Leavenworth, Washington

Last week my daughter’s middle school choir took a trip out to Leavenworth, Washington. It’s a old fashioned Bavarian themed town a few hours away, nestled in an Alp like setting in the Cascade mountains.

I was a chaperone for the activity. We had a couple hours to eat and shop before the choir needed to ‘warm up’ (in sarcastic quotes because they sang outside and it was freezing).

My little one and I trying on hats in the hat shop.

Oh! The Christmas cheer!

Lovely store windows.

Inside The Gingerbread Factory, a cute little house just off the main street.

Plain gingerbread men labeled ‘Skinny Dippers’.

“Your days are numbered, Snowman!”

Once the hypothermia set in things really got silly.

The choir singing at the town square.

And a very special visitor at the end of the day- Saint Nicholas.

After posting a few of these pictures on facebook I was accosted with family asking why we hadn’t taken them to Leavenworth before. It’s a great place, and now I think we’ll have to take more of our visitors out there. Ever since a visit to the Scandanavian town of Solvang when I was very young I’ve loved the idea of themed towns. In fact it would be fun to travel across the US visiting all the quaint and kitchy foreign themed towns along the way.

But back to Leavenworth. It’s lovely in the spring and summer, but this was the first time I’ve gone at Christmastime, and the visit was just the thing to get those Christmas feelings flowing!

-Lynnae