When bored urban planning committees “seek to revitalize,” places like Leavenworth are born. What this means for the easily distracted is that all we have to do is drive two hours northeast of Seattle, and gesundheit, we’ve hit Bavaria-land, a place where beer and sausages reign supreme. It’s where even the banks, gas stations and fast food restaurants have to abide by the gingerbread-house building code. And where goats mow the grass (although they find the whole thing a bit much, too), and idiot tourists pet the goats (yes, that’s my hand in the photo; at least my fingers are tucked in).
Lamenting our historical lack of local road trips, I planned a two-night mid-week stay for the height of the hot in Leavenworth, when hiking, rafting and inner tubing are the activities du jour. In the week leading up to it, forest fires broke out in several surrounding areas, and a stretch of Highway 2 into town was closed. We took the alternate, equally easy, and beautiful route through Blewett Pass, and arrived just as the only storm front the area will probably see for the summer moved in.
Unenthused by the rain, we didn’t hike, but the helpful woman in the tourist information office gave us a good map of the trail options, and knew enough about inclines and durations to help us pick what would have been an appropriate route for our criteria. Nor did we inner tube down the Wenatchee River; I was all ready to go had there not been thunder and lightning. The intel on tubing, however, is that some companies want you to drive 10 miles to Cashmere, then float to Leavenworth, at which point they’ll shuttle you back to Cashmere, but there are outfits who start by shuttling you upriver, so you float right into home base. We were going to go with Leavenworth Outdoor Center, who also seem to offer a longer float if you start before 2 pm than some of the other places.
We didn’t mind that our visit lost all structure as soon as the skies opened up; a sleep-in and slow breakfast are never a bad thing. In between rain showers, we walked the streets and supported the local economy by purchasing consumables (divine creations from Schocolat, and our new favorite soap from The Bubblery). If you’re a trinket collector, Leavenworth is loaded. It has a nutcracker shop, with the Nutcracker Museum upstairs, and between all the boutiques, you can easily find the words “man cave” on any object you desire: Mug? BBQ apron? Golf bag? Check, check, check. Vessel in which you put the blood of your best hunting buddy to hold sacred the time you shot your first squirrels together? I have no doubt it’s there on the shelves, too.
All in all, the town is novel and the setting scenic. It’s an accessible location for anyone coming from Seattle or B.C., and would make a fabulous spot for a family reunion or trip with the kids. (We heard it’s jam-packed on weekends, so were glad to be there mid-week. It also gets extremely busy for Oktoberfest, of course.) But for the same reasons I can’t stomach the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas—or Vegas itself, to be honest—I found myself more drawn to the mountains around it than the town itself. In that sense, I guess, Leavenworth has something for everyone, whether made by man, or Mother Earth.
Have you ever been to a theme town? Or a place that was unique in its consistency of character? Please share!
Thank you very much for the “right on the mark” critique. I agree whole heatedly. The place is almost science fiction!
Thanks, Ken. If I’d had more time there, I would have gone looking for the counterculture. You know there’s got to be one that has sprung up in response to the cute overload!
My mother tells me we lived there when I was a wee tot.
Her comment on the place was “The public library only you allowed patrons to check out 99 books at one time.” This was an issue.
If you didn’t drink, there was nothing to do at night.
I do love visiting, though. I think the log cabin where we lived is still there, a few blocks from downtown.
Wow, that’s cuh-razy, Marniy! And what the heck is with the book limit at 99? 😛
I’ve never been to Leavenworth, but suppose I would if we ever end up living out that way. Kellogg, Idaho is trying to rock the Bavarian theme, though to a lesser extent. What I do know is that in a month I will actually be in the real Bavaria. Here’s to bier and wurst!
Yeaaaaaah, you should just stick with the real one. Kellogg better hurry up and rock it faster. I just looked at their Wiki page and the population has been steadily declining since 1960.
Love the way you describe your adventures 🙂 And thanks for adding yet another destination to my TBV list (To Be Visited). One day I’m going to see all these places you write about 🙂
Thanks, Chris. I do feel lucky to live in the Pacific Northwest. It’s a beautiful place. Hope you get to visit one day.
Leavenworth is our favorite place to visit. We like it so much we built a website to help other tourists like ourselves find out what is happening in Der Town and get our recommendations on things.
For those who have not been to Leavenworth, here is a blog post we wrote comparing pictures between Little Bavaria and the actual Bavaria… they really did a bang-up job.
http://www.accidentalbavarian.com/wordpress/2010/01/is-it-live-or-is-it-memorex/
You guys are about Leavenworth the way I am about my pug dogs, although I can’t even say I’ve built a web site for them! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your links.
Growing up in the Detroit area (I know, poor me), we used to go to a place about a 1.5 hour-ride away that was also a Bavarian-themed town. Hey, anything to get away from the rust-belt city, right?
My favorite memories were the bratwurst and all-year-round Christmas shop.
As for Leavenworth–I love the surrounding area but get my fill of town within about a half hour (except I’m still a fan of bratwurst but wiener schnitzel? You can have it.)
See, now I love the wiener schnitzel so I will take it, thank you!
Speaking of Detroit, I am quite fascinated by that place right now. Have you been lately? I would like to study both the blight and the revitalization efforts.
What an extraordinary place! I saw on a travel programme once (possibly Michael Palin’s “Brazil”?) that there are similar towns in South America too, set up by expats. Quite bizarre.
Definitely one of my favorite tourist towns. Much of the town itself is a little too much on the “Gift Shop” side of things, making you think you’re at Disneyland. But once you’re outside of town, nature takes over and you begin to really think you are in Bavaria!.
That was one of the bummer things about our trip — it rained the whole time, so our planned outdoor activities were curtailed. But I can imagine it’s a place of great beauty! Thanks for stopping by, Rick.