to my macabre fascination the view from my room looked over the grassy knoll, escalating the fear factor of the room to a magnificent level. I did some searching around looking for some spooks and frights. I didn’t see any visual apparitions but the goose bumps were there along with the sneaky feeling that I was not alone. I did find some startling evidence that I am a chicken, I made several attempts to go to the basement but for some mysterious (ok I say “mysterious” you might say “wussy”) reason I could never manage to send the elevator to the basement floor.

Perhaps I was a fortunate soul and the ghost of good kind Smiley decided he would let me stay in peace,  or perhaps he used me as a catalyst to tell other’s there’s no fear and to come stay at the Lawrence so he can feed his thirst of savage hauntery. There is no telling of what is real or make believe when looking into the paranormal. I’m not a ghost hunter, I’m just a girl who loves to look at the world with open eyes and let whatever excitement come my way. It’s fun to be scared, its fun to be frightened, so even though I didn’t see any goblins or ghouls it was still fun sitting on pins and needles waiting to see what might jump out of the darkness. 

(to be continued….)

Once Bit Twice Frighten!

When I was a child my family was in community theater, the one play I remember my father doing first was Dracula. Granted I was four and the memory of the play itself is far gone, but the image of my father as Dracula is always a vivid memory. From the partial his dentist made so he could wear the most convincing fangs to the gorgeous flowing cape tailored to fit him perfectly. He was so real to me as Dracula that for several years I honestly thought he was. I suppose every child see's their father in some larger than life light when they are little and perhaps, because I saw my father as one of the most infamous horror icons ever, I fell in love with the genre and everything related to it. Now enough of the sappy crap, let's get down to what makes this awesome, today is all about Vampires in memory of my awesome (could have been Dracula) Dad.

So how do I make Vampires something to do with travel.... How will my genius figure this out, oh wait, I'm two steps ahead of you. Yep, Vampire themed cruise. That's right I said it! Cruise geared towards the one who just wants to bite everyone, and in Alaska. Ok little gnomes, dial down the excitement, I know you're picturing a cruise filled with savage teens running around nipping at each other's neck, but that's not the case here.

There's going to be a lot of themed activies for those who wish to go into vamp over load from fan fiction writing contest to a charity auction, and a savanger hunt. Plus the guest list is pretty stinking impressive. There's going to be a movie screaning festival hosted by John Edward Browning the worlds leading scholar on Vampire lore. For six years at the university-level, Browning has lectured across the states on Vampires, Zombies, and other gross monstery things, and during that time he has also presented research on the these subjects at various national conferences and festivals. Plus as an awesome side note, he's done such a good job spreading his fangy knowledge that he's slated to host a new television series on Vampire myths.

But the list gets even cooler from there. Before there was Edward Cullen, Bill Compton, or even Lestat, there was Dracula. Granted Nosferatu didn't make Dracula the hottness that is Edward Cullen, but Bram Stoker didn't want his big boy sexy because he glittered, he wanted you to be drawn to him because of his sneaky dark powers. Bram Stoker's Dracula is the one that started it all. Over one hundred years old and the book is the leading vampire bible. So many people would have given their right arm to meet the legend, but I offer you something else, the chance to meet one of his descendants. Dacre Stoker (the Dracula author's great grand-nephew) is scheduled to come and partake of all the Vampy fun aboard this haunting cruise.

And then there's the one who made me squeal and throw a pen at my super awesome boss Harold (five bucks). I don't get too giddy over many actors, but this one is one of those stars that makes my heart jump because he's such a wonderful talent. You might know him if you watch HBO, he's on a show called True Blood, and his name is Lafayette. Yep, hold onto your panties little gnomes I got excited too. Nelsan Ellis is a fantastic actor who has proven time and time again that there's no role he can't do. He's been in so many moving projects and every role he's in I believe is so wonderful that he cannot top it and he proves me wrong the next time I see him because he will inevitably knock me down with how phenomenal he is. If I didn't love cruises, if I didn't love horror, or Dracula at all the chance to meet him and listen to him give a Q&A is worth it all on it's own.

Now I could make this blog a small book about this cruise. I could go on and on about the ball that's being hosted on the ship or the day trips where you get to go explore Alaska and do whale watching. There is so much to do, that seven days is going to fly by. Any how stay spooky my little gnomes! I'll be back soon.

Who wants to stumble around like a zombie?

Ahh October, my favorite month of the year. It's the glorious time when the leaves change, the cool weather starts rolling in. Oh and it's also Halloween. Let me make something clear, Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday. It's truly all about having fun, no stress about cooking a huge bird or what I'm going to shove in it to make it taste scrumptious. Or stress about how I'm going to make my paycheck stretch far enough to feed my family, cover my bills, and buy a billion gifts for everyone I love and adore, or the dreadful stress of not wanting to be alone for the holiday or making sure you find the perfect way to say "Hey, I love your face". Nope, Halloween is all about being a brilliant day of fun and escape (and we all know how much I love the chance to escape). Plus it's fun to get scared sometimes, the rush you get when you get a little holiday fright... I love it.

But back to what this is really about, if your favorite traveler loves the creepiness of Halloween and the escape of hotels, it's safe to say a creepy hotel is my jack pot. Thus begins my Halloween inspired blog series, starting with Creepy Hotels that make my butt clench.

First, let me ask you, have you ever wanted to stay somewhere where the former owners were hacked to death my their daughter? Well at the Lizzie Borden house, your dream can come true! For only $150 a night you can stay where one of the most infamous murders in America took place. This Victorian gem has been restored and converted into a darling bed and breakfast. Come in and relax in the parlor where Andrew Borden napped just before getting slayed away by the apple of his eye, rest in the bed where Abby Borden was hacked away, and every morning dine on the the delicious breakfast (or as I like to call it, the last meal o'Borden) sampling the tasty treats the Borden's did just before they died. But hey if you're a little too much of a pansy to stay in this rustic beauty, tours are available for you at $12.50 a pop.

Next on the line is a hotel where you can say it's truly all about location. The Hotel Carter in New York City, is tucked into the exciting world of Time Square, it's luxury location and discounted prices are without compare and I'm guessing the smell of rancid rat feces make it the total package. I love making note of this hotel mostly because it's creepy for a very unexpected reason, and also solidifies something I told my sister. That yes, even though a hotel is inexpensive, it doesn't make it worth catching lice over. And at the Carter you get just that, it is voted one of the Dirtiest Hotels by Tripadvisor. Now if you're looking for a ghost element, there is the story about a dead woman found under a bed, but in all honesty when you look at the stories of how disgusting this place is, I don't think it's the ghost that will make your skin crawl, no, I think it's going to be the roaches and rats.

Last on this list is one near and dear to my heart, you see as a child I remember my father being in LOVE with the Shining, he watched it several times, and even went to stay at the Stanley Hotel. The movie has never really been scary for me, because I feel a true connection to it, because like my father I am a horror movie buff who would go stay in the home of Michael Meyers should it exist. The hotel was the inspiration for the great Stephen King when he stayed there in room 217, giving us the staggering book that haunted so many of us. Later the legend of the hotel became embedded all the more in our fascinations with Stanley Kubricks cinematic portrayal of the nightmares King wrote about. I should let you all know that the movie was not filmed in the actual Stanley Hotel, it was filmed in the Timberline Lodge in Oregon, maybe an option for those of you with who'd like the diet Shining experience. But in all honesty the Stanley Hotel is truly a piece of Americana history, especially it's pop culture history.

Now I never promised in this blog any ghosts, but I did promise creepy... You're welcome.

What dreams may come.

I know I know, I'm a bad blogger, I promised a next day blog about the advantages of vacation rentals by owners. But when I came in today Harold my brilliant enlightened boss (that's five bucks!) sent me some information on a really interesting hotel in New York. This sparked a new blog idea for me as I looked over the  new awesome Yotel New York. I have an obsession with hotel's in general. I think they are these fascinating venues where you can leave the world behind you and relax. It's (for me) a means of really being able to escape what stresses you out in day to day life and completely allow yourself to unwind.

Now, even though there's an incredible amount of really awesome NOT super unique hotels out there in the world, today I'm going to focus on those with an insane 'WOW" factor, especially those found in the United States. First of course is the Yotel New York. It's this crisp clean brand spanking new hotel in NYC that is modeled to accommodate luxury, fun, excitement. But let's get down to what makes it so cool. The lobby to start off with has a robot to store your luggage. I don't think I need to go on from that, because we live in an age obsessed with simulating the images people from the fifties thought was how the future would look like now. So luggage toting robot army thingy, check! Now there's all the awesome decor to go with it, it really feels like a hotel that the Jetson's would have booked for themselves, minus the air travel tubey things. The hotel of the future is here today my friends. Finally the rooms aren't rooms, they're cabins. They are brilliant constructed floor plans to make a usually confine space seem roomy, like taking a room that looks like it's meant for two and suddenly the couch converts into a set of bunk beds. Yep I'm impressed.

As for the person who saw "The Hills Have Eyes" and thought to themselves "Hey, I want to live in the face of a desert cliff and be little spooky", I have a place for you too. Kokopelli's Cave, this place is freakishly awesome. Let me give you a brief description of the abode, located in New Mexico it's a 1,650 square foot one bedroom house, carved into 65 million year old sandstone 280 feet above a river. Don't tell me this doesn't sound amazing. It's so cool! It's unique and a little frightening. It is probably the only place in the US where you have to descend into your room, and sign a waver that you won't sue them should you die at the location. But no one who has ever stayed there said it was anything less than phenomenal or amazing. It's the first hotel I have ever researched that has zero negative ratings about it at all. The place is huge considering you're literally staying in a hole in the wall. There's a waterfall shower, a hot tub, and pretty much any luxury accommodation someone could ask for... except food, there's no room service here so bring your grub with you.

Since I gave you a place from the future and another nestled in prehistoric rock, I thought the last place should be... Well I can't say in the middle because 35 million years ago is still ancient. So something a little older, but still modern enough. Heceta Head Lighthouse in Oregon is listed as one of the world's most unusual and unique hotels. It earned that title by being said to be the most beautiful light house in the world and is adjoined by a luxury cottage that is also the hotel. The hotel is actually a Light Keeper's Cottage, the inn only has a capacity for 14 at a time, and because of how small and cozy it is, it's known for being one of the most romantic bed and breakfast. There isn't a room that you can't see something breath taking out of your windows and the prices are actually pretty affordable considering the high quality of the hotel.

There's so much out there to discover, and maybe my love for finding these crazy accommodations is silly, but I don't want to be someone who doesn't take the opportunity to go explore and see the world from a new perspective, be it a robotic run hotel, or a romantic cottage that looks like it was made for a Nicolas Sparks book. Don't settle for normal when you travel, don't be that person who only seeks out the usual hotel because the waffles are free and you know they have HBO. Find somewhere that makes your heart skip a beat, and if you can't find it on your own, call me at Epicopia Culinary Journeys and I'll find you something.

Your Casa is Mi Casa? At least for the weekend.

All photos are exclusively vacation home/villa rentals by owners

Ever go on vacation and wish you could take that cozy feeling of being at home with you? Ever sit around your house and wonder what it would be like to live somewhere else, perhaps a fancier setting? Ever wanted to know what it would be like to own a villa looking over the Italian country side? Yep, me too. Don't get me wrong, when I want to be spoiled and have a girls weekend where every room I walk in I feel like a pampered princess, you bet your bottom I'm going to stay at one of my favorite hotels. But when I'm on a long vacation with my family, I want it to feel like home, plus when you have a six year old it's nice to have a room for just him and a room for just me (sorry hotels, privacy partitions don't do the trick after the forth day on a vacation). 

I recently went to the magical land of Montana to spend Labor Day with my main squeeze and our families (which you should know since I wrote about it two weeks ago). There were so many of us staying there that staying at a hotel wasn't exactly ideal, so I went to work and started doing my research, and found a cute property for rent as a vacation house in Bozeman. The interesting thing about it was that it was for rent by owner. It was great! The townhouse was adorable and cozy, and it had three bedrooms fully furnished. But what was startling was how affordable it was, where staying in a decent hotel would have cost us well over $150 for each room for each night, this entire house was $150. It really seemed too good to be true; affordable pricing, real privacy, and no worries about making sure you're not streaking through the room when the maid service pops in... awesome. Granted there's some downsides, there's no regulations that have to be met when dealing with certain websites, there's no maid service to pick up while you're running around for the day, and there is no room service. 

It's amazing what you can find when you want to find something perfect for you, you have the pick of the litter from almost anywhere in the world. You can find a cabin nestled away in the mountains in Montana, you can get a villa over looking the ocean in Puerto Vallarta, or (as I said before) a rustic Italian villa over looking the Italian countryside. The options are pretty limitless and it makes travel interesting and possible for any imagination and any wallet. 

Tomorrow I'll be talking about a way for you to find out how to take advantage of the by owner rental opportunities, and what are all the really cool benefits of it.