Christmas in Leavenworth
Leavenworth Washington is a gorgeous little bavarian town in the middle of the North Cascade Mountains. The trip is just over an hour and a half drive over hwy 2 from Monroe. The drive through the mountains is worth the drive. The roaring river along the highway and the cute towns you drive through along the way. There is also the convience of a pit stop at Stevens Pass to use the restroom, stretch your legs a bit, and maybe throw a random snowball in your sister’s face.
Leavenworth is beautiful and so fun no matter what time of year you visit, but it’s pure magic during the month of December. There is a tree lighting ceremony, Santa Clause parade, a cookie crawl, and SNOW…usually! We popped over a few weeks back and had the best time.
One of the best stops of the trip was lunch at Leavenworth Cider House. The food was so good! The pretzel was seriously the size of my head. Troy had a brat that was covered in brisket, onions, and cheese sauce. The french onion soup. SOOOO GOOD! The atmosphere really stood out too. It was super laid back and a great place to lunch with kids. They had a play area in the corner and games scattered all over the restaurant to make sure that everyone stayed entertained. The view to the street was great too. Lots of people watching and next stop planning happened on that balcony.
We really enjoyed strolling the streets, stopping to get candy and chocolates at the various shops, and climbing on the huge rocks in the center of town. But our kids saw snow at the pass and it was all they could think about. So we packed up and headed back up the mountain. Luckily for these kids of mine, their father is a kid at heart and packed their sled. We had so much fun sledding down the closed runs at Stevens Pass for a couple of hours.
It was a great last minute trip to one of my favorite places during this time of year. The tradition of visiting Leavenworth started back with my Grandma, Mom, and Aunts in the early 90’s and I love that I can still share this tradition with Troy and our kids. We hope to get back over during the holiday break to enjoy the innertube park, rocky mountain chocolate factory, and Icicle Brewing.
Whether you make it over the mountains to Leavenworth or plan to spend the holidays snuggled in bed watching the Hallmark channel, we hope you enjoy this time of year and create wonderful traditions with your own special people.