Leavenworth

Day 2 of our visit to Eastern Washington.

Shaun mentioned an Oktoberfest in the nearby village of Leavenworth, and I said, "Sounds good!" As we neared the town, which was at least an hour a way so "nearby was clearly an incorrect assumption on my part, I noticed an oddly decorated Safeway and pointed it out to Ken.  "Look! That's weird!" I said, and as you can see from the image below, it had two unexpected cornucopia. 

"Look! That's weird!"

In fact, it wasn't weird at all.  What Shaun didn't tell us was that Leavenworth is Oktoberfest.  It's not just German themed for one measly festival a year, it is a permanent Bavarian-themed village in a perennially picturesque Alpine setting, and it is amazing.

After their logging industry failed when railway lines were rerouted away from their hamlet, Leavenworth fell into a steep decline.  In the 1960's, an effort was made to save the town through tourism and it was decided to create a fake German village.  And saved it was!  Now, Leavenworth is not only the home of a fancy Safeway, but the home of countless buildings covered with Bavarian facades.  

Countless Bavarian facades

I am not going on our usual family trip to Disney World's Food & Wine Festival this year, but this fake village made me feel like I was in the middle of Epcot (I've never been to Bavaria, so I can't say how it feels in comparison).  Drinking beer in the middle of the day on the upper deck of Munchen Haus, overlooking a themed village with no discernible German roots really hit the spot.  This town has everything you could possibly want, from brauts and nutcracker shops to lederhosen and haus-pitals, and all with subdued touristy-flare that makes you feel warm, welcome and not at all uncomfortable day-drinking.  With an array of delightful German food, beer, and chocolate, not to mention heavy representation by local wineries, this town should be on everyone's "must visit" lists.