WA
- Joe
- a few seconds ago
- 12 min read
Welcome to 2026, and welcome to another entry into the Crapitols saga. I have once again been guilty of extreme procrastination in posting this update. I had a very busy 2025 and didn't make enough time for myself to keep the old travel blog up to date. My apologies, as always, for the considerable delay.
This installment chronicles my trip to Washington all the way back in April (yikes! Again, sorry). I've always had a fondness for the Evergreen State, dating at least as far back as 1987 when the landmark film Harry & the Hendersons was released (easily one of John Lithgow's finest performances). We had this movie on VHS and it probably ranks alongside Beethoven as the most endlessly rewatched film of the early 1990's for the Mills household. The lush green forests and towering volcanic peaks of the PNW had an irresistible allure to this young boy, and I was thrilled when my dad took my brother and I out to Seattle to visit our cousins in the summer of 1991.
My aunt JoAnn and my cousins Rachael and Brendan were our hosts in the Emerald City, and Grandma Mills came out from Iowa to tag along on the trip. We rented a huge Lincoln Town Car to cruise around town as Marc Cohn's Walking in Memphis and EMF's Unbelievable played on infinite repeat on the top 40 radio station (this was the summer before Nirvana's Nevermind). We saw the usual sites - Pike Place Market, the Space Needle - and we rented a cabin near Mt. Rainier National Park to play in the glacial summer snow and we took a scenic train ride in search of bigfoot tracks. On our flight home to Atlanta we ate at a 1950's-style diner during our layover at O'Hare airport and my brother Andy threw up all over his plate of chicken strips and my dad just put a napkin over it.
I had been back to Seattle several times since, but not since my cousin Rachael's wedding in 2013, so I decided to take a long five day trip to see the family and find my way to the capitol in Olympia. As usual, I found a cheap flight on Frontier Airlines and was on my way. PRO TIP: when flying into Seattle from the east, always choose a window seat on the left side of the plane. If you're lucky enough to be flying on a clear day, you'll have a superb view of Mt. Rainier as you make the turn into SeaTac. Every time I'm amazed at how massive it is.
I grabbed my 2023 Toyota Camry from the rental counter and was on my to West Seattle, where aunt JoAnn had an air mattress waiting for me. The next morning I was off to Olympia, with a few stops along the way.
My cousin Brendan was going to be accompanying me on my journey, but I would have to pick him up in Tacoma after he was done working, so I had some time to kill that morning. My first stop was Greenwood Cemetery in nearby Renton, WA.
Here is the final resting place of the mortal remains of Jimi Hendrix, the greatest guitarist who ever was (Voodoo Child (Slight Return) is the finest example of rock guitar ever captured on tape). A native of Seattle, he was interred here in Renton upon his untimely death in 1970 at the age of 27. The stone gazebo that serves as his memorial was constructed in 2002. More Jimi later.
Next stop was Snoqualmie Falls, the picturesque waterfall featured in David Lynch's classic weirdo TV series Twin Peaks. There are several overlook points, as well as a short trail down to the riverbank to view the falls from below. There is also a souvenir penny machine! Highly recommend this little stopover if you're ever in the area, though do pay close attention to the speed limits. I was pulled over by the local police for coasting a little too fast down what appeared to be six lanes of mountain highway. Luckily I got off with a warning, probably because I complimented the officer's moustache.
I departed the falls and was off to Tacoma to pick up my cousin Brendan for a quick trip down to Olympia. It was a beautiful spring day and I was struck by the lush local flora. The Pacific Northwest is truly a gorgeous place when the weather is nice. The capitol campus is full of flowering shrubs and trees that were in full bloom. Olympia was chosen as the territorial capital in 1853, and became the state capital upon Washington's admission to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889.
Luckily we were right on time for a guided tour, which are conveniently offered weekdays on the hour from 10 AM to 3 PM. The first notable features upon entry are the two statues flanking the lobby. One is Marcus Whitman, a key figured in bringing early pioneers to the area. The other is Mother Joseph of the Sisters of Providence, who established a large network of schools and hospitals across the region in the middle-to-late 19th century.
Our volunteer guide, Terry, began the tour by taking us back outside to the north steps to show us the giant bronze doors. Each door weighs approximately one ton, and features relief carvings of the natural resources and industries of the state.
Washington had outgrown it's original 1856 capitol building by the end of the 19th century. In 1893 work was begun on a new modern building, but funding ran out quickly with only the foundation having been completed. That foundation sat unused for the next 30 years. A nationwide design contest for a new capitol campus was held in 1911, and New York architects Walter Wilder and Harry White were selected. The legendary Olmsted brothers were selected as landscape architects for the campus. Construction on the old foundation wasn't restarted until 1922, however, and the building was finally completed in 1928.
The end result was well worth the wait, though, as the Legislative Building is absolutely stunning. The neoclassical design is magnificent without being overly ornate. Wall-to-wall marble. Grand scale and proportions. The rotunda is particularly stately.
Standing at 287 feet tall, the Washington capitol is the tallest masonry dome in North America.
The most notable flourishes throughout the building are the many light fixtures. And they're not just any light fixtures. They were all designed by the famed Tiffany Studios of NYC. In fact, the Legislative Building houses the largest collection of Tiffany lights in the world, with over 400 pieces.
This impressive collection also includes the largest chandelier Tiffany ever produced. Titled Angels of Mercy, it is 25 feet long, weighs 10,000 pounds, and has 200 lightbulbs.
Of course, there has to be a giant bust of George Washington, the state's namesake.
Terry's tour included the Senate Locker Room, the first of it's kind I've seen in my travels. I'm sure the bathroom facilities are top notch, but it was of course off limits to the public. The Senate Chamber was empty, but we got to see some real legislative action in the House Chamber.
The last stop on the tour was the State Reception Room, used for official ceremonial events, and available for wedding rentals.
The room has the original 1928 flooring, which is the largest single-loom carpet in the world. Sadly, it was partially damaged in November of 2025, when a crazed hammer-wielding vandal broke into the building overnight and tried to light it on fire, also damaging the bust of Washington and glass windows throughout the building.
After the tour I found my way to the men's room and completed the objective, bring my total to 31 Crapitols conquered. We hit the gift shop on our way out to grab some souvenir pennies for the collection.
We stopped for some sushi in Olympia on our way out of town, and I dropped Brendan back off in Tacoma on my way back North. I returned to West Seattle to rest up for the following day's adventure (and what an adventure it turned out to be).
On the advice of my aunt I decided to drive up to Deception Pass a few hours North of Seattle. I wanted to see a bit of the Washington countryside, some of that lush, towering PNW forest, and of course some marine life. The pass is a strait between Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Island, named for its treacherously tricky currents.
Completed in 1935, you can park your car at either end of the bridge and walk across the narrow two-lane-plus-pedestrian-sidewalk span, teetering 180 above the water below. The guardrail is, of course, absurdly low, especially for someone of my stature. A harrowing experience to be sure, but I braved twice (there and back again). I then walked down to wander the beach below and look for cool rocks (not much for seashells in Puget Sound).
In hopes of seeing some orca I bought a ticket for boat tour. It was just the pilot, the tour guide, a married couple, and myself on the brief cruise. We saw bald eagles, some harbor seals, porpoises, and a few other seabirds, and got a great view from underneath the bridge as we motored out and back. No orca, though, as they're not typically seen around these waters in April.
The real adventure began on the drive home, where I had a blowout on the I-5 just South of downtown in the middle of rush hour. I was within sight of the West Seattle Bridge exit when a rapid thumping in my left rear tire startled me and the warning lights started screaming. I had to make a quick decision as I was rapidly running out of shoulder, so I pulled over with absolutely no room to get out of the vehicle on either side. I spent a solid half hour on the phone with the rental company trying to figure out a solution, when a huge WashDOT roadside assitance truck pulled up behind me. In their infinite wisdom, the good people of Washington have decided to offer a free roadside assistance service for unfortunate motorist like me, and this angel from heaven changed out my flat for the spare and sent me on my way. I gave him a five star review on the mail-in comment card. Quite an ordeal in the moment.
I spent a good portion of the following morning on the phone with the rental company trying to figure out how to resolve the flat tire issue. I was bound by the 50 MPH limit and 75-mile range of the donut spare, so I ended up just leaving the car parked at my aunt's until my return to the airport a few days later. It ended up only costing my around $250, but it would take another five weeks after returning home to get fully reimbursed from my credit card company. Thanks Chase!
I had another cousin to meet up with, but from Mom's side this time. We spent the summer of 1999 living in Casey's basement, and every day after my job on the grounds crew of the local country club I'd return to that basement and play Contra on Casey's NES and listen to Californication on endless repeat. I got so good I could beat the game without the famous Konami cheat code. Casey is now a nurse in the Seattle-Tacoma area. We had some coffee and strolled along the shoreline before he had to head to the airport to fly to Rome.
I proceeded to circumnavigate the rest of the West Seattle peninsula, which took the rest of the afternoon. I saw some sea lions floating asleep in the water along Alki Beach. That night I rode with my aunt down to cousin Rachael's house for a family dinner.
As I mentioned, my previous visit to Seattle was for my cousin Rachael's wedding in 2013. She and her very tall husband Tyler now have two wonderful and soon-to-be very tall children. And I got to meet their dog Miles, who has since departed this world. We shared memories of Grandma Mills over homemade pizza.
The next day I set out for one of my signature overly-ambitious-jam-packed-non-stop-site-seeing-sojourns. I Ubered down to the famous Pike Place Market, where I *checks phone* took no pictures apparently. Then I went to the nearby Seattle Aquarium, where I also, somehow, took no pictures. But THEN, I walked to the Space Needle, where I took a lot of pictures.
The most recognizable icon of the Seattle skyline, the Space Needle was constructed for the 1962 World's Fair, back when that was a big deal. We had gone all the way up to the top way back in 1991, but they've made some significant upgrades in recent years.
To accommodate the throngs of visitors, the Space Needle now uses a timed entry ticketing system that you should be well aware of in advance. A long ramp spirals upward around the base of the tower, and the line took about 45 minutes to make it to the elevators.
The view at the top is spectacular, especially on the clear day I was there. There are multiple levels at the top of the 605-foot-tall Needle, the topmost being the observation deck. The major renovation in 2017 fully enclosed the observation deck in glass, as it was previously an open air deck with a guardrail and cable fencing enclosing it (see the cables in the previous picture above).
But the REALLY cool new feature is the glass floor of the rotating restaurant on the lower level. Now 200% more terrifying! It takes 45 minutes for one full rotation of the structure, with freaky views below.
And if you don't want to wait another 10-20 minutes for one of the elevators back down, you can take the stairs. They make you sign a waiver saying you won't die of a heart attack (or something), but if you need a little extra convincing, there's a free t-shirt awaiting you at the bottom. The stairs are somewhat narrow and obviously very winding, but the shaft is well-enclosed and it's not really that scary. Quite fun actually. Even though the crowds are huge, the line is long, and the ticket is expensive, the Space Needle is a must if you're visiting Seattle. At least once.
My next stop was the Museum of Pop Culture right next door to the Space Needle. This excellent museum is full of music, movie, and other pop culture artifacts and exhibits. Prominently featured is an extensive Nirvana exhibit with many relics from Seattle's Grunge heyday. There was also a Sci-Fi exhibit with many awesome movie costumes and props like the Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still, an original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie costume, and a T-800 Terminator from my all-time favorite film.
But the crown jewel of the collection at MOPOP is the holiest guitar relic in existence. The 1968 Fender Stratocaster played by Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock in 1969. Every squall of howling feedback and whammy-dive-bombed note in the Star Spangled Banner emitted from this instrument in the early morning of August 18th, 1969. I've been lusting after this guitar for over 30 years, ever since I had the poster on my bedroom wall. An absolute dream come true. It was hard to leave that room.
But I was growing hungry, so I left the museum and made my way to the nearby Queen Anne locations of Dick's Drive-In. On the recommendation of my dear friend Awesome Sean of the Rocky Mountain Beard and Moustache Club, I had to partake in the Seattle tradition of eating "a bag of Dick's." Much grease was consumed.
I took the famous Seattle Monorail back towards downtown to check out some of the local architecture. I always enjoy visiting the Central Library in any city I travel to, and the Seattle Public Library is a very interesting architectural specimen.
I had been here on a previous visit to Seattle, but the 2004 building designed by Rem Koolhaas stills impresses upon repeat visits. Radical design often means functional compromises, however, as I had spoken with an employee on my previous visit who complained of the everyday annoyances of working in an architecturally significant building. There are always tradeoffs, of course.
My last stop was T-Mobile Park to see the Seattle Mariners take the belt to the Miami Marlins in a homerun-heavy evening game. For some reason, Fast & Furious villain John Ortiz threw out the ceremonial first pitch. We had seen Ken Griffey Jr. and the Mariners play in the defunct Kingdome back in the summer of 1991, so I had to cross the new (in 1999) ballpark off my list. It's very reminiscent of my beloved Coors Field, with a similar color scheme and an open concourse. They have excellent food options, even musubi!
That completed the last day of my trip, and I spent that final night as I had each previous night - sipping tea and chatting with aunt JoAnn. We talked about doing a mini family reunion in Colorado sometime, so put in on your RADAR Dad, Katie, Andy, and Maggie. Let's make it happen.
Of course I made sure to select the window seat on my return flight (I've got Gold Status on Frontier Airlines, no big deal).
This was easily one of my favorite trips so far on my journey. The older I get the more interested I am in reconnecting with distant family and friends. Wild nights out on the town aren't as appealing as cozy nights in with tea and good conversation. I definitely won't wait another 12 years to return to Seattle. I need to revisit Mt. Rainier, and hit the other Washington National Parks - Olympic and North Cascades.
That's 31 Crapitols down, just 19 to go. Stay tuned for the next installment, coming soon.