Olympia Washington as a vacation destination, really?

Really.  I have a good friend who lives in Bellevue, Washington, and I in Portland.  Most years, our families vacation together on the Olympic Peninsula.  This year, a combination of forces made scheduling such a trip nearly impossible.  We decided, instead, for the two of us to meet somewhere in the middle, Olympia for instance.  This trip was really about spending time together, with a bit of sightseeing thrown in for context.

Boy were we pleasantly surprised! 

We stayed at a somewhat tired business class hotel: the Governor, no worries about confusing it with the Governor Hotel in Portland.  The location was quite central to downtown Olympia with nice views of the lake and Olympic Mountains, along with close proximity to the waterfront.  In addition the reasonable room rate included a pretty decent breakfast.

Our first afternoon we took a bit of a drive to orient ourselves and ended up at Tugboat Annie's for a long leisurely dinner in a comfy corner booth with great views.  Ahhh.  A leisurely dinner with a good friend is one of my most favorite things.

The next morning we took a nice walk along Percival Landing, the waterfront and moorage adjacent to downtown, and ended up at the farmer's market.  Olympia's farmer's market has a semi-permanent home in a covered space, stalls have access to electricity, there are nice restrooms with flush toilets and several more permanent food stalls.  We found some goat cheese with garlic and herbs, a fresh baguette and a bunch or rainier cherries for a picnic lunch later, and of course a few baked goods.  We passed up some gorgeous handmade beeswax candles, living wreaths (wish I'd have bought one) and yes, tie died clothing.




The view from Percival Landing toward the Capitol


Our afternoon took us to Wolf Haven, a wolf sanctuary about 10 miles outside of Olympia.  We had a lovely picnic lunch at the picnic area bordering the prairie, accompanied by a large flock (?) of ravens.  Wolf Haven began in 1982 and now houses 55 animals; 20 in their species survival plan and 35 residents.  The species survival animals are not on tour as they are preparing to be released into the wild and their contact with humans is minimized.  The 35 residents are not candidates to be released into the wild as at some time they were kept as pets or in other sanctuaries where they became too accustomed to humans.  




Diablo, whom we met.



Our tour, led by a knowledgeable volunteer,  took just less than an hour.  Just as we began, the wolves (all of them) set to howling.  Wow, what a sound.  We visited eight enclosures, each housing a bonded pair of wolves.  We learned much about the specif wolves we met along with lots about wolf behavior, endangered species, re-introduction and the like.  I enjoyed, but wasn't surprised to learn that the strong or alpha female is integral in hunts...she organizes them of course!  I was also interested to learn of the symbiotic relationship between ravens (our lunch guests) and wolves.  Ravens often lead the way on hunts and even direct wolves to their prey.  In turn, the wolves actually allow the ravens to do a bit of clean up after a hunt, an honor not afforded any other animal or bird.



Jacob Black, not on tour, but a permament resident.

 After a bit of downtime at the hotel we took a nice stroll through downtown to dinner at the Oyster Bar.  We again enjoyed a leisurely dinner, with a great view and reasonable food (and a great beer menu).  Downtown Olympia is more lively than I'd have thought, with a variety of interesting and primarily independently owned shops and restaurants.

All in all, a very enjoyable weekend with surprisingly a lot to do.  Give it a try!