Check out a topographic map of the state of Washington. You’ll see the Cascade Mountains, located not even 50 miles east of Seattle, rising up from top to bottom. The Cascades split the state into two, not juat geographically but politically and culturally.
Washington State Legislative Building
Western Washington, specifically Seattle, seems to get all the love. Mention Seattle and some things immediately come to mind: its coffee, its rain, its 90s-era grunge music, its technology, its aircraft, its Space Needle. Seattle has that strong sense of self that I love to find in places. It’s surrounded by sparkling water, ringed by beautiful mountains, and full of tall, so-deep-green-they’re-almost-black, wonderfully fragrant evergreen trees. When you’re there, by all means, stop in at the original Starbucks, located steps away from where they fling salmon at Pike Place Market. Head up to Kerry Park, located in the Queen Anne neighborhood. There you’ll see the famous “Frasier” view, with the Needle in front and downtown behind it. Take a hike up to Capitol Hill, a place that encapsulates the grunge-y, caffeine-addled counterculture. And by all means, take a trip up to the Needle, especially if it’s a clear day. Those are the days when locals say that the “mountain is out.” That mountain is, by the way, Mount Rainier–and it’s spectacular. You’ll see the houseboats and seaplanes on Lake Union, just off to the east; the University of Washington (which everyone, and I mean everyone, refers to as UDub) right above that; Lake Washington just a bit in the distance, which separates the city of Seattle from the Eastside; and the Eastside itself, specifically Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond. Each of those suburbs has its own personality. In Redmond, you’ll find Microsoft, Microsoft and more Microsoft. It’s kind of a techie place. Kirkland, especially the part right on Lake Washington, has almost a Southern California feel. And despite its proximity to the heretics, anarchists and iconoclasts of Seattle, Bellevue is a place of high fashion, fancy shopping and conspicuous consumption. All this adds up to a cultural capital, a metropolitan area that has a megaphone in state and regional politics. In fact, there’s an adage applied to people running for statewide offices: they can see all the votes they need from the top of the Space Needle.
Like Fort Worth is to Dallas, or St. Paul is to Minneapolis, Tacoma is the smaller, more humble, always-in-second-place city to Seattle. It’s really not a bad place; we spent some time along an appealing stretch of Pacific Avenue, near the University of Washington’s Tacoma campus, where there are brewpubs and other restaurants. There you’ll also find the Washington State History Museum. What it’s doing in Tacoma, I don’t know, but it’s relatively new and pretty well done.
South of Tacoma is Olympia, and you can see the state capitol dome from I-5. Oh, sorry, they don’t call it the capitol. For some reason, they refer to the capitol complex, as if each of the many buildings contained in it is of equal importance. Who are they kidding? The centerpiece is obviously the building with the dome. Here they call it the Washington State Legislative Building, but it looks like and acts like the capitol. I like the inside of it very much, especially the heavily veined marble that looks like very blue bleu cheese. The dark marble really sets off the gold lighting fixtures, particularly the magnificent chandelier. I’m always happy to see a state flag that isn’t a blue rectangle; and Washington’s green banner, hung from several walls of the rotunda, really pops. Fun fact: during the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, the dome rolled on its dome like a quarter rolls on a tabletop. Yikes! Here’s what I don’t like about the building: it is so hemmed in between other buildings that it’s difficult to step back and get a really good view of it, unless you’re on Capitol Lake. Many other states do a better job of showcasing their capitols, with grand lawns and the like.
Beyond those sites, it’s worth a trip to the Olympic National Park, to Mount Rainier National Park, and through the San Juan Islands. Don’t bother spending much time on the coast; coastal towns feel run-down.
Eastern Washington couldn’t be more different; it’s a lot like Nebraska. It’s flat, hot, sparsely populated and conservative. It’s pizzazz level is on par with Nebraska, too; I can’t think of anything I’d recommend in terms of sights. But according to the State Museum, the fertile Yakima Valley is where they grow all them apples.
