Capitol Campus, Olympia

The weekend before Robb's first surgery we decided to get out and about to keep our minds off the fact that in a few short hours his neck would be spliced open. It was time for a trip to downtown Olympia, our state's capital. While I work only a couple of miles away from Olympia, I had never visited Capitol Campus in a significant way or downtown Olympia. So this trip was just as new to me as it was to Robb.
Capitol Campus is a huge area with open lawns, overlooking Puget Sound, that house giant buildings that function as our state government. The Legislative Building is quite spectacular. It was the last capitol building designed and created in such a grandiose style, dome and all. We took an hour long tour of the building and learned that all the chandeliers were Tiffany. The giant chandelier hanging from the dome is several tons and can fit an entire Volkswagen bug into it. The doorknobs all have our state seal embedded into them. If you touch Washington's nose, you'll have good luck. Marble is everywhere and each room seemed to have marble originating from distinct countries. The building is really beautiful and it must be a pleasure to be able to work in those rooms.
After the tour of the Capitol building, we walked down to the lake and then made our way to downtown Olympia. We were very impressed with the downtown area. Anytime a downtown has interesting stores and no chains, we are happy. In fact, we headed to Olympia again the very next weekend. Stay tuned to find out about our next trip.