Tourist Information for Leavenworth, WA

Traveling under a stormy sky

We had the delightful opportunity to get away for the weekend to our favorite home-away-from-home, Leavenworth Washington. It had been a long time since we visited the village during a festival, but we were given the chance to stay in a condo right downtown over the weekend of the Washington State Autumn Leaf Festival. We jumped at the chance and eagerly anticipated seeing Leavenworth in all its Autumn Leaf Festival finery.

We left Spokane on a cool but dry Friday afternoon and we knew that the forecast called for rain most of the weekend, but we were looking forward to our first weekend in Leavenworth in months to be very worried about it. We just made sure we packed lots of layers and warm socks and comfortable shoes. I love to wear hats and rainy weather is the perfect opportunity to do that.

By the time we got to Wenatchee we were driving in a light rain and hadn’t made as good a time as we hoped, so we drove straight through Leavenworth and to the Snowy Owl Theatre at the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts. We had tickets waiting for us for the Amberleaf Theatre community presentation, Brats in Space: the Continuing Voyages of the Starship Overpriced. It was our first look at the newest addition to the Icicle Arts/Sleeping Lady Resort complex. The Snowy Owl Theater is a state-of-the-art 240 seat venue built to resemble Wenatchee Valley barns and to blend in to its natural surroundings. It was beautiful and fascinating to see firsthand.

Snowy Owl Theater at Icicle Creek Center for the Arts”

The Amberleaf Theatre production was a silly romp through space with lots of inside local humor. The small company took advantage of the cutting edge technology with multi-media elements such as projections and closed-circuit video feeds. As the Captain, Spot and the poor red-shirted ensign traveled the universe to track down the elusive Trader Jo and work to bring him to their home planet of Leavenworth, they run into a familiar cast of characters, including Santa and St Nicholas and visited planets covered with candy houses and divided east and west by a major highway with a confusingly complicated interchange. It was a fun and “Leavenworthy” way to start of our Autumn Leaf Festival weekend.

After the curtain closed we drove back to Leavenworth in a light rainfall. We pulled up outside our home for the weekend, the Bavarian Mountain Suite. The Rubin family very generously offered us the use of the suite for a weekend stay. Their only request was that we let you all know what we thought of our stay and the accommodations. I’m thrilled to tell you that we couldn’t have been happier with our stay. The condominium was immaculately kept and comfortably decorated. It sleeps up to 6 with two comfortable bedrooms and a hide-a-bed. It was easy to imagine staying there with another couple or two, or with our kids and grandkids. The kitchen was well equipped and roomy. There were a few basic supplies, such as baking powder and some spices but you’ll want to do some meal planning and shopping to stock up if you plan to do your dining in rather than eat at the numerous restaurants in Leavenworth. The dining room would easily seat 8 comfortably. It would make a great place for friends to get together during one of Leavenworth’s many festivals or during a wine tasting weekend.

Icicle Owl

The ground-floor Bavarian Mountain Suite is conveniently located on Division street right behind Leavenworth’s FestHalle. So it’s in easy walking distance to downtown. As a bonus, the condo has a garage, so you can park in an enclosed garage and not have to pay for parking or waste a lot of time hunting for one of a limited number of free parking spots on the street. When you’re in the garage take a look at the Wall of Sleds–a number of sleds, both vintage and new, for your family to use for wintertime fun. You can see more (and better) photos of Bavarian Mountain Suite and book your stay at Comfy Cabins. You’ll also find a comprehensive list of amenities and rates and fees. When you book your stay, please be sure to tell them that the Accidental Bavarians sent you!

Scotte and I explored the condo and snapped a few photos, then we got over to the nearby Idlewild Pizza (nowBlewitt Brewing Company), celebrating its opening night. We were there late enough to miss the dinner rush.

Idlewild is a Leavenworth’s first wood-fired pizzaria. They offer local brews and unusual pizza toppings. Unfortunately they were out of das German which promised créme fraiche, brats and onion. We settled on the Delancey, a four cheese variety with garlic. It was delicious and we devoured every bite. The crust was crisp and scorched nicely for all sorts of yumminess. It was the perfect thickness around the edge to be crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Idlewild is decorated in an industrial style warmed with wood walls and modern lighting. They have a roomy patio which will be a great place to eat in warmer weather. We really enjoyed our meal at Idlewild and it will definitely make our list of must-eat places. As of this writing the website linked above is still listed as “Coming Soon.” You can also find them on Facebook.

After running a quick errand for supplies like coffee and half-n-half, we were eager to return to our condo. We changed into pajamas, started up the gas fireplace and settled in for a cozy evening with our books and iPads. We were so happy to have wifi in the condo. Scotte had to spend a few minutes figuring out the complicated Audio/Video system. Once he read instructions provided it worked out just fine. There’s a closet filled with family games, and the electonics system features cable and satellite.

Before we knew it, it was time for bed. The king sized bed of the master suite was as comfortable as it looked and we had no problem falling off to a deep and restful sleep.

In future posts we’ll talk about the rest of our visit to Leavenworth and the Washington State Autumn Leaf Festival.