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Let's face it, the average gift for your beloved will cost you. Big. Yeah, you both agree on a price limit every year, and then a few days before Chanukah you go snooping around in the closet and you find the $300 ski jacket you really wanted, and all you got her was the Betty Boop salt-and-pepper shakers that came in well under the original $25 limit.

Don't be a schmuck this year. Go to Virgin America and book a round-trip flight from SeaTac to Orlando for as little as $139 each way. Do it online at www.travelzoo.com, but you have to book it by Nov. 11. Virgin America's upscale in-flight experience - complete with WiFi, food on demand, live TV and pay-per-view movies - has earned it the title of Best Domestic Airline from Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure magazines.

The deal also includes such destinations as Los Angeles ($69), San Francisco ($69), Dallas ($109) and Washington, D.C. ($139). Looks as if the ski jacket won't come in handy. They do fly to Fort Lauderdale if you're thinking a bikini would make a great stocking stuffer.

You must fly between Nov. 24-Feb. 15.

Go on, be a hero. You're gonna end up spending that much on a last-minute guilt gift anyway. Might as well enjoy it.

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The holiday season is the time of year when wine becomes savior. To handle the anal-retentive mother, the grizzly, macho father and neurotic siblings, all one needs is a glass of delicious, preferably inexpensive, red wine. It's amazing what you won't care about.

But what do you do with your visiting family after the wine is gone, last shred of wrapping paper lands in a trash bag, the feast is demolished and you've tired of admiring - or deploring - your gifts?

You put them up at the Hotel Murano.

Tacoma's fancy schmancy downtown Tacoma hotel is discounting its rates for the holiday season. Its holiday promotion is priced at $99 per night and includes free parking. This price is good Nov. 20-27 and Dec. 18-31.

Plus, hotels + holidays = festive cocktails. Since you'll likely be spending time in the Murano's lobby, why not try some of the season-appropriate cocktails served by the lovely Kristina.

Drink up, and be glad the family's staying at the Murano this year.

[Hotel Murano, 1320 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.238.8000]

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Travelers who come upon tiny Leavenworth in the eastern Cascades may have to rub their eyes to make sure they didn't take a wrong turn and end up in a foreign country. Leavenworth's Bavarian architecture - from the onion-shaped domes to the fairy tale characters painted on storefronts - may be enough to convince visitors they somehow wound up in southern Germany.  

Actually, visitors are three short hours away from Tacoma at one of the state's most popular tourist destinations, especially during the holiday season with the Nov. 25 Christkindlmarkt and December Christmas Lighting Festivals.

Leavenworth began much differently though, as a pioneer settlement in 1884. Fortune soon struck when a railroad line was laid through town in 1892. Land speculators followed, including the town's namesake, Capt. Charles Leavenworth. In 1904 a sawmill opened, ushering in boom times.

But Leavenworth's boom went bust in the '20s when the town lost both its sawmill and the railroad. Leavenworth limped along for several years. In 1962 a group of citizens brainstormed ideas to revive the town. By 1963, the Bavarian theme was chosen and development of Bavarian-inspired architecture followed.

Today, this town of 1,965 is inundated by nearly 1.5 million people annually, and yet the locals maintain their small-town friendliness.

Leavenworth may be a Bavarian village, but its shops comprise a garish kingdom of touristy knickknacks - wood carvings, glass objects, soaps, figurines, T-shirts, toys. Average shoppers can satisfy their curiosity, and empty their wallets, in an afternoon. Of note are the Hat Shop's silly hats and wigs, Kris Kringl Christmas collectible shop and the fudge making at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

The Nutcracker Museum boasts a collection of 5,000 nutcrackers, from palm size to life size. Call 509.548.4708 for daily tour information.

Holiday Events

NOV. 25-27: Christkindlmarkt will be held outdoors on Front Street at the City Park to welcome the Christmas shopping season with food, music and activities for children.

DEC. 2-4, 9-11, 16-18: Leavenworth's nationally acclaimed Christmas Lighting Festival returns for an emotional visit to a turn of the century Bavarian Christmas, holiday personalities and a ceremonial lighting of the town. On Friday evenings there isn't a lighting ceremony but the fake Saint Nicholas arrives around 4 p.m. at the Front Street Gazebo. Saturday and Sunday, festivities begin with fake Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus characters arriving in town at noon. Visitors enjoy live music and entertainment all afternoon into the evening, including the Lighting Ceremony starting at 4:30 p.m. when the Village and the trees in Front Street Park come alive.

How To Get There

A quicker and somewhat scenic three-hour route: Interstate 90 east to Highway 97 north to Highway 2 west.  A more scenic but more tedious 3.5-hour route:  Interstate 5 north to Highway 2 east over Stevens Pass.

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Santa knows your pain. I'll be honest; the sound of "Away in a Manger" tinkling out of a plastic cherub in a workplace makes me twitch too. And the constant exposure to tinsel can make one sharpen a candy cane into a vampire stake.

The day after the holidays, reward yourself for your determination and follow-through. After braving snarling crowds and electronic carols - not to mention all the fake Santas (the live one ringing a bell in front of your office, or the plastic one with a light bulb up his buttkus that sits on your boss's desk) - you've certainly earned it, right? Go with your instincts: the person most deserving of a present is always going to be you.

Take a vacation.

The Mrs. Claus and I always bail for warmer weather and lounge chairs in January.

Just a second, Mrs. Claus is babbling in my ear. ...

...

OK, apparently there's this new fashion accessory you have to bring on your vacation. She found something called Switch Flops by Lindsay-Phillips. They're custom flip-flops that use a hook-and-loop fasteners system (read: Velcro) so you can change out the color of the straps to match your outfits. While the shoes hit the stores in the spring, the straps are available yearlong.

Just another second, here comes more babbling. ...

...

You can find said straps at The Popinjay in downtown Olympia.

[The Popinjay, 414 S. Capitol Way, Olympia, 360.352.9841]

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Eggnog is so 18th century. Cider is sort of a fall thing. What's really good, as a festive, holiday, hurry-add-the-liquor-while-no-one's-looking drink is hot cranberry juice.  Add just a few cloves and a couple sticks of cinnamon and - mmm ... it's good. Put some in a Thermos and take it with you when you ride the train.

The Santa Express Train.

It's the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad, done up Christmas style. Remember? 

You like Christmas. Yeah Christmas!

Come join me as we travel through the snow-capped foothills of Mount Rainer aboard the Santa Express Train.  Enjoy hot cocoa and cookies freshly made by my elves while holiday music swirls overhead.  

Every child who sits on my lap and comes clean with their wish list will receive a special gift.

Reserve your space now.

[Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad, Nov. 26-Dec. 18, 10 a.m., 1 and 4 p.m., $20-$25, Elbe, 888.STEAM11]

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