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Short Trips: A Bavarian village for all seasons
Thursday, March 7, 2002
By JEFF LARSEN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER PHOTOGRAPHER
LEAVENWORTH -- In December, more than 35,000 people showed up for this town's Village Lighting Festival -- a whopping 12,000 more than the year before. The lightings are always popular, but that size turnout was completely unexpected.
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The chamber of commerce thinks the tragic events of Sept. 11 played a role, as people sought the comfort of family and tradition close to home.
The Lighting Festival consists of three Friday evenings in December when downtown Leavenworth is transformed into a "magical wonderland of lights" and families gather on Front Street to sing "Silent Night" and usher in the Christmas spirit in true Bavarian fashion.
It's clear that tourism is Leavenworth's lifeblood.
The town wasn't always referred to as Washington state's Bavarian village. In 1963, a revitalization effort transformed a mostly sleepy, uninspired logging village -- left high and dry when the railroad pulled out in the early part of the century -- into one of the larger tourist destinations in the state. Now the town is home to more than 100 shops and restaurants with a Bavarian flair.
Nestled in the alplike setting of the Cascade Mountains on U.S. Route 2 just east of Stevens Pass, Leavenworth has gracefully entered the new millennium with the same community spirit and friendliness which got it here.
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| Nestled in an alplike setting, Leavenworth is home to more than 100 shops and restaurants with a Bavarian flair. Jeff Larsen / Seattle Post-Intelligencer Click for larger photo |
Folks you pass on the street actually make eye contact and usually greet you with a friendly gesture or smile. You could call it the small town USA syndrome with a Santa Claus twist.
It's crazy. I visited Leavenworth last month and for some strange reason I had this nagging urgency to buy a Christmas gift while I was there. It was hard not to, when most of the Christmas decorations were still up and the town was blanketed with a fresh snowfall. All year round in fact, the town has Christmas written all over it.
A personification of that is an amazing store on Front Street simply called Kris Kringl. It's two floors of what seems to be every possible Christmas decoration or ornament. From small porcelain Santas to giant stuffed ones. From grazing reindeer to the flying variety, and from delicate tree ornaments to robust outdoor tree dressings. It's a visual experience to say the least.
Once the twinkling in my eyes died down, I spotted a store that could cure my sweet tooth caused by all the Christmas stimulation. The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has been a fixture in Leavenworth for about 10 years and is part of a nationwide chain of 200 company- and independently- owned stores. During my visit, the mailman stopped and ended up eating about half the tray of free chocolate samples. Store manager Cathy Einar said the store was the mailman's favorite stop. I ate the other half of the samples, but at least I bought a T-shirt.
No true tourist destination in any state, especially in the West, is complete without an old-time photo studio. Leavenworth has one of the best, called Studio 1890, attached to the Calendar Corner gift shop on Front Street. Pick your poison. For the photo shoot, you can dress up Bavarian style, Old West and Saloon style, Civil War style or go all out and dress Victorian. The clothes and props are all provided and fit over your street clothes. Sorry, no Santa Claus fantasy outfit.
From end-to-end, Leavenworth is an amazing collection of boutiques and eateries that features everything from Bavarian wax sculptures and cuckoo clocks to fast-food burger joints, Bavarian delis and pizza houses.
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| Enticing and icy winter shots are everywhere in the village. Jeff Larsen / Seattle Post-Intelligencer Click for larger photo |
Certainly the town is famous for all that, and some folks visit just because of the shops and eateries. It's a huge part of the Leavenworth culture. But the town and immediate area offers many recreational opportunities as well.
The chamber of commerce touts Leavenworth native and Winter Olympics cross-country ski team member Torin Koos as the poster boy for the town's winter activ- ities.
Besides excellent cross-country skiing, with 24 kilometers of well-groomed trails, Leavenworth has set aside six roads in the region specifically for snowshoeing. Most of the terrain is relatively easy and OK for kids and dogs, and no permits are necessary.
About 20 minutes north of downtown, just off Chiwawa Loop Road near Plain, the Mountain Springs Lodge offers snowmobile tours of the backwoods areas of the nearby Cascades. These trips are geared for both beginners and experts.
The scenic lodge can accommodate couples, families or small groups in separate lodgelike units complete with a deck and hot tub. Each unit has its own family-style cooking and dining area. The lodge supplies the cookware, china and place settings.
Be sure to make reservations and check snow conditions before you go.
To kick off spring, Leavenworth hosts a popular three-day art walk April 12-14 to showcase local visual and performing artists -- emerging as well as professional.
On weekends during May in the Front Street Park is Art in the Park, a showcase for professional and amateur artisans. It's always an eye-catcher and a popular spring attraction. For the official calendar of events for 2002, visit www.leavenworth.org
From Helicopter tours and rafting to dog-sledding , and of course, the shop-till-you-drop boutiques and eateries, Leavenworth has something for just about everybody. Rock climbers even swarm nearby Icycle Canyon during the summer, sometimes creating minor traffic jams.
Birders rejoice. Leavenworth will soon be a destination for thousands of bird-watchers locally and nationwide.
The Cascade Loop, Washington state's scenic 400-mile drive that goes from Everett through the North Cascades, through Wenatchee and Leavenworth and back again, has been picked by the state as the inaugural birder route in the state. With the help of the Audubon Society, points along the route will be designated by the state as viewing areas for various bird species.
Leavenworth has submitted the Fish Hatchery, Blackbird Island and Tumwater Canyon for consideration; the areas are expected to be approved and included on the official map that will be available in July. Besides the bird-viewing sites, the Cascade Loop map distributed by the state will include pertinent bird info plus local facilities and accommodations along the route.
Getting there
From Seattle, take Interstate 90 east to Cle Elum, then the Blewett Pass Highway to U.S. Route 2 and take a left. Or you can take Interstate 5 north to U.S. Route 2 at Everett and over Stevens Pass.
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IF YOU GO
P-I photographer Jeff Larsen can be reached at 206-448-8150. For personal e-mail contact: jefflarsen@seattlepi.com. For general releases: shorttrips@seattlepi.com.
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