Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Day Fifty-five

Ahhh...Leavenworth. One of the wonderful things about not researching what's ahead of you is the surprise and thrill of it all! There's so many wonderful places out there, and Chuck and I had never heard of Leavenworth (chances are, you haven't either). Eric sent me a text message that there was a room waiting for us at the Enzian Inn. We were breathless as we drove into Leavenworth. It was so beautiful and scenic, designed like a Bavarian village. The mountains rose up dramatically beyond the town, framing it with their majesty. We pulled in to the hotel, and I knew I would love it. The place was so elegant, with an incredibly beautiful grand piano in the lobby (Chuck would finally be able to play!) and a pool and hot tub just outside the doors.

We checked in and they gave us a gorgeous room just beyond the lobby. They told us about the 2 pools, 2 hot tubs, adults-only swim time, the golf course, all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet and the Alphorn performance on the deck in the morning (pictured above). I wanted to take it ALL in. We got ourselves settled and went out to explore the town. So many beautiful little shops and places for wine tastings! We stopped at a music box shop that was incredible, but I couldn't stay there too long. Kinda noisy. We discovered that the giant metal plates used for many of their intricate music boxes were made in Randolph, Vermont!

We wandered around, sampling wines and looking at the shops, and made our way to the Munchen Haus - absolute heaven! They had something I thought I'd never find in my life: a vegetarian bratwurst. It was so yummy, I want one now! I also had a warm, freshly made pretzel and a dark German beer. I couldn't get the smile off my face if I tried. Some musicians started playing in front of us and we settled in to enjoy it. We were both tired and wanted to spend some time at the hotel, so we didn't stay too long, but it was really nice. We went back to the hotel and I went for a quick swim in the pool. A talented lady was playing the piano in the lobby and we hung out for a while, telling our story and then Chuck did a little duet with her! I wish I had a video of it. She was such a sweetheart. Later on, we made our way down to the HUGE indoor pool for the adult-only swim, but Chuck's not into swimming that much so we didn't stay long. We noticed a ping-pong table, so we played a few games. Like I said, I wanted to try everything!