The Yashiro Japanese Garden at 1010 Plum Street SE, Olympia is a small, well proportioned public garden. It is a a joint effort of the Olympia-Yashiro Sister City Association and the City of Olympia.There are a few art pieces and a waterfall and some colorful fall foliage. More information can be found here.
Evergreen State College gained a Welcoming Figure by Andy Wilbur-Peterson of the Skokomish Tribe and Greg Colfax of the Makah Tribe. More of Andy Wilbur-Peterson’s work can be seen here and there is more information to be found on the artist here. Information on Greg Colfax can be found here. The statue was constructed in 1987 and the statue stands 12′ tall.
There is a statue of John Rankin Rogers in Sylvester Park in Olympia, WA. Mr. Rogers was Washington State’s third governor serving between 1896 and 1901. He died towards the beginning of his second term. He is best know for supporting the “Barefoot Schoolboy Act” which he had first sponsored while in the state legislature. The Act provided a mechanism of state funding to equalize support for free public education between counties which had a large tax base and those without. (thanks Wikipedia!)
Buck’s Fifth Avenue is a splendid spice store at 209 5th Ave SE Olympia, WA 98501. There website says “We have every imaginable spice” and they told me the same thing in the store. They did indeed have a great selection of spices in hand labeled mason jars and apparently they can get anything else. The joy of the store is that all of the dry spices can be sniffed and most smell wonderful. And you can buy a pinch of anything, which is great for recipes with something unusual. Really, I loved the atmosphere of the store and the outstanding customer service. The owner, Anne Buck, said the store had been around for 43 years.
http://www.culinaryexotica.mybigcommerce.com/
I’ve always wanted to see a mushroom farm and I was delighted when Ostrom’s Mushrooms at 8322 Steilacoom Road SE, Olympia, WA 98513 offered tours as part of the Pacific Northwest Mushroom Festival. The tour began with the plant manager (I think it was the plant manager) showing up how they create the soil out of mostly straw and then how they add the mushroom spores attached to millet. He walked us through each step of the multi-day process. The mushrooms grow in large beds which are stacked one on top of another about seven deep with about a foot clearance between each one. The pickers climb moveable steps and go from the top bed to the bottom. It sounds like very hard work.
http://www.ostrommushrooms.com/
Childhood’s End at 222 4th Avenue West in Olympia is one of my very favorite galleries. They feature Northwest and national artists and have a delightful combination of unusual and lovely decorative and functional items. Today I bought a pair of earrings that feature a tree design.The exterior wall of the store has this dramatic mural.
http://www.childhoods-end-gallery.com/
A while back there was a competition for the best pizza in the Puget Sound area and Apollo’s Pizza and Pasta at 2302 Harrison Ave NW #202 Olympia, WA 98502 came in second. And ever since I’ve been wanting to go try it! Today was the day. Dear husband and I went for the lunch special ($6.99 for two slices of pizza and either soup or salad). The pizza was cheese with a choice of two toppings. I had mushrooms and ricotta cheese and dear husband had mushrooms and hamburger. He had their famous African peanut chicken soup, which was very tasty and I had the salad which was OK.
It is a rare photo of Wagner’s at the Olympia Farmer’s Market without any customers. Usually there is a crowd of folks picking out their favorite treat. Service is always friendly and fast and the bakery items are amazingly good!
Wagner’s website can be found here:
http://www.wagnersbakerycafe.com/
I love the Olympia Farmer’s Market — the vendors, the food booths, the entertainment, the quirky art. I especially love it in the summer with everybody in their summer garb. We purchase my daughter’s favorite type of apple and ate at Curry In.
