East Bound and Down!
Where the wine and music flow!
If you look way back into the history of the empty nest, our passion for following the music, and the ever present search for a great red wine… you’ll find that Leavenworth was the seed bed for a lot of it!
Back in October, a few years ago… we were on vacation in Leavenworth with the family… Denice and I (Zeek) headed back into town after the rest of the group was settled in at the Icicle Lodge for the night. We needed to see about the music that was going on at some of the wine tasting rooms, and maybe get in a dance or two. We came across Patterson Cellars, where this eclectic fellow was playing and singing. It was cold, and he was outside without the assistance of heater or fire pit. Yet he played and sang, inspired us to dance, and talked with us after his set was done… Yeah, that was Billy Stoops. He cued us in on some music coming up, and we decided to partake. Life hasn’t been the same since.
We like to go to Leavenworth fairly often,
but the last few falls the fires and smoke have kept us away.
This year we went with Denice’s parents in the early spring.
We weren’t sure what the music scene in Leavenworth would be like in the early spring, but we were sure we’d do everything we could to experience it. The weekend before we were leaving we were at Lakecity Pub talking to some of the “regular” musicians to see if they knew who’d be playing in the Leavenworth area. In the group of regulars was Billy Stoops, who happens to take care of lining up musicians for Patterson Cellars.
Well as luck would have it,
Billy was to be at Patterson Cellars
on Friday and Saturday night!
Of course we made certain to be there… and the joy of revisiting the moments from years past, meeting new friends at the spot we first met Billy, and dancing on the sidewalk outside of Patterson’s… it was surreal.
Friday and Saturday after Billy’s set was finished we headed down the sidewalk as Patterson’s closed up, and ended up at the Baren Haus where Paul Sweeney was keeping the party going for another hour or two! This was just days one and two of a week in Leavenworth, and we couldn’t wait for the rest.
We have to throw in a plug for the Earth Day Celebration at Enchantment Park that took place on Saturday. Amongst the music, vendors, and food, we also took our first ever lesson in Tai-Chi. Oh, there are no pictures or videos… I made sure of that ;-)
Also have to give a special shout out to: https://yodelinbroth.com/ for the great food and Sunday evening Live music.
Yodelin was regular place for us to eat during the week. We’ll cover a little more of that in the Sunday story. If you’re in the area, it’s a meal stop we highly recommend and a local music venue we thoroughly enjoyed.
Check them out at 633 Front St #1346, down the stairs at the end of the building.
So for now, here’s to beautiful places, good times, and taking moment to appreciate the places and people that were an early part of Killin’ the Empty Nest.