The aroma of bratwurst and pretzels filled the air as the horses moved down the main street, pulling a carriage full of tourists. Nestled in her mother’s arms, a baby reached out to touch a store window and gazed at the sequin-covered reindeer behind it as colorful decorations spun around her.
welcome to Leavenworth, Washingtonthe Christmas capital of the Pacific Northwest.
decades ago, Leavenworth it was almost a town ghost of the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains, one of the poorest communities in the region. The mines and sawmill had closed, and even the railroad was gone. In the 1960s, desperate businessmen took a serious gamble. Without state or federal help, they began taking out loans and remodeling the center in the style of a town Bavarian.
More than half a century later, the result attracts tourists from near and far throughout the year: hikers and skiers, rafters and fly fishers, shoppers and hikers coming from Seattle for the day: about 3 million visitors in total last year, according to Matt Cade, president of the Greater Leavenworth Museum. This influx has raised concerns about the cost of the lifeand recent efforts, including state funding for affordable apartments, have focused on ensuring tourism workers can live in the city.
But the city reaches its maximum popularity during the parties.
In December, it adopts the warm reddish glow of a market Christmas German, with the magic of choirs, carols, food vendors and a gingerbread house contest. The practice of turning on the lights christmas downtown on Saturday and Sunday nights began drawing such large crowds that organizers decided to leave them on from Thanksgiving through February.
“Every time I go there, I just feel happiness and emotion“said Alison Epsom, of Sultan, who visited the town with her husband, Brian Jolly, and their 8-month-old daughter, Acacia.
The couple met almost two decades ago, when they were performing at an international dance festival. For one of their first dates, Jolly invited Epsom, a native of Englandto visit Leavenworth.
“I knew I had a chance of her being here and I wanted her to fall in love with me,” he recalled.
As they drove through the mountain pass on their way, she asked him to stop. He jumped outside without a coat and made a little doll of snow.
“I have never seen so much snow” Epsom said. “So that was absolutely magical for me.”
Return to Leavenworth is already one tradition annual for them, and each year they choose a new ornament for their tree at the Kris Kringl store downtown. The city is a fundamental part of the history of love of the couple. Jolly even proposed to her on a horse-drawn sleigh.
This year, it was her daughter’s turn to choose the new ornament: her parents decided they would buy the first one she touched. She grabbed a white owl, which now hangs on the family’s Christmas tree, near the red and gold glitter star Epsom chose on her first visit.
