This weekend in Leavenworth

April 19th, 2012

In Leavenworth, Washington for the weekend? Take a look at some of the events and activities for April 20-22

Among Penguins: A Birdman in Antarctica Friday, April 20, 7pm. In the Barn at Barn Beach Reserve. A lively slide-show by Oregon birder and author, 26 year old Noah Strycker.

Leavenworth Ale-Fest Saturday, April 21, 2-10pm. Leavenworth Fest Halle. Beer tasting with beers from 20 micro-breweries. $25 admission at the door. Admission is free for active duty military. 21 and over only. Benefiting the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum. “An Ale of a Party!”

Weddings and Wine Open House Saturday, April 21, 11am. Silvara Vineyard. Visit Silvara along with select wedding professionals from the Upper Wenatchee Valley. Door prizes all day.

Brazil and Beyond Saturday, April 21, 7:30pm, $10. Icicle Creek Center for the Arts. Enchanting Brazilian music and more from the duo, Hilary Field and Gwen Franz.

Earth Day Fair Sunday, April 22, noon-4pm at Lions Club Park. “Many Hands, Many Voices, One Community.” Music, food, Health Fair, Farmers Market Showcase, booths and displays, and hands-on activities.

Live music this weekend at:
Andreas Keller
King Ludwigs
SOUTH
Alley Cafe
Tumwater Inn
Icicle Brewing Co

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May in Leavenworth

April 17th, 2012

Village Art in the Park Begins May 4 and runs each weekend through October 21. Village Art in the Park began in 1966 and is the longest running outdoor art show in the state. It’s a non-profit that provides art education funding and scholarships. Hours for Art in the Park are 9am-6pm Friday-Sunday. In July and August they’ll add Thursdays, too.

May 5 Bavarian Battle: “The Bavarian Battle is a gnarly 5k obstacle run held in the Bavarian village of Leavenworth, Washington. Racers will jump, slide, run, climb, hop and crawl their way to the finish line.” Billed as the “dirtiest event of the year.” Follow them on Facebook, too!

May 11-13 MaiFest: Celebrate spring in Leavenworth, Washington at a traditional Bavarian folk festival. The free, family oriented festival is filled with tons of entertainment and events. Folk dancers twirl and dance in front of and around the Maibaum (May Pole) in Front Street right in the center of Leavenworth. The village goes all out to welcome spring. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate Mother’s Day, too. Read more about Maifest on the Maifest page.

May 12, 7am, Lions Club Park. Lions Club Breakfast: all you can eat pancakes, eggs, sausage, coffee and milk. A fundraiser for Leavenworth Lions Club. $6 for adults.

May 17-20 10th Annual Spring Bird Fest: “The Leavenworth area features spectacular habitats ranging from snow-capped mountains to sunny ponderosa pine forests, to lush riparian zones, to shrub-steppe. All our field trips are led by experts and professionals in their field. Learn about the wide variety of migratory birds that come here for a brief, but important part of their year: the breeding season. Hear the songs sung only during the breeding season while you stroll, bike, boat, or van during the height of wildflower season. While birding is the heart of the weekend, activities also include wildflower walks, arts events, and family activities to ensure fun and learning for everyone, and for birders of all skill levels, with enough built-in “down time” to explore the friendly Bavarian village that we call home.” Check out this year’s events. Because it’s the 10th annual fest, special events are planned.

Ohme Gardens is open. Hours 9am-6pm daily until Memorial Day, then 9am-7pm daily through Labor Day. Mother’s Day Tea noon-4pm, Sunday May 13.

If you haven’t yet made lodging reservations, check our Stay page for a complete listing of accommodations, where you’ll find places to stay for every taste and budget. Looking for more to do in Leavenworth? Check out our Play page for activities, events and things to see and do for everyone in the family.

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Tasting Leavenworth

March 19th, 2012

Pear Blossoms

For most of us, travel equals food. From discovering falafel stands in Israel, to hunting down the best pizza and gelato in Florence, food makes travel memorable. We’ve enjoyed tacos with the locals in Mexico, poteen in Jasper, Alberta, high tea in Old Niagra, bison burgers in West Yellowstone, and game pie in historic Gettysburg.

We love to eat in Leavenworth. More than just sustenance, food is a lovely shared experience. We create memories around meals. Like the picnics we’ve shared along the Wenatchee River, breakfasts with new friends and old, trying new German dishes and sampling gourmet chocolates. There are foods we rarely eat except when we’re in Leavenworth. Things such as JaegerSchnitzel, Apfelrotkraut, black licorice ice cream, amaretto fudge, and yummy gingerbread cookies. On a recent visit to Leavenworth we tried some new restaurants and enjoyed German dishes at King Ludwigs.

It’s always such fun to find others who look forward to tasting Leavenworth as much as we do. Morgan Fraser is an author and food blogger who is a Chelan area native. Her recent book, Savoring Leavenworth, offers an insider’s view of the food and culture of Leavenworth. As her website says, “Leavenworth is not simply a Bavarian village in Central Washington. . . it has its own culture and local flavor. It is a hub for enjoying local wines, fresh fruit, fresh fish, locally grown produce, a small-town feel and the beauty of a mountain setting in any season.” Morgan has a blog, Savoring Life, where she talks about her culinary adventures, shares family recipes and reveals some secrets from favorite local restaurants. I was tickled to find a recipe for Mole de Oaxaca from SOUTH. It’s one of our favorite dishes in Leavenworth. Just reading the recipe in Morgan’s post brought back nice memories of sitting on the patio in lovely weather, savoring Mole enchiladas, house-made chips and salsa and a refreshing sangria. Another popular SOUTH recipe published in Morgan’s blog is Salsa Verde. You can also find Morgan on Facebook at Savoring Leavenworth.

Pear tree in bloom

There’s a new festival on the Festival calendar in Leavenworth. Spring Sensations is a culinary adventure through the month of April. Restaurants and shops throughout the village are offering unique specials and products for sale all with a pear theme. There will be pear scones, pear candy and savory pear dishes. Wineries and restaurants will be offering wine “pearings.” Icicle Brewing is hosting a Pear, Cheese and Beer “Pear”ing. Check out our Spring Sensations page for links to the festival schedule and restaurant and lodging specials.

Spring Sensations will be kicked off with a new event: A Taste of Spring, March 31, 2012. There will be culinary samples along Front Street, live entertainment, pear tasting, a pear cook-off and an International Marketplace.

Want to read more about sweet eats in Leavenworth? CakeSpy has been to Leavenworth and written about several sweet treats she found.

For more on food in Leavenworth see blog posts such as, Favorite Food in Leavenworth, Magic of Sauerkraut, and A New Taste Place.

Before you travel to Leavenworth, and while you’re in town, Check out our Eat page for dining ideas. Have a craving? Use the search at the top of the page (sponsored by Leavenworth’s Cold Stone Creamery) to look up restaurants that serve the food you’re looking for.

What are your favorite tastes of Leavenworth? Let us know in the comments below or leave us a post on Facebook.

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A Taste of Bavarian Spring

March 6th, 2012

The Gazebo in springtime

It’s March already and spring is only a few short days away. (Don’t forget to “Spring Forward” this coming Saturday night!) You know what they say, in spring a young girl’s heart turns to…Leavenworth! The snow will soon be melting, the river ice will break up and the wildflowers will begin to bloom again. Spring is a wonderful time to visit Leavenworth, and the village has a new festival to say goodbye to Old Man Winter and welcome the beautiful new season. April is now the month to celebrate Springtime with A Taste of Spring. Begin with a March 31 Front Street Festival filled with complimentary tastings such as locally grown pears, Bavarian taste treats, pear-infused olive oil, artisan chocolate, locally crafted beer and cured meats and gourmet cheese. There will also be street performances and an international marketplace.

Traditional Folk Dancers

For more information on this festival and activities throughout the month of April (including lodging and restaurant promotions) visit the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce website and our own front page. We publish an ever-growing and ever-changing list of events and activities right on our front page.

Also in April look for Leavenworth Choral Festival and the Ale-Fest. Check our Festivals page for dates and links.

In May visit Leavenworth for Maifest, May 11-13. There will be all sorts of family-oriented activities, a parade featuring horse-drawn wagons and Bernese Mountain Dogs, folk dancers and the traditional Maipole. The beautiful Riverfront Park is a wonderful place for a quiet walk with your family. Leavenworth in May is a wonderful way to celebrate the arrival of spring and Mother’s Day.

The weekend after Maifest visit Leavenworth for the 10th annual Spring Bird Fest, where you’re invited to “Celebrate Birdsong and Explore the Natural World.” Events include guided birding field trips, guided wildflower viewing, art events and family activities. Birders of all skill levels are invited. Visit the Bird Fest website to pre-register for activities.

Whichever weekend you make your visit to Leavenworth this spring, make sure you plan plenty of free time to shop, eat and play in the beautiful Bavarian style village. For lodging options and links to hotels, cabins and bed and breakfast inns, visit our Stay page.

Wildflowers on Blackbird Island


The Wenatchee River from Blackbird Island

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Leavenworthy Leavenworth

January 21st, 2012

Flags flying in Leavenworth

We love Leavenworth! Sorry if you think we’re beating a dead horse over here, but them’s the facts, ma’am. We’ve had loads of people ask us, “Why do you love Leavenworth so much?” That question can be answered in so many ways. Here are just a few:

We love the mountains. We live on the edge of the mountainous region of Eastern Washington. We love our home in the Spokane area, but when we travel west we feel truly at home as we pass through the sage land of the Columbia Basin and then up Highway 2 to the Eastern Slope of the Cascade Mountains. Leavenworth is nestled in those mountains. We breathe easier and relax the longer we’re there.

December sunset in the Cascade Mountains

Leavenworth is familiar to us. Having visited many times over three decades we know it, and we’re homebodies at heart. And yet, for all its familiarity, we never cease to discover new places and experiences that often become new favorites. This past Christmas season we “discovered” the Living Nativity program at Leavenworth Church of the Nazarene. It was an impressive program and the church folks hosting it were warm and friendly. We’ll make sure we go again. You can read all about it in a previous post.

We enjoy the people of Leavenworth. There are many people we have made the acquaintance of, and enjoy visiting with. The fine folk at the Chamber of Commerce are always friendly and a wealth of information about what’s happening in Leavenworth. They man the visitor center seven days a week. Stop in for a cup of coffee and find out what’s happening and what’s new in town. And for more of what’s really happening in Leavenworth, we stop at the Black Swan T-shirt and novelty shop. We talk with Karen Folden if she’s in (and she usually is.) She’s such a trove of information that her business cards bill her as “Miss Information.” And we always stop at Bakery Creations and the Fudge Hut for fudge and to visit with Donna.

We like shopping in Leavenworth, supporting their local economy. There are shops we would never dream of missing in Leavenworth. The Cheesemongers Shop is one. The Cheesemongers Shop moved in 2008 to a much bigger shop and now offers many more cheeses and meats that ever before. But what brings us back to the shop is the friendly and knowledgable service. The shop is always staffed with bright and enthusiastic young people who never fail to greet each and every customer and offer samples right off the bat. We have favorite cheeses we buy every visit, like Vintage Gouda, smoked Gouda, horseradish cheddar and fruit studded Stiltons. We enjoy trying new cheeses and perusing the shop filled with cheese related products, imported and local wine and beer, and picnic accoutrements. A new place we love stopping at is the Oil & Vinegar Cellar in The Cheesemonger’s old digs. This year we shipped some of Taelor’s flavor infused oils and vinegars for Christmas gifts. They’re delicious.

With all these things to love about Leavenworth how do we pick who or what deserves our designation of Leavenworthy? To see what we’ve named Leavenworthy in the past click here. We look for businesses, individuals, organizations or events that are extra cool, provide outstanding and friendly customer service or go above and beyond in representing the best of Leavenworth. This time around, we’re naming The Cheesemonger’s Shop “Leavenworthy. We’ve been shopping there for many years and wouldn’t dream of traveling to or through Leavenworth without stopping. If we’re having a a picnic we stop for sliced meats and cheeses and refreshing drinks. But most of all they’re Leavenworthy because they’re a locally owned business, providing world-class gourmet product, with fantastic small-town service. Shop at The Cheesemonger’s Shop for imported and domestic cheese, cured meat and Bavarian products like stollen, sauerkraut, cookies and mustard.

The Cheesemonger's Shop on Front Street

What do you love about Leavenworth? Got any recommendations for a future designation of “Leavenworthy”? We’re always looking for input from our readers and fans of Leavenworth.

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