{"id":4716,"date":"2012-07-03T22:00:03","date_gmt":"2012-07-04T02:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=4716"},"modified":"2024-12-03T17:00:06","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T22:00:06","slug":"bonjour-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=4716","title":{"rendered":"Bonjour, Governor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Linda Burton posting from Olympia, Washington <\/em>\u2013 Lavender? Chipotle Chocolate? Strawberry Margarita? Cupcakes by the dazzle sit before me arrayed on china plates and perched in baskets on a stand, their names in silver holders, tucked into a glass case framed in walnut, in a room of crystal chandeliers. The sugar-plum fairy has surely been here, lives here, runs the place! I approach in awe, a lavender cupcake? That will be my first choice; I\u2019ve never had flowers-in-cake before. But look at that, chocolate with a pretty swirl on top, Fleur de Sel is what it tells me by its \"\"<\/a>tag. Choice #2, a French delight. \u201cMay I help you?\u201d lifts me from my reverie, and I have to say \u201cI\u2019m still thinking,\u201d which I am. I must take three, no, make that four, to fit evenly in the box (and they\u2019re just bite-size, I justify). Red Velvet will be #3; and then I agonize. Toffee? Honey Almond? No, I settle for Key Lime Pie; Key Lime Pie in a cupcake. I call my choices one by one; my treasures are cradled in a pretty box, presented to me with flair. What is this magic shop? <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It\u2019s a narrow little tea-time place called Bonjour Cupcakes; a mother-daughter team baking up fresh gourmet cupcake dreams with no artificial anything. Come in with a friend for a sweet treat and a freshly-brewed local coffee; they\u2019ll cater your party too, or set up for any event. They\u2019ll even teach you how to frost \u2013 come alone for a lesson, or bring your Girl Scout troop for a frosting afternoon; there must be a badge for that. It\u2019s just a few steps back to my hotel; I have to stop at the front desk and show off my wares. \u201cThey\u2019re works of art, too pretty to eat,\u201d we agree. (But nevertheless, I will.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I love my hotel. The staff is grand \u2013let me tell you what Sandy did this morning when the crossword was missing from my paper (yes, the Olympian<\/em> is on the front counter each morning for the guests; I grab one as I head for the breakfast room). She called the newspaper office and they brought one right over for me; somehow that section hadn\u2019t gotten folded in. My kudos to the staff, and to the paper too! (It\u2019s a darned good read.) I love my spacious room as well; they\u2019re currently updating the hotel but my room still has the \"\"<\/a>traditional look; it suits the cats and me. An easy chair right by the window, overlooking the square. This morning, in the sun, I saw the top of Mt Rainier peeping over the trees.<\/p>\n

The complimentary breakfast is an awesome spread, overseen by May and her charming smile; she remembers every guest who\u2019s been there more than a day. Housekeeping takes care of my needs just when I ask and wants to know if they can do more. Am I part of this family? It feels as though I am. There is no charge for the covered parking garage and a bus stops right out front where a free shuttle will haul me to the other end of town, if I don\u2019t want to drive. But why not walk? I\u2019m two blocks from the State Capitol and \"\"<\/a>Capitol Lake is out the back door. I\u2019m across the street from Sylvester Square and the park. Go to the corner; at dinnertime Adesso for Mediterranean is one way and Urban Union for northwest specialties the other; lunch at Happy Teriyaki (their tempura and rice made my day); or hang out with coffee at Starbucks. Just past the corner is a little grocery store, pizza and art and the coffee roasting place. And almost next door is Bonjour Cupcakes. Why be anywhere else?<\/p>\n

Bonjour Cupcakes, 609 S Capitol Way, 360-515-0564, http:\/\/bonjourcupcakes.com\/index.html<\/a><\/p>\n

The Governor Hotel, 621 S Capitol Way, 360-352-7700, http:\/\/www.olywagov.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The Urban Onion in the former Olympian Hotel, http:\/\/www.theurbanonion.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Adesso, A Culinary Hotspot, Rudy Viggiano, Owner, http:\/\/www.adessoolympia.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linda Burton posting from Olympia, Washington \u2013 Lavender? Chipotle Chocolate? Strawberry Margarita? Cupcakes by the dazzle sit before me arrayed on china plates and perched in baskets on a stand, their names in silver holders, tucked into a glass case framed in walnut, in a room of crystal chandeliers. The sugar-plum fairy has surely been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4586,728],"tags":[1342,1341,1096,1345,1343,3067,1201,392,1346,1344,733],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4716"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4716"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4721,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4716\/revisions\/4721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}