Artists Retreat

I had the most wonderful weekend, well Sunday and Monday, away from the city at an "artists retreat" of sorts. It was one of the most invigorating and revitalizing experiences I have ever had!

This retreat was at an old hotel in Winber, PA, called the Grand Midway Hotel. It isn't a functioning hotel, in the sense that you can't call up and make a reservation. Blair, the owner of the hotel, lives in this building, and shares his rooms with artists who just want to get away from the world and focus on their craft.

It is hard to describe in words what this place is like, but it is amazing! You can check it out on the website www.iliveinahauntedhotel.com

The inside looks like an artists retreat in a sense. There are so many paintings, random objects, antiques, collectibles, etc., that it gives this place a sense of creativity. You can't but help wanting to be an artist (of whatever degree) when you enter this hotel. Without sounding too hippie like or holistic, the energy given off from this place makes you yearn for artistic creation.

I was able to get some of the most focused and productive practicing I have ever achieved in my life there. I also did a lot of writing, specifically on a short story I've wanted to write for a long time, and which you will see soon on my blog, some knitting, and learned alot of the history of the hotel. It was so fascinating! My mind and body were constantly wanting to be a part of some fashion of creation. I felt complete and whole, as if I was being led by some strange entity to discover the artist inside of me.

Every room in this hotel has some kind of theme to it, but not in the sense that you would think. Some rooms are rather plain, and some are especially creepy (like the "dead monkey" room, which actually has a dead, taxidermied monkey in it). They say the house is haunted because of the many deaths and murders that have actually happened at this place, but I didn't really get a sense of any bad "spirits". But it was a little disturbing to be in certain rooms of this hotel because of what you knew about them (the "dead monkey" room was the most creepy). Yet, it was such a great experience!!! Every room has a typewriter in it so that if you feel the need to express yourself in words through that medium you can. There are also many paintings, drawing, and other forms of visual, both new and very old, that give each room a character. Old books, antique furniture, stuffed bears, dear heads mounted on walls, stuffed raccoons, wierd and strange paraphanalia, such a cacophony of artistic things made up this old hotel.

It was just amazing!

That's all I can say....Just azaming!