Every year Leavenworth, Washington celebrates Maifest. A German tradition dating back to the 10th century, when villagers would gather to celebrate the arrival of spring by planting flowers, playing music and games, and raising a “maipole” in the local square. The pole would be decorated with sausages, cakes, flowers, and ribbons, and villagers believed that dancing around it would bring good luck and wealth to the village.
Today being Friday May 13th, Jenina and I are here in Leavenworth to enjoy the festivities! Our day started late after running a bunch of errands, and getting held up in border traffic, but we ended up in Leavenworth around 4:30pm.
Jenina booked a room at a B&B called Autumn Pond. A family run comfy retreat located 15 mins by foot just north of downtown. A large pond stands beautiful out in front of the place. There were wild birds and a horse around back, giving this place a country feel.
We walked into town, fighting the heat the entire way. My allergies were in full swing. Eyes, nose, and anything else that allergies love to attack.
Arriving in town, we were so hungry! We decided that our first stop would be the Munchen Haus. Talk about being glad to find this gem!
Muchen Haus is an outside eatery and beer garden. They serve some of the finest Bavarian Sausages and pretzels one could ever ask for! I got the “big boy” and Jenina got the Organic chicken. What makes it difficult is when you have to decide on a condiment. There is such a vast selection of sauces and topping all free of charge. Same goes for their homemade pretzels. A massive selection of craft mustards.
Talking about craft, Muchen Haus, has a great line-up of craft beer. The Dark Persuasion German Chocolate Cake Ale had been our choice to compliment our sausages. A good choice too!
Moving along, we made our way to the Icicle Ridge Winery. A tasting flight of white wines for $14. Chardonnay, Riesling, and Gewürztraminer served with crackers and water. Not bad, but we both disliked that Chardonnay. I preferred the Gewürztraminer and Jenina preferred the Riesling.
Nothing like gelato after drinking….so we went to ViaDolce to get our frozen treat. Excellent gelato, but if I had any criticism, it would be that the serving size was too small. This kinda worked in Jenina’s favor, as she was already too full.
From there, it was a matter of making our way back to the B&B to get our rest on for day 2.
