Washington road trip: Olympia and Tacoma
Since we were going to be in the Seattle area for a week, Lisa and I thought it might be fun to explore the area outside of the city. Since Mallory had meetings all week at work, we planned short day trips. We combined Olympia and Tacoma for an enjoyable day out of the city.
Olympia – the state capitol – and Tacoma are far from small towns, but they provided a change of pace and views. In Olympia, we could in some downtown art and the state capitol. In Tacoma, we checked out the Museum of Glass and an old train station renovated into a federal courthouse.
We started the day with breakfast in Olympia. We ate at a diner called King Solomon’s Reef. The food was decent and the staff was excellent at checking up on us. We like eating at places like this because they’re not your typical “by the number” places. The restaurant had some unique art work playing off the name’s theme.
Downtown Olympia has some interesting art. Murals dotted the cityscape. One mural featured Marvel cartoons, as well as a few others. Since the summer movie season is underway, I especially liked the Capt. America art.
Another building featured art in the shape of leaves. There were paintings and some messages on each leaf. It was an interesting piece to view.
Our main reason to visit Olympia was to visit the state capitol. It was the eighth one for us since we made it a goal to visit state capitols as part of our trips. The Washington capitol building was impressive. The capitol’s outdoor stairs have 42 steps, as Washington is the 42nd state. The exterior is made of limestone.
The capitol building houses both the state House of Representatives and the state Senate. The governor’s office is a short walk from the entrance. The secretary of state’s office is opposite the governor’s.
The secretary’s office includes examples of items that Washington is known for – apples, otters, salmon and woolly mammoths.
A bust of President George Washington is prominently displayed in the rotunda.
We met a friend for lunch at a downtown deli, The Bread Peddler.
Olympia has an attractive marina, which is home to the farmer’s market, which kicks off every May.
Our next stop was at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. We hoped to see some heron or other waterfowl. No heron were around to visit with us, but we did see a goose swimming in the water.
The refuge has a nice boardwalk trail that stretches out to other trails. You could spend several hours there, taking in the beauty, as well the sights and sounds of birds singing.
We didn’t spend as much time at Nisqually as we normally would because we wanted to ensure we had that time for the Museum of Glass in Tacoma.
The Museum of Glass was a nice place to visit. As you enter the museum’s grounds, you are greeted by a reflection pool featuring white glass pieces that illuminate at night. The cone-shape of the accentuates the display.
As part of the blown-glass art work, visitors can actually sit inside a theatre-sized hot shop and watch artists create works. The process was interesting to watch, as some people would put the pieces in the ovens, then, after doing some cooling off, others would blow in the tube to help create the design. Then, they worked more with the oven and then worked on the piece at a bench, before all was done. Pieces took several minutes to create.
The art of display was interesting. The museum’s staff work with area students and veterans as part of outreach programs. A small wing of the museum displays art pieces suggested by grade school students.
Veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and other situations create art as part of the outreach program. To see some of the work these men and women have created is amazing.
The museum includes several pieces of work on display through October, depending on the exhibit. We took in a lot of beauty at the museum.
The museum has a Chihuly Bridge of Glass. The 500-foot long pedestrian overpass connects the museum to downtown Tacoma. It features 109 of Dale Chihuly works on an 80-foot long wall. Chihuly is a Tacoma native.
The bridge is accentuated by an overhead display of his colorful pieces. You can spend hours analyzing each piece of a Chihuly work.
As the bridge took us into downtown Tacoma, we discovered more places to visit on future trips. However, we knew we had to check out the old train station that was converted into a federal courthouse.
Outside the courthouse doors, a statue depicts a man from the heyday of train travel looking for a cab to take him to his hotel.
The lobby area is open to the public. No scanners or X-ray machines to go through. They’re in the next section of the courthouse. The public is welcome to visit the lobby. The lobby features a large Chihuly piece hanging from the top of the dome.
The second floor features several pieces of Chihuly’s works. The basement area features memorabilia from when Union Station was a functioning depot.
As the day drew to a close, we marked a few more museums and attractions we’ll have to check out on future trips to the area – the state history museum and the Point Defiance Zoo, just two of them.
We enjoyed our day trip the Olympia and Tacoma. It’s easy to visit both cities the same day, as they are short drives from Seattle. We recommend checking out day trip opportunities when traveling for a week or so.
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