Beam Me Up, Captain

By Jeanine Williams

Although this photo was taken at a Halloween event in Denver the year before, it’s the same Star Trek outfit I wore for a Halloween event at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, circa 2000. As some of you may recall, the Stanley Hotel was the inspiration for writer Steven King’s The Shining. The movie was actually filmed at the Elstree Studios in the UK, the hallways, rooms and other areas are reminiscent of those in the Stanley, a historic landmark.

I was supposed to meet my friend Nicole (in Wonder Woman costume), but road and weather conditions kept her from making it. By that time, having overcome my fears of being out and about and of course, that it was Halloween, I went alone to an event at the Stanley that featured dinner, dancing and a ghost tour of the hotel as well as the requisite costume contest.

The ghost tour was very interesting, but I suspect some of the spookiness is refreshed and kept alive with every new telling by the staff of the mysterious comings and goings of the ghostly inhabitants. Nevertheless, the tour told us of the footprints that appear in the snow on a little balcony when no one has been in the room, the hallway where the boy on his tricycle saw the twin girls and “redrum,” the closet in which a mariner smoking a pipe disappears upon opening the door and the bell tower where a night watchman met his unexplained death. I won’t go into how climbing the vertical ladder to the top made me feel with a guy directly behind me, if you know what I mean!

By the time the tour was over most people had arrived in the ballroom and I found myself being invited to sit at a table with several couples, all of them very friendly and some of them trying to figure me out. I introduced myself as Lt. Janeway, Captain Janeway’s great-grandmother (for those of you who are Star Trek fans, you get this!).

One of the couples (in their late 40’s) sat next to me and I chatted with her quite a bit and I think we may have danced together a few times. They were dressed in Roaring 20’s attire and really looked good. In fact, they came in third place in the contest, which was held at the end of the evening,. Yes I did enter as well and, in fact – I won! However, I shouldn’t have and here’s why.

The couple that came in second place was incredible. They were very attractive in their late 20’s and dressed impeccably in antebellum attire. He as a dashing officer in the Confederate army with sash, sword, scabbard and a ramrod military bearing. She, in an off the shoulder pale blue dress with lace gloves, parasol and waving a matching fan as she said in a southern drawl, “I do declare sir, what are your intentions?” Perfect!

We all made it through the initial rounds where judges tapped you on the shoulder to stay on the floor and then onto the final ten, which were determined by audience applause. I was pretty happy to still be in the final ten, but finally the five of us became the last standing. At this point I got pretty nervous because now I was really being checked out, but I maintained a degree of composure, smiled and did my best to engage with everyone.

The MC announced the final round and the prizes to be awarded. My Roaring 20’s friends received a loud round of applause, but it was obvious it was not quite as loud and they happily sat down. I think they were a bit surprised that they had made it that far, but their outfits were first class. He really looked like a gangster and she the flapper gun moll. The Civil War couple and I got an equal amount of really loud cheers and applause and the MC determined it was a tie and said to do it again, but told us to “get into it” or something to that affect. 

So the beautiful couple went first and he wowed them by getting down on one knee, taking her hand and proposing to her. She feigns fainting and the crowd goes wild! People are getting out of their chairs and the applause is deafening. I figure I’m toast and that was OK because finishing second to that performance was just fine by me.

The crowd quieted down and it’s my turn. Deep breath, I sashay a few steps forward, slowly place my left hand on my hip, do a hair flip, look up to the sky, flip open my communicator (which made all those cool noises) and say in my best sexy sultry voice, “Beam me up, Captain.”

The audience goes nuts with my table leading the way. There’s cheering, whistling, even some catcalls and the MC declares me the winner of a two-night stay at the hotel. This was truly something I was not expecting and I really was overwhelmed. When given the opportunity to say a few words, I could only say thanks and how much fun it was. I did congratulate and compliment the Civil War couple though and returned to my seat where my table mates were gushing that our table took first and third.

A few minutes later the MC (a local morning radio celebrity) came to our table because he was told I was not quite the Star Trek female officer I appeared to be and wanted to see for himself. The look of surprise on his face indicated he had thought otherwise, so that in itself was a reward.

The beautiful couple wore expensive and likely tailored costumes. I wore a simple cheap costume store polyester dress, but I did accessorize it with a “tri-corder” (old tape recorder), a “phaser” (garage door opener), a tribble (the furry ball on my belt) and the communicator which I had bought in Las Vegas at the Star Trek attraction.

In retrospect, the best part of this femulating adventure was being out at an event like that (there were at least 200 people there), being invited to sit at a table by welcoming and friendly people and receiving such a significant affirmation by those in attendance. Walking around the hotel and chatting with staff and the occasional guest was also fun. 

I really just lucked out on winning. The young couple should have won and if I wasn’t so surprised and taken aback, I would have and should have graciously offered a concession and my congratulations to them. I happily left the hotel with a greater prize – and I know you all can relate to that.

Happy Halloween!!

Do you have an interesting Halloween story? I’d love to read it and share it with my readers. And don’t forget to send along a photo or two from your holiday in heels.

Wearing Black Halo

Claude Brosset femulating in the 1976 French film Le corps de mon ennemi (Body of My Enemy)