Washington's artsy capital — Capitol dome, Puget Sound oysters, and the birthplace of grunge
Olympia is Washington State's compact capital at the southern tip of Puget Sound, known less for political power than for its fierce DIY arts scene — it spawned the Riot Grrrl movement and Bikini Kill, nurtured early Nirvana, and remains a fiercely independent college town anchored by Evergreen State College. The Capitol Campus is genuinely beautiful, the farmers market is one of the state's best, and Dungeness crab and local oysters show up on every menu worth visiting.
Olympia was designated Washington Territory's capital in 1853. Its name references the Olympic Mountains visible across the Sound. The city was the publishing place of the Washington Standard, the territory's first newspaper, and the site where Washington's first constitution was drafted in 1878. Evergreen State College (founded 1967) gave the city its progressive, experimental identity — its unconventional interdisciplinary curriculum attracted the artists and musicians who defined Pacific Northwest indie culture in the 1980s–90s.