In past years one could be forgiven for knowing that Olympia was the name of a beer rather than recognizing Olympia as the state capital of Washington. Olympia beer had a phenomenal advertising program, and, movie stars from Paul Newman to Clint Eastwood to Matt Damon drank Olympia beer in movies. However, once the Olympia brewing company was sold to a major brewery, it no longer had the notoriety of former times.
So, now no one has an excuse for not knowing that Olympia is the capital of the State of Washington. The city is located at the south end of Puget Sound just off Interstate-5, about 60 miles south of Seattle. As it is only 30 miles south of Tacoma, an afternoon is easily enjoyed from Tacoma. And that is how we spent this past Saturday afternoon.
The state capitol building is imposing, as is the capitol campus. Having been designed by New York architects Walter Wilder and Harry White, the Legislative Building was completed in 1928 after six years of construction. Washington had been a state for 39 years and a territory for 36 years before that, so, it was a long wait for a permanent statehouse. One reason for the long wait was that Olympia had a difficult time remaining the city of choice for the capital. Vancouver, Ellensburg, North Yakima and, of course, Seattle, had all vied for the capital role, but Olympia prevailed. Then, there was a design issue and as might be expected, the matter of money. But the move to the $7 million Legislative Building finally took place in 1928. It has withstood three major earthquakes, and, a $120 million repair and improvement project was completed in 2004. For those really interested, www.historylink.org/File/5443 can be referenced for a detailed history of the capitol campus.
Although on this trip we only drove through the capitol campus, we did visit the actual capitol building some years ago. We were amazed at how accessible both the building and the grounds were. The Governor’s Mansion is also located on the state capitol campus. As a side note, the previous Governor, Christine Gregoire, graduated from Auburn High School (as I did) but a year earlier. And, as you know, the current governor Jay Inslee is making a bid to run for President.
Olympia’s population is just over 50,000, making it only about the 23rd most populous city in the state with about 20,000 of those people employed by the State of Washington. The city offers a compact downtown area that borders the southern tip of Puget Sound on Budd Inlet.
We have several favorite spots in downtown Olympia. One is the Art House, a gallery and framing shop (obviously Steve’s favorite), and, the other is Drees, a gift and furnishings store (my favorite). We always visit both, as we did this time. But, one has to appreciate a local coffee shop named “Burial Grounds,” if only for the name!
Being on the water, there are numerous picturesque places to enjoy a meal. They range from casual to quite nice. This time we elected to eat at the Budd Bay Cafe on the waterfront. The scenery is idyllic, our server was charming and the food and drinks were very good. We all voted and unanimously agreed that the Budd Bay Cafe merited a return visit, probably on a Monday evening when wines are half price.