Leavenworth, WA

We haven't done a lot of touristy things since we moved to Washington. We got an excuse to go out and try some things when my mom came for a visit a few weeks ago. One of these things was a trip to a local tourist town called Leavenworth.

Leavenworth is a Bavarian themed town up in the mountains, about two hours drive from where we live. The whole town is done up like to look like an authentic German village - the architecture, the food, the shops, the way people dress, etc.

The interesting thing is that none of it is authentic. While they do import German items to sell in the (overpriced) shops, the town has no real link to Germany. It was originally a railroad town but business from that slowly died away until the 1960s when the town was really struggling. The town council decided they would turn the town into a tourist destination to revive business. They decided on the German theme, and it worked. The town is a well known tourist destination and is fairly prosperous.