Weekend in Leavenworth

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“The scenery here is beautiful, the change seems to be doing me good.”

My favorite vintage postcard says that. It’s the same for lots of folks, of course… sometimes, when life is stressful or crazy or just too weird for words, a change of scenery does me good.

For my birthday this past weekend, my awesome guy sprung for a getaway to Leavenworth, Washington, a small Bavarian-themed village nestled at the base of a particularly Swiss-Alps-like area in the Cascade Mountains.

Fall is a truly spectacular time to visit. The drive over Highway 2 is gorgeous enough heading up, but after hitting the summit at Stevens Pass, the colors get more and more intense until you’re surrounded by so much yellow and orange that you feel like you’re in a dream.

And then the town, itself: Yes, it’s kitschy. It’s a themed town – you’ve just gotta embrace it, but it’s really not hard to do. Even the McDonald’s is dressed up alpine style (the architecture is city-mandated, after all). Listen to the Bavarian folk music piped in everywhere while strolling the quaint tree- and flower-lined streets. Browse the terrific little shops, duck into wonderful restaurants and wine-tasting rooms, and then sleep in one of the many cozy Pacific Northwest lodge/German hybrid decorated rooms. You’re in the Pacific Northwest Alps, meine Freunde.

Here’s what we did.

Our Three Days in Leavenworth (or, How We Unceremoniously Stuffed Our Faces and Gazed at Pretty Scenery and Bought a Gazillion Apples and Loved Every Minute of It)

We headed over the  mountains on Saturday morning. Our first stop before heading into town was The Alps Candy Store. Shelves upon shelves of fudge, old-fashioned taffy, chocolate, this crazy-yummy peanut butter concoction… candy mayhem. So good, so bad. My guy said, slightly panicked, “We’ve gotta get outta here!” probably a half dozen times.

Haul in hand, we checked into our village-view room at the Bavarian Lodge – a reasonably-priced hotel just across the street from all the action. We loved this place. The rooms were super cozy, and buffet breakfast (included for free) was delicious and hearty (Belgian waffles, yum). Little touches like the lodge-like decor and the free DVD check-out made this place feel more special than your ordinary inn. We had only one complaint: The bed pillows were smaller than the standard-size pillow. We felt like we were sleeping on throw pillows. It was… odd. I’ll bring my own pillow next time. Otherwise? Great.

A quick stroll across the road, and we were on Front Street, Leavenworth’s main drag. Within, oh, about five minutes, we found ourselves in the first (of, um, many) wine-tasting rooms. Tasting fees averaged about $3 a person – not too shabby – and of course, you can credit that toward your favorite bottle if you decide to buy. Several of the rooms are under retail shops – follow the signs down the stairs to one warmly-lit room after another, sidle up to the bar, and imbibe. Er, I mean, sip and savor.

We started out at Bella Terraza, then on to A Taste of Icicle Ridge, where I was distracted by the wonderfully rustic home decor for sale (birdhouses! giant lanterns! oh my!). I especially loved Icicle Ridge’s wines. We also visited Pasek Cellars, Kestral Vinters, Ryan Patrick… I think there were a couple more, but please forgive me if I’m a little fuzzy.

My guy will probably cringe when he sees this, but I thought it was important to show the fuzzy.

Of note, because I love this kind of stuff, was the Glühwein we were served at a few places. This sweet, warm, spiced red wine is traditionally served at the Christmas markets in Germany, and yes, of course I’ve already started duplicating it at home.

Oh, and the red wine slushy with shortbread cookie at Kestrel’s. So wrong, yet soooo right.

After our display of lush-ism, we walked over to Visconti’s for some amazing Italian food (and no shortage of ambiance). Some kind of meat-filled ravioli with sausages on the side for him (again, I was wine-buzzed, forgive my memory) and butternut squash ravioli for me (this, I remember – it was fabulous). They gave me some birthday spumoni, and, pigs that we are, we also ordered a sinful dessert with peanut butter and fudge between chocolate gelato layers on a chocolate cookie crust and topped with this wonderfully rich whipped cream.

Have I mentioned we pretty much gorged ourselves on this trip? The great news was, we could just roll back across the street to our room whenever we’d overdone it.

On Sunday, we enjoyed the generous buffet breakfast over at Bavarian Lodge, and then wandered down to Waterfront Park – aka photographer’s nirvana this time of year.

After a couple of shutter-crazed hours, my oh-so patient guy and I strolled up to Munchen Haus for some pumpkin ale for me and Munchen Haus Marzen Amber for him – along with a salty, buttery soft pretzel (with cheese sauce, natch). We loved this open-air beer-and-brat garden, and vowed to return.

After a bit more wandering – including a stop at A Paw Above where we grabbed a squeaky snake souvenir for Lizzie (she loves it, of course) – we headed to Pavz Cafe Bistro for lunch. My wonderful brother, sister-in-law, and nephews had called in a birthday gift certificate for us (so sweet!). Thanks to them, we enjoyed a lunch of savory stuffed crepes, and THEN a dessert crepe with ice cream, sour cherries, whipped cream, fudge sauce… okay, maybe it’s not a good idea for me to recount these guilt-inducing details.

And then more wine tasting, including Eagle Creek Winery, whose actual winery we visited a couple of years ago, and loved. Though we didn’t make it to their tasting room (shocking, I know), we were also pleased to see Swakane Winery now has a presence in Leavenworth, too.

We rounded out the afternoon with a gorgeous drive on East Leavenworth Road and Icicle Road (we saw a coyote, a bald eagle, and several deer), and made a stop for apples at Prey’s Fruit Barn.

By that time, we were actually hungry again (how was that possible?!) – so we stopped in at South for evening snacks and drinks. The flour tortilla chips, guacamole, and extra-hot salsas from the salsa bar were especially good. Seriously – flour tortilla chips. Why haven’t I seen these before?! They’re to die for.

The next morning… mmm. I get all dreamy just thinking of it. I headed over to Solstice Spa for a foot soak followed by a pampering massage – wonderful. Solstice Spa even has some plush rental suites up above. There’s a back exit adjacent to the massage rooms, so you can just slip out after your massage and head back up to your room and enjoy being ruined for the rest of the day. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

After my massage, my guy practically had to carry me over to Munchen Haus for lunch.

We just had to stop back by for the more German-theme-town appropriate brats and beer before we headed home. Yes, they had veggiewurst for me, and it was good. You can choose from at least a dozen different mustards and a couple of relishes to garnish your brat. And, of course, there is kraut. Which, until now, I’ve hated. But I tried their Apple Cider Kraut, and it was delicious. Who knew?! A quick stop at Shocolat Chocolate Shop for some amazing handmade chocolates to take home, and it was back to the car.

Bellies full – and on my part, neck all loosey-goosey – we started the trek back over the mountains… but I kept thinking about all those apples at Prey’s. So we turned around and picked up a few more pounds of apples and pears. Okay, so we ended up bringing home 65 pounds worth. It was not a weekend of restraint.

And then we headed back over the mountains, where on the summit, we were greeted with the first snow of the season.

Pardon the horrible photograph taken from the moving car. No way I was getting out after all the warm coziness of the weekend.

Yup. Winter is here.

I’m already thinking about how, in a month or so, there will be pretty Christmas lights (and a tree-lighting festival) and, most importantly, sleigh rides in the snow over there.

I need to go on a sleigh ride this winter. Hopefully followed by some nice belly-warming Glühwein. But maybe a little less all-out gorging on fudge, pasta, crepes, whipped-cream-laden desserts, wine, beer, brats, kraut, gourmet chocolate…

Nah.

Our Very Favorite Places in this Story

• Munchen Haus – Great food, great beer, a gazillion mustards… love it.
• Bavarian Lodge – We booked at the last minute, so we didn’t get our choice of rooms. I suggest requesting a fourth-floor village view if you have the choice. The turret suites, with ginormous jacuzzi tubs, look pretty amazing too.
• Prey’s Fruit Barn – Get the box of applesauce mix apples. They even throw a few Asian pears on top of the mix, by popular demand. It makes dang good applesauce!
• Solstice Spa – Whimper.
• Visconti’s – Yum.
• Pavz – Come hungry.
• A Taste of Icicle Ridge Winery – Great wine, great home decor.
• Shocolat – Amazing, amazing chocolate. Try the Brandied Pear Caramel.

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