Leavenworth, December 2008

Last year when we went to Leavenworth for the annual Christmas Lighting ceremony we booked our hotel for this year. Normally you must do this a year in advance as it is a busy time, with lots of tourists in town.

Leavenworth is a small Bavarian themed village in the Cascades. During the year they have many festivals including Maifest, Autumn Leaf Festival, Oktoberfest as well as the Christmas Lighting Festival. The Christmas Festival is every weekend in December up until Christmas.

There has been a lot of snow in Seattle this year and it has been very cold. Doug and I both were concerned about the passes and were considering canceling, or finding another means to get to Leavenworth. We contacted Amtrak and decided to go on the bus through Amtrak. It would get us to town about noon on Friday, and we would leave at 9am on Sunday.


We got downtown Seattle early Friday morning and boarded the bus. The weather was snowing and threatening even more. We were glad to have someone else do the driving for us. It was a pretty ride going over the Cascades with all the snow. We went across Steven’s Pass rather than Blewett Pass. We got into town as expected around noon, and walked the 3 blocks or so and checked into the Enzian Inn, where we had stayed last year.
Once we got our things into our room we walked across the street to the main part of town. There was a lot of snow, but it was sunny. We shopped a little then stopped at We joined others in the lobby for caroling with the pianist, and then I went swimming before we turned in for the night. In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel, which is included. Of course there was the ceremony of the owner waking up the town with the Alphorn, as is the custom every morning. There was fresh snow and it really is pretty to see the mountains and hills around the town covered in snow.

After breakfast we headed back over to the town square and as the day went on there were more and more people coming into town. Several tour companies have bus trips to Leavenworth just for the day so it can become very crowded. Then we received a call from Amtrak that due to the weather there would be no buses on Sunday. We called our hotel to make sure we would be able to stay an additional night, which was no problem.

At 4:30 the actually Lighting Ceremony starts with several choirs in the Gazebo, welcoming of St Nick, and a speech by one of the town leaders. Finally at 5:30 they count down and suddenly all the lights in town come on, one by one. It is fun to watch the town light up.

After the ceremony we headed over to Fest Hall which is the town hall. They were doing a reenactment of the story of Christmas, hosted by one of the churches in town. After the play, we went to Gustav’s for dinner, then back to the hotel for more caroling and swimming.

On Sunday morning we had breakfast then went over to the town; however a lot of the stores open late so it was pretty quiet. Also, the festivities are scheduled for Friday and Saturday so there wasn’t much going on. We headed back and I was able to swim and relax so we spent most of the day resting. We had dinner next door at Kristall’s, and then settled in early. Monday morning the hotel staff offered to drive us the several blocks down to the bus stop so we wouldn’t have to drag our suitcases in the snow. It was still quite cold. The bus came late and there was a lot of confusion over who was riding since they had to double up on the trips and take several people from the day before. We didn’t have a problem however, so we were able to get a seat. We were home by 3pm, and saw that Seattle also had gotten a lot of snow.

While we were in Leavenworth we booked for next year. Hopefully there won’t be as much snow!

Leavenworth, December 2007

We have always talked about going to Leavenworth to see the Christmas Lighting. We had been there several times at different times of the year, but looked forward to experiencing the festivities during the Christmas season. Earlier in the year we had booked a room at the Enzian Inn where I had stayed during a conference in April. Usually you need to book the prior year to be able to get a room, however the Enzian keeps the first 2 weekends in December free for those who stay 3 nights during the year. My conference in April was 3 nights so we were able to book a room at that time.

We didn’t have any trouble on the passes on Friday going over. We went across Snoqualmie, then Blewett Pass. Although there was snow on the mountains the roads were clear. We got to the Enzian in the early afternoon and were able to check in right away. We picked up a schedule for the festivities and headed to town which was across the street. It was in the 20s and I don’t think either one of us was prepared for that. Although we both had warm coats we didn’t have hats. We ended up going into Der Sportsman and I bought a hat and Doug bought earmuffs. We also bought hand warmers to put in our gloves.

Friday evening there was a small ceremony with St. Nick coming to town, and there was music in the Park. It was fun to go through the shops and pick up a few Christmas presents. We ate dinner at Andreas Keller which is a German restaurant in town. Around 7pm we headed back to our hotel. There is a piano in the lobby and a fireplace. Both Friday and Saturday night they have a pianist and people gather and sing Christmas carols. There is warm cider and the hotel sells roasted caramelized almonds and cashews. The lobby smells so good with the cider and the roasted nuts. We enjoyed the fire, and had fun singing carols with the other guests. Afterward I went swimming in the indoor pool. They also have an outdoor pool which was closed, but they have an outdoor hot tub which you can use.

On Saturday we had breakfast in the dining room upstairs, which was included with our stay. They make omelet’s to order and have potatoes, fruit, ham or bacon and all kinds of pastries. As we were dining the owner of the hotel came in and played the alphorn. He or his son does it every day, and it is a town tradition. The hotel has a wrap around balcony and he stands on the balcony ledge and plays the alphorn, then he comes inside a plays a few more songs.

After breakfast we bundled up and headed over to the town for a little more shopping and just enjoying all the festivities. It started to snow a little, but not enough to worry about. We were parked safely in the hotel parking lot. As the day went on more and more people started showing up, and the shops began to get crowded. Once the tour buses got into town it was really crowded.

At about 4:30 there were a lot of people and everyone started gathering in the town square. There were choirs singing in the gazebo, kids sledding down the hill, and St Nick walking through the town. At about 5:30 as it was getting dark (and cold) and snowing more, they finally did the countdown to turn on the lights of the town. It started with the trees in the Park, then suddenly all the town lit up. It was exciting and magical. Afterward we headed over to Kristall’s for dinner, before heading back to the hotel for the evening of Christmas carols (and more nuts and cider). Doug decided to go in the hot tub outside, even though it was snowing heavily by then.

We woke up in the morning to at least a foot of new snow. We checked at the front desk about the passes and were told that Snoqualmie was closed off and on for avalanche control, and Stevens had chains required. We were quite concerned but we were able to purchase chains and start our journey home. We decided to go via Stevens Pass and although it was snowing most of the way, we didn’t have any trouble. We decided that maybe we would take the train next year. We were able to book the hotel again for next year while we were there.