Leavenworth « The Accidental Bavarian Leavenworthy Blog

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Bloggers love to blog about Leavenworth, Washington

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Leavenworth, Washington

I love reading blogs! I subscribe to a wide variety of blogs, in subjects ranging from writing, to blogging, recipes, travel and theology. I read blog posts everyday from the Pacific NW, the West Coast, all over the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. And doesn’t count posts from blogs like Lonely Planet, which come from all across the globe.

Some of my favorite bloggers I discovered because they wrote about Leavenworth, Washington. Scotte has a Google Alert set notifying him of any new news item from, or about, Leavenworth. He passes along blog posts he knows I’ll find interesting. If the blog post is particularly entertaining, intriguing or well-written, I’m likely to subscribe to their blog feed.

On my iPad, I use the app, FeeddlerRSS. This app allows me to follow all of my subscriptions in one place, syncing with Google Reader, and all RSS subscriptions. On my iPhone I use the MobileRSS free app. The two apps sync together so I only have to add my subscriptions to one.

Here are some of my favorite blogs. Some are Leavenworth area specific, but most are cover a variety of subjects and came to my attention because they wrote about Leavenworth at least once.

Cakespy. I know I’m coming late to the dessert buffet with this one. Writer and illustrator, Jessie Oleson is based in Seattle and has written on sweet goodness available in bakeries and sweet shops from all over. Cakespy.com describes the mission better than I can: “Cakespy.com is a Dessert Detective Agency dedicated to seeking sweetness (literally) in everyday life. We do this by writing about bakeries, conducting baking experiments, and picking the brains of bakers and food artists, and finding awesome products for lovers of baked goods.” The site is filled with whimsical artwork, and a link to coloring pages drawn by Jessie O for Taste of Home Magazine. Two recent posts at Cakespy caught my attention: Via Delicious, Via Dolce Gelato, Leavenworth, WA; and Sweet Sandwich, Bavarian Waffle from The Danish Bakery, Leavenworth, WA. Be sure you check out the link to Cakespy’s upcoming book, CakeSpy Presents: Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life.
Thanks, Cakespy for visiting and writing about Leavenworth!

Willkommen in Leavenworth

Northwest Cheapsleeps-favorite places for budget travelers. Love travel and like it cheap, cheap, cheap? So does Lauren, a midwesterner transplanted to the Pacific NW. Follow her to get cheap travel tips. You’ll find campground ideas, hostel and motel reviews, restaurant and farmer market reviews, and itineraries for inexpensive weekend travel. Cheapsleeps found me on Twitter. So, I started following her blog.

Sometimes I find interesting articles and posts in unlikely places. This post, The Restaurant Business That Changed the World, on the Restaurant Marketing Ideas Blog, gives a really good thumbnail history of Leavenworth from a different perspective.

Looking for blogs especially about Leavenworth? Check out the blog at Icicle Creek Real Estate for Leavenworth real estate news and information. Whether you’re buying or selling or simply curious about the possibility of relocating to the Leavenworth vicinity, Geordie and Allyson’s blog will give you all sorts of information including upcoming events in Leavenworth.

At this blog and on the rest of the website we work to give you this most up-to-date and complete information about what’s happening in Leavenworth and the surrounding area. If you have suggestions that would make Accidental Bavarian and this blog more helpful please let us know. You can leave a comment or send an email to info@accidentalbavarian.com.

Posted in Leavenworth News | 2 Comments »

MaiFest Flower Awards

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Beautiful flowers decorate the village of Leavenworth, Washington

Beauty blooms all summer

The Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce recently announced the MaiFest Flower Awards.
Be sure to click on each photo in Visit Leavenworth’s Facebook album, to see it in detail.

Congratulations to the winners:

Munchen Haus: Most Spectacular Spring Flower Display

Innsbrucker Building: Oodles of Blooms

Pension Anna Hotel: Bountiful Blooming Balcony

Heidleburger: Burgers and Shakes: Great Flowers

We were in Leavenworth in April and saw the beginnings of the flower boxes being planted. It’s been a cool and wet spring for the area. It’s lovely to see that the flowers are blooming and putting on their usual show.

Flowers enhance the romance of the Gazebo

Dancing at the Gazebo

A recent comment on our Facebook page gave us a little perspective:
“I remember the day when it was the Women’s Garden Club only. Then plastic flowers flourished as year round decorations. Ernie Bielitzer and I lobbied loud and long for the real thing. “No one will take care of them”, “It will never work” “It’s too damn much trouble!” was my favorite. Once Don May joined the fray, well, look what you’ve got now. Way to go!!!!”

Wow, Karendawn, thank you for this insight. More importantly, big thanks to you and others who made this happen. I know that Leavenworth is a more beautiful place because of your work.

Posted in Leavenworth News, Maifest | Comments Off on MaiFest Flower Awards

Mitzi’s Turn-Ons

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

We’re loving the lovely days of late spring, though they can’t seem to come often enough for anybody this year. I was satisfying my longing to visit Leavenworth by looking through my photo albums. I found some images that remind me of what I love about Leavenworth, Washington. I’ll call this, Mitzi’s Turn-Ons. Click the image to see a larger version. I’d love to hear what you especially love about Leavenworth.

Fresh air, fresh skies, fresh views	Fromage	Flower boxes
Fig-infused balsamic vinegar	Featherbeds	Familiar and comforting meals
Falling water	Flaky pastry	Friendly, helpful shop owners

…And Fritzi, of course! The lovable little Bavarian alter-ego of Scotte

Posted in Leavenworth, See | Comments Off on Mitzi’s Turn-Ons

The Hills Are Alive!

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

An evening view of the Upper Wenatchee Valley from the parking area of Leavenworth Ski Hill

A beautiful evening for outdoor theater

Today box office ticket sales begin for the 2011 Leavenworth Summer Theater Season. The three shows in this summer’s season are: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, My Fair Lady, and The Sound of Music.

My day-job is in theater. I’ve worn just about every hat there is in the Spokane theater community: designer, actor, director, stage manager, back-stage crew, PR, props master, and at the present time, costumer. I love theater. Like a lot of children, many of my earliest memories are of planning, directing and performing my own plays for whomever I could make sit down long enough to watch. Apparently, unlike most children, I never really grew out of my stage aspirations.

My children are grown now, but our family spent many, many hours working together in classes and productions for Christian Youth Theater, Spokane.

I don’t just love doing theater, I love seeing theater. On several occasions Scotte and I (Fritzi and Mitzi) have had opportunity to include theater performances in our travel plans. We’ve watched The Lion King in Toronto, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth in Stratford, Ontario, A Winter’s Tale in Washington D.C., Cirque d’ Soleil in Santa Monica, and street theater in Italy (Epcot!). One of our most memorable theater experiences has been Leavenworth Summer Theater’s The Sound of Music.

We’ve had the chance to see productions of both A Christmas Carol and most recently The Sound of Music.

Last July we had the chance to see The Sound of Music for the first time. In the past we’ve either not been in Leavenworth during show weeks, or missed a show because it was sold out or we couldn’t work out our travel schedule to match performance nights. Last summer we decided not to let all those things stop us. We planned our trip dates just so we could see The Sound of Music. Boy were we glad we did.

The night was beautifully clear. We arrived at the Ski Hill parking area while it was still daylight. It takes about 20 minutes to park and walk up the hill to the Amphitheater. The walk isn’t strenuous, but we were glad we’d left plenty of time to take it easy and enjoy our stroll. There is accommodation for those who require transportation to the top of the trail.

We rented seat pads for $1 and were glad we had. The seating is on folding chairs. We also made sure to dress in layers and took jackets with us. The day had been warm, but once the sun set the air cooled quickly. The cast and crew of the theater acted as ushers. We had good seats. The seating area is small. There aren’t any bad seats.

Leavenworth Summer Theater has been performing The Sound of Music for many years and the practice shows. Every year actors are hired via auditions from both the community and outside of Leavenworth. It’s great to see actors of every age and background working together in this community theater. If you’re lucky enough to see more than one show, you’ll see familiar faces, as the shows are performed in rep (all three shows shown in rotation.)

From the moment Maria sings The Hills Are Alive… in the light of the setting sun on the hillside above the stage I had chills. I remember thinking, “This is how this play should be seen.”

We enjoyed the play from start to finish. One unplanned moment that the whole audience was delighted by was when, during a set change, a chipmunk ran out from a piece of scenery and scampered across the stage. It was fun. That’s what live theater is about! We loved our evening at The Sound of Music so much that we handed our 2nd Leavenworthy award to Leavenworth Summer Theater.

This summer make sure you see The Sound of Music or one of the other shows the Leavenworth Summer Theater is performing this year. Box office ticket sales begin today. Call them (509) 548-2000) or stop by the box office. They don’t do mail orders for tickets.

For more information about theater in Leavenworth see our Theater page.

Posted in Leavenworth, Leavenworthy | 3 Comments »

April in Leavenworth

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Fritzi and Mitzi travel to Leavenworth

April 1st found us on the road to Leavenworth, no foolin’! We took off after work. We already had reservations in Leavenworth at Dream House Suites. We’d stayed there for one night in 2010 and made it our base of operations this trip.

We’re always relieved and thankful to get on the road. Dinner was a quick stop at Zips Drive-In in Ritzville. It was very busy on a Friday night and the Fish n’ Chips were not nearly as good as what we usually experience at our hometown Spokane Zips restaurants. Next time we’ll wait for a stop in Moses Lake if we can’t wait until Wenatchee or even Leavenworth.

It’s staying light so much later every day now that we had good traveling light pretty much until the Quincy cutoff from I-90. It was interesting for us to realize that we’d never driven that direction on WA-28 in the dark before. We often leave Leavenworth late in the afternoon or sometimes evening, but we hadn’t traveled to Leavenworth so late in the day before. The road was quite good, with no construction going on at the moment. But that can change rapidly in Washington as the road construction season is so short here. It’s really a good idea to check with the Washington State Department of Transportation before traveling anywhere in the state. You can get travel alerts, construction information and pass reports all in one place. I’ll write more soon on the WSDOT and the valuable service they provide travelers in Washington State.

The front windows of the Dream House Suites

Two of the Dream House Suites open on Front Street

We drove into Leavenworth at about 9pm and made a quick stop for half-n-half and a gasoline fill-up at Safeway. Then it was on to Dream House Suites.

We had reserved suite #4, since the other suites were not available for all 3 nights of our stay. Suite #4 is not really a suite, but a roomy studio. It’s the most recently remodeled of the four suites and doesn’t face Front Street. There’s a kitchenette with a microwave, coffee maker, toaster, refrigerator and tableware, glassware and cutlery. The comfortable queen sized bed had plenty of good quality pillows and crisp, white sheets.

A cozy, comfortable room in the heart of Leavenworth, Washington

The only drawback to our room was a lack of sound-proofing. We could hear activity in the next room and guests coming and going. The entrance to the building’s suites area was next to our room so we could hear guests banging luggage on the wall, discussing loudly their plans for the day, and slamming the door on the way in and out. The next time we stay at Dream House Suites we’ll book one of the other suites and see if it’s any quieter.

The suite opened onto a large, shared deck, with comfortable outdoor furnishings. In the summer and autumn months it’ll be a lovely place to enjoy morning coffee or an evening glass of wine. The deck has a great view of the nearby mountains.

Leavenworth, Washington is nestled in the heart of the Cascade Mountains of north central Washington State

The view from our room, Dream House Suite No. 4

There’s not daily maid service in the Dream House. There are plenty of large, comfy towels, and there’s dishwashing liquid available to wash your own table service items.
We’ve experienced really welcoming service at the Dream House suites. We’ve gotten a call during our trip to let us know our room is ready and another to ask us if everything is as we expected. There’s a phone number available to contact management if you need anything during your stay. It’s not a typical accommodation. It’s small and private and the rooms are right on Front Street so Leavenworth is literally at your door. Suites 1 and 2 open onto Front Street and have decks overlooking the village as well as fireplaces and jetted tubs.

The welcoming entrance to Pension Anna

On Saturday morning we got up early to have breakfast at Anna Pension as guests of Gary and Michele Thebault. The Thebaults are delightful hosts and eagerly shared with us their love for Leavenworth and their beautiful pension.

We enjoyed the hospitality of their lovingly decorated breakfast room and delicious German breakfast. I loved the dense, dark, German style pumpernickel bread. It was delicious with butter and marmalade. Gary, dressed in authentic Bavarian trachten, sat with us and told us all about how they discovered Leavenworth and purchased the pension from the original owners over 4 years ago.

The beautifully decorated Bavarian style breakfast room

Since that time they’ve visited Bavaria (the real thing) in order to drink in the culture and shop for authentic clothing (trachten) and furnishings to augment the Black Forest crafted pieces already in the hotel.

The sunny lobby of Pension Anna

Anna Pension has only 16 rooms, but each is far from ordinary. As Gary put it, “We don’t have any ‘standard’ rooms.” Each is unique and outstanding. Everywhere you turn in the hotel you’ll see beautiful examples of carved and painted wood furniture. Some of it is truly antique, all of it is lovely.

Next to the hotel is an historic chapel that was moved to the property in the 1970’s and now provides some of the most unique accommodations we’ve ever seen. One three room suite, the Alte Kappelle, has an elegant king sized bed, a sitting room, a large jetted tub and a sleeping loft with twin beds. It would make an excellent place for a family to stay while exploring the Bavarian Village and the surrounding area.

One of the lovely suites in the Chapel at Pension Anna

Be sure to visit the Rates page on their website and click the icon to see photos of each room.

It was obvious to us that Gary and Michele love the Leavenworth area and really love taking excellent care of their guests. The details in the hotel made me want to stay there and explore the nooks and crannies. Gary told us that it takes them 3 weeks to decorate the hotel at Christmas time. They’re often booked a year in advance for festival weekends. I can see why.

Pension Anna

Anna Pension offers something no one else in Leavenworth does in the form of their own Leavenworth-dedicated iPhone App. And if you don’t have an iPhone, don’t worry. Anna Pension has you covered there, too. They offer you the use of an iPhone as your personal concierge for the duration of your stay with them. You can use the iPhone to find out what’s happening and where to eat in Leavenworth via our website, Accidental Bavarian, and to take photos and video. Upload the photos to Facebook and your videos to YouTube while you’re still on vacation. The use of an iPhone at no additional charge is one example of the way the Thebaults offer extraordinary service to their guests.

Breakfast table at Pension Anna

After our visit to Anna Pension, we left Leavenworth for North Seattle. Scotte’s uncle passed away recently and we were on our way to attend his memorial service. A recent mudslide meant that we couldn’t take US 2 through Stevens Pass, without a detour through Plain, WA, so we made the trip south from Peshastin via US 97 and Blewett Pass.

In upcoming blog posts I’ll talk about the trip over and back on Snoqualmie and Stevens Passes and our two days exploring Leavenworth. We ate at new places, found some new shops opening and met new friends and I want to tell you all about it.

Posted in Hotels and Inns, Leavenworth | 2 Comments »

Tourist Information for Leavenworth, WA