Activities in Tacoma

Tacoma is located 18 miles from the Seattle-Tacoma Airport. Tacoma sits in the shadow of Mount Rainier and is nestled by the waters of Commencement Bay. The city is a mid-sized city, covering 49 square miles and being inhabited by over 196,000 people.

The city of Tacoma is often referred to as the "City of Destiny" because it is an international gateway to the Pacific Rim. The Port of Tacoma is the sixth-largest container port in North America. The Port of Tacoma handles a wide range of shipments on their way to and from every part of the world.

Downtown Tacoma is known for its historic properties and buildings, with the oldest dating back to 1870. Some of the most known properties are Union Station, Fort Nisqually, which was a Hudson Bay Company Outpost built in 1833 located in the Point Defiance Park and Stadium High School, and where the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" was filmed. All of these are interesting places to visit and see if you get the time.

Downtown Tacoma is also know as the "Museum District." There are several well-know museums next to each other along the Thea Foss Waterway. These museums include: the Tacoma Art Museum, the Museum of Glass, and the Washington State History Museum. Linking them is the impressive Chihuly Bridge of Glass and historic Union Station, also filled with Chihuly art pieces.

If you like beach fronts or rollerblading you’ll love the atmosphere along the 2-mile waterfront at Ruston Way. This area has a sidewalk trail that winds along the shore and visits five parks along the path. This is a great place for walking, jogging, and rollerblading. This area has one area for fisherman at the Les Davis pier where they can drop their line. On nice days it’s hard to find parking, but at least the parking is free.

This area is also very dog friendly. Ruston Way overlooks Commencement Bay and you can also see Vashon Island. This area has several nice restaurants and one of my favorite casual eating areas is Katie Downs. On a nice day you can sit outside and overlook the bay while eating one of their fabulous burgers

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I didn't quite know what to expect the first time I went to the Melting Pot. I wasn't sure that I would like the food. I had never tried fondue before and thought it might be fairly tasteless. I'm glad that I was wrong. What my party ended up getting was an appetizer, cheese fondue, and a combination dinner that came with different meats and vegetables you could dip into a sauce, and of course desert. If you're not familiar with fondue, the restaurant provides you with just about everything that you can dip into chocolate, cheese, or whatever you pick for your dinner sauce, and this came out at separate times.

With the appetizer, entree, and dessert, the dinner takes about an hour and a half to complete. It's something to remember in case you have other plans that same evening after dinner. The restaurant itself had a nice setting and felt very upscale but not snooty, like upper-end restaurants can be. The service was wonderful both times I have gone, and I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants to have fun while they eat.

Point Defiance Zoo is one of the largest zoos in Washington, although I found out recently that it is not the best zoo to go to. I liked what I saw at this zoo, but I was disappointed that there wasn't more to see. This zoo has undergone some recent renovations, and I was expecting it to be different than it used to be. At Christmastime they do zoo lights, which is romantic to see at night with all of the different lights, unless you stand next to screaming kids all night. The things I did enjoy seeing at this zoo were the polar bears and the otters. Luckily I picked a day when they were both being playful, just not in the same cages with each other.

I was expecting this to be a museum with a whole bunch of Dale Chihuly originals. The inside of the building seemed kind of empty to me. There were different sections and they had different exhibits in each section, but nothing that I would call wonderful. When I went, luckily, I had a coupon from the entertainment book for a buy-one, get-one-free admission. (Ok, so that is beside the point.)

The displays at the time when I went had different eras of glass makers and styles. I will admit there were a few neat things, but for the most part, I could have seen prettier and more fascinating things in an antique store. The outside of the building is pretty cool looking, and the bridge to the museum has more Dale Chihuly art than the inside. So my recommendation is go to Tacoma, walk across the bridge to the museum, but don't waste your time or money to go in if you want to see Chihuly's art.