Good ol' Leavenworth, Washington...where I called home for nearly six months this year. The small town in at the base of the Cascades in central Washington is a good base camp for hiking in the Enchantment Mountains, paddling the Wenatchee River, riding your bike through endless fruit orchards and my favorite summer time sport, tourispectating - watching throngs of tourist take over the place in all their slow driving, picture taking glory. It's hard to say that Leavenworth is a sleepy little town, but its small and on the east side of the Cascade crest. However, it has two seasons that offer tourists an excuse to travel the two hours from Seattle over Stevens Pass to a whole other world that probably voted for Dino Rossi in the past two elections.
The summers are usually hot and dry giving access to rafting and kayaking the Class III Wenatchee and floating the mellow Icicle with a case of beer. Winters provide a good home for skiers of the cross country and downhill types. Year round it's a convenient location for bachelor and bachelorette parties to overrun with limos, penis straws and AXE deodorant. Let's not forget the shoulder seasons though, and we will focus on Fall because I have never been there in the spring. The Autumn Leaf Festival held at the end of September is a family event with a parade, decorations and...well I don't know what else they did because it's a boring family event. However, the next weekend starts a three consecutive weekend binge known as LEAVENWORTH OKTOBERFEST!
Leavenworth's Oktoberfest isn't just another festival in a tourist town, it puts Leavenworth on the map and on Oktoberfest top ten lists across the country. The former welfare town turned itself into a Bavarian village in the 1960's that draws tourists from all over the world. The scene is perfect for an Oktoberfest in Washington, at the base of Tumwater and Icicle Canyons, there is a tall mountainous backdrop and waterfront parks, the town even changed its building codes to accommodate Bavarian style architecture and chain restaurants like Starbucks and Safeway have signage to fit in with the theme. You can't escape the cheesiness that gives Leavenworth its tactful charm in an unexpected place.
During the first three weekends of October, Leavenworth residents are in heaven and hell. In a town that lives off the profits of bratwurst and year round Christmas decoration shops the increased business is welcome, but with everyone travelling on the main drag makes it's a pain in the ass to go grocery shopping. As of 2010, Leavenworth's population was just under 2,000 people; each Oktoberfest weekend on average draws in an extra 10,000 people. It's one hell of a party!
This is my second Oktoberfest and I am still not sure what goes on in the official Oktoberfest tent. I took a tip from those that grew up in town and they said the official festivities are not worth the $20 ticket. In there you pay $5 per beer, have nowhere to take a piss, have to listen to polka all night long and did I mention pay $5 for a beer! Living just two blocks away from the festival, I spent the evenings on the front porch with my roommates and a case of cheap beer. We would have a bonfire and watch the mayhem pour through the streets, drunk girls whored out in dirndls (my roommate calls them Heidi-Hos), drunk frat boys in lederhosen, drunk middle aged coupes carrying two liter beer steins, families scurrying back to their cars before dark and at one point we even took shots of Jager from some folks passing by.
Once primed, we would take to the town and try to find a bar. Leavenworth usually only has two bars that stay open until 2 AM, many until only 10:30 or so. During Oktoberfest you have to get into a bar and prepare to lock down unless you want to go back to your hotel early (you probably paid around $200 for the night, it's ironic you don't want to spend any time there). The bars are full by 9 o'clock, so it's best to hunker down and not leave for another bar. After last call I like to take my usual route home through the alleys avoiding the flush of drunk drivers on the streets. In the alleys you are bound to find casualties of war. Girls passed out on the stairs leading to a restaurant's backdoor, cell phone in hand, wearing little clothing and cold October temps setting in for the night are common, their male counterparts are even worse off. I never knew if it was more proper to just let them be, or risk waking them up and being attacked by them or a witness.
The second weekend of Oktoberfest there is even a marathon! I doubt most people who do a marathon of drinking partake in the athletic festivities the morning after. If they do, they are in a class above the fastest runners. Each Oktoberfest morning there is a sprinting contest to get to the most comfy breakfast in town. It may not be the best breakfast in town, but there is only one place that offers stiff bloody marries, a warm fireplace, ESPN and plush leather couches that swallow you and your hangover whole. That is the place we reflect on the crazy shit from the night before, laugh at who hooked up with who and decide whether to keep drinking all day. That's Das Vegas.
Read more: Oktoberfest, Leavenworth Style http://earthwalkersmag.com/index.php/component/myblog/oktoberfest-leavenworth-style.html#ixzz1dsDW3ZIq
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