on a typical gloomy day in washington, my skies were blue. isn't it funny how when you are in the right company there seems to be a shield of sunshine hovering over you? this happens to you, right? no? well let me explain.
recently i spent the day in my state's capitol city, olympia. to be honest i have never stopped in this city. i have driven by on my way to the ocean, a mud run, and trips to portland, but never stopped to soak in it's glory. i fell in love with the architecture of the capitol building, the beauty of the immaculate grounds and the history. i'm kind of a sucker for that kind of thing.
i'm sure it helped that i was in the company of the best tour guide ever. although this isn't his official job, you've got to appreciate and admire a human who really learns about their surroundings. granted there is lots of history to know in olympia, but i know i wouldn't be able to show you much in my town, unless you are into thrift stores and bikini baristas. we seem to have quite a few of these.
the day started at the spar cafe, a 70 year anchor of olympia. first of all the building is very historic. it is packed with pictures of the growth of olympia. the food was delicious. my tour guide's breakfast looked much better than mine. he had the 4th avenue mess. a mess it is, but man it looked fabulous. i had your classic breakfast; eggs, bacon, english muffin and hashbrowns. my favorite part of the meal was the coffee. now i am generally a fan of big sturdy coffee mugs, but at the spar you get dainty cups and saucers. for some reason it fit the ambiance of this establishment.
after breakfast we were off to a farmer's market. i love farmer's market season. i try to get to my local market as often as i can. my tour guide has a passion for photography and there were several photographers at the market peddling their wares. obviously we stopped to admire and sometimes critique the work. i am in no position to critique work, seeing as how i only take pictures with my iphone, but my tour guide had some opinions. he deserves to have an opinion i've seen some of his work and i was impressed.
did you know that bing crosby has ties to washington? i didn't either. apparently his grandparents lived in tumwater, a neighboring city to olympia, and the house is still there. although we didn't arrive during visiting hours, we were still able to read the placards and peek around the outside. i loved the quaint white house maybe someday i will get back and take a trip inside?
next we were off to tumwater falls. i had no idea there were waterfalls so close to the freeway. i had never noticed them before. the water was rushing, loud and dirty. i wasn't really prepared for a "hike" through the falls, but i am always a trooper and tread carefully in my not made for hiking boots. thankfully my tour guide was johnny on the spot with an arm. even though the water was dirty and muddy i still stood in the spray and soaked in our wonderful world.
we topped off the day with a pizza. i know, i know i eat a lot of pizza, but i really do love it. now you know that i think it is sacrilegious to put vegetables on a pizza and yes olives are included in that. i also don't enjoy fruit on my pizza. so that leaves me with meat, meat and of course more meat. well this pizza had a topping i never would have thought of but totally worked, cashews. the pie, sauce, loads of mozzarella, pepperoni and cashews. sounds strange, but it was divine. i wish i could remember the name of the pizza joint so you could try it if you are ever in the area, but my memory is failing me, just look at all the other things i had to remember.
there you go a trip to olympia. a warm thank you to the yet to be named best-tour-guide-ever.
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