Bavarian Feeling

Monday morning, 8 am - thanks to Seattle Tourism, we were picked up by car service and brought to the rental car facility at the airport to pick up our car at Alamo. Good thing was, that we were able to choose a car out of a row in the booked category and it took us a little to figure out what SUV was best, esp. judging tires, mileage, trunk size, gas mileage etc. We chose a white Hyundai Tucson, nice car, well equipped but without all the fancy stuff which takes a day to figure out. Also, got a GPS for free (for whatever reason), but didn't install it yet. Our first stop was at AAA office on the way out to get maps and tourbooks. Perhaps we are old-fashioned?

We took I-405 from the airport and got to know Seattle's horrible traffic: congested and slow-moving. On I-90 we crossed the Cascade Mountains (see pic), still deeply covered in snow, to Kle Elum, and then on SR 97 north over Blewett Pass to Leavenworth, our final destination. Since it's been mostly sunny we had a beautiful drive and arrived to Leavenworth around noon, greeted in the museum by two ladies from the local Chamber of Commerce and the former director, who was pivotal in the development of the city.

Yes, Leavenworth is a Bavarian village but, no, it's not as touristic and kitschy as many other people wrote and told us. The setting – snow-covered mountains and forests for a scenic background (see pics) – makes it attractive and architecture is not intrusive. They really did a good job in making it "authentic" bavarian. Many restaurants and hotels, of course, carry German names - e.g. Enzian Inn, Linderhof Hotel, Muenchen Haus, King Ludwig's or Mozarthaus – and there are several beergardens, but shop not necessarily carry souvenirs, no cuckoo clocks and rarley kitsch, but instead a broad variety of different eclectic things and Bavarian specialities. We found many wine tasting rooms, as well as a brewery and a distillery.

Originally, a lumber and railroad town founded in 1903, the town declined with the shut-down of the lumber mill in 1927 and became quiet. In 1960 the "Bavarian transformation" started, but especially 1996 when the "Projekt Bayern" took effect, the Bavarian village we see today developed. There are annual celebrations like Oktoberfest, Maitanz or Christkindlmarket, there is a Festhalle (see pic) and a Alpenstrasse. During these events the town of less than 2000 people seems to burst.

But there is more than the Bavarian cliché: Thanks to the beautiful landscape, on the banks of the Wenatchee River Valley (see pic of river), the outdoors are a big draw, in winter and in summer. Also, it's a very fertile valley with plenty of orchards and fruitstands rowing up along the road. The region is especially known for being the # 1 producer of organic pears in the U.S.A. Didn't know all of that, but haven't been in the region before.

We explored the little Bavarian town before we drove to our accommodation a little out of town: the Sleeping Lady Resort. We were completely surprised to find not one building, but a hotel village with cottages spread out on the grounds at Icicle Creek, in the woods, peaceful and very unpretentious. The resort, which is owned by Harriet Bullitt, a very influential philanthropist from Seattle, is famous for its substainable operation and cuisine. Several clusters of cottages of different sizes and types, very cozy and furnished with lots of wood serve as guest accommodations, in addition, there is a spa, sauna, fitness room, library with fireplace, chapel theater, game room, greenhouses and veggie gardens and (good for us after having traveled for two weeks!) a laundry room.

Along a fantastic "Art Walk" with a variety of sculptures on the grounds, is a great work by Chihuly called "Icicles" (see pic). In the evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the restaurant with organic, regional produce - beef or fish as entrées - before we went back to our cozy cottage to call it a day.