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| Before the beer sampler. |
Leavenworth, Washington is a magical place. It is also ludicrous and kitschy. Leavenworth is a tiny town in the middle of the Cascade mountains that is modeled after a Bavarian village. Yes, that means that all the buildings are in faux Bavarian style and sausages abound on nearly every menu. Leavenworth's industry is tourism so every winter they light up the whole town with Christmas lights and every weekend they have a ceremony to turn on the lights. K and I have gone to Leavenworth twice before and spent our third weekend there last weekend.
K and I always stay at the lovely Bavarian Lodge, which is directly across the street from the town. We stay in the deluxe Turret Suite which is an extremely overpriced but very lovely room. I actually think it is bigger than our apartment and the reason we choose it is twofold: 1) it has a fireplace; and 2) it has a comically large jacuzzi tub with a view of the town. We sit in the tub at night and admire the view (and drink sparkling wine) while listening to Christmas music. Staying at this sweet hotel in this fantastic room is probably one of the reasons I look forward to going to Leavenworth the most. It is always important to have a bit of luxury in your life, even if that luxury has antlers on the wall.
What do we do there? Walk around and look at the lights, eat lots of food, and drink lots of cocktails (and beer if you are K). Surprisingly for a tourist trap, Leavenworth has some decent restaurants. Our favorite is South, a Mexican restaurant that has killer burritos and great margaritas. We always make sure we eat at least one German meal, usually in a basement restaurant called Andreas Keller. This year was particularly great because we sat next to a couple who seemed to be on the worst date ever. The first sign was that they only drank water, which in Leavenworth (or if you read this blog, anywhere, really) is a cardinal sin. K and I tried to ignore them but couldn't help but eavesdrop on their complete lack of conversation. It was fantastic. In fact the guy, said "This place is so cute" so many times it became a drinking game (and consequently that is our new code phrase when we spot an awkward date). It may have been made more fantastic by our prior "happy hour" sitting outside in freezing temperatures at the Icicle Brewing Company where K bravely drank a beer sampler of 8 beers while I had one lonely hard cider.
Leavenworth is also wonderfully kitschy. The most popular store is The Hat Shop, where people buy the most ridiculous Christmas hats in existence: there are a great variety of Santa hats, reindeer antlers, and other over the top hats to be found there. They even have a menorah hat so all faiths can be included in the sins against fashion committed here. Although K and I do not partake in The Hat Shop craze, I always wear my green poofball hat, so I don't feel left out. The shopping in Leavenworth is restricted to: (1) crazy hats, (2) Christmas ornaments at the awesome Kris Kringl shop, (3) hideously ugly vaguely German home decor (including but not limited to beer steins of all shapes), and (4) "hip" items for middle aged women (read: one shoulder blouses, silly martini glasses, and inspirational wall hangings). That said, K and I did spend a good few hours wandering through the myriad of shops Leavenworth has to offer.
But the real reason to go to Leavenworth is for the lighting ceremony each Saturday and Sunday in December. There are usually some Leavenworth dignitaries there giving some speeches, and, after a song or two, they light up the town. It really is a spectacular sight to see the whole town and park lit up. Even a cynic like me always finds myself catching my breath once the whole town dramatically ascends into a million twinkling lights. Although, I do have to confess that for me the best time to see the lights is after dinner when so many of the tourists have been bussed out and there is a quiet in the air. After the ceremony it is a mad dash to a local bar for happy hour (or to your respective tour bus). There really is nothing better than coming out of the cold and going into a dive bar where you can drink electric blue margaritas with people in flashing Santa hats. As one drunken tourist told me, "What happens in Leavenworth, stays in Leavenworth."
Auf Wiedersehen!
Julie
Leavenworth, Washington is a magical place. It is also ludicrous and kitschy. Leavenworth is a tiny town in the middle of the Cascade mountains that is modeled after a Bavarian village. Yes, that means that all the buildings are in faux Bavarian style and sausages abound on nearly every menu. Leavenworth's industry is tourism so every winter they light up the whole town with Christmas lights and every weekend they have a ceremony to turn on the lights. K and I have gone to Leavenworth twice before and spent our third weekend there last weekend. 
But the real reason to go to Leavenworth is for the lighting ceremony each Saturday and Sunday in December. There are usually some Leavenworth dignitaries there giving some speeches, and, after a song or two, they light up the town. It really is a spectacular sight to see the whole town and park lit up. Even a cynic like me always finds myself catching my breath once the whole town dramatically ascends into a million twinkling lights. Although, I do have to confess that for me the best time to see the lights is after dinner when so many of the tourists have been bussed out and there is a quiet in the air. After the ceremony it is a mad dash to a local bar for happy hour (or to your respective tour bus). There really is nothing better than coming out of the cold and going into a dive bar where you can drink electric blue margaritas with people in flashing Santa hats. As one drunken tourist told me, "What happens in Leavenworth, stays in Leavenworth."
