Better Living Through Alchemy, 1022 South

I’ve been wanting to go to 1022 South in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma for ages and today was the day. They have happy hour from 4 to 8 everyday and their prices were very reasonable for the quality. I treated myself to a hot mulled cider with brandy and it was very wonderful. We also had some small plates that were delicious. We made an agreement to go back soon because they had many other delicious looking drinks and it is a great place to unwind after a long work week. My one small complaint was it was such a small space and pretty much packed.

Their website is here 1022south.com/

Fulcrum Gallery

The Fulcrum Gallery at 1301 Martin Luther King Boulevard, Tacoma, is a small gallery featuring quality artists and this evening they had a reception for their new exhibit “Dawn of 2012″. There was a wide breath of different types of art. My dear daughter and I especially liked the lovely drawings by Meghan Mitchell and cloud floating houses of Gabriel Brow.

http://www.fulcrumtacoma.com/

 

The lights are off at Tacoma Lighting

I’d always planned to stop at Tacoma Lighting at 1301 Center Street in Tacoma. Now I guess I never will, because the store is vacant and available for sale. First Western is asking $1,050,000 for the property, which is 11,685 square feet of building area and was constructed in 1968. The listing can be found here http://commercialmls.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=property.detailFSprint&ln=497406&eofficeid=

The current building has always been owner occupied by Tacoma Lighting. Back in 1890, the property was the site of the Aesche Boots & Shoes store. To see that wood frame building go to this Tacoma Public Library page http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=1&o=3&n=12544&i=9666#text

Payless Shoes has walked out of the building

I went to our vet last week because our two dogs were playing too hard and one of them needed stitches. The vet sent me away for a couple of hours while they worked their magic. I went next door to Payless Shoes at 5914 6th Avenue, Tacoma, to check out their going out of business sale. There was very little merchandise left. When I went back to the vet on Tuesday to pick up a second plastic collar, Payless was completely out of the building. I have no strong feelings about Payless Shoes, but it does make me sad to see another empty building in Tacoma. I wonder what will go in there and when.

It’s the Year of the Dragon

What luck! The family decided to get out of the house today and each of us picked a place to go. Dear daughter wanted to go to Uwajimaya in the International District of Seattle. When we got there we learned that it is the Chinese New Year and they were having special events, such as a dragon parade. While we were there was grabbed lunch in the food court and picked up some groceries (pocky, drinks, fortune cookies). Uwajimaya is a wonderful store, which is full of treasures. It actually started in Tacoma, but when the US entered WWII the family was sent to Tule Lake Internment Camp in California. After the war, they felt more welcome in Seattle and settled themselves and their new store there. It was a loss for Tacoma! It is the largest Japanese grocery store in the Pacific Northwest.

http://www.uwajimaya.com/

   

Community Health Care at Eastside Medical Clinic

The Community Health Care Center is located at 1708 East 44th Street, Tacoma, WA 9840 in the Salishan Housing Development. Per their website “Community Health Care is a private, non-profit organization created in 1987 when the clinical system moved from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department after several years of operation by that organization.” I toured the building and was very impressed with the building and the doctors and other staff that I meant. Community Health Care provides medical and dental services, as well as a pharmacy. The theme that I heard repeatedly was quality care with patient dignity.

Their website is here http://www.commhealth.org/

Starbucks in University Place, will it snow?

They tell me there is a big old snow storm coming, though when I snapped this photo the skies were mostly blue. I needed some provisions (cookies, chips, milk, cheese) and stopped at Trader Joe’s and then for a cup of drip coffee at Green Fir’s Starbucks. It was packed and there was no inconspicuous way to take a photo, so I took one of the outside and it was truly awful! I mean really, really bad. So, here is a photo that I do like of one of the trees in the Green Firs Center. Now let’s see if we actually get this huge storm!

Lincoln High School

Lincoln High School at 701 South 37th Street in Tacoma opened its door to students in 1914. The building was named after president Lincoln and a 9′ tall bronze statue of the president was created by Tacoma sculpture Alonzo Victor Lewis and installed in 1918. The Knights of Pythias formed a committee to pay for the statue and coordinated a giant bake sale (2,000 cakes!). The school’s original name was Lincoln Park High School, but the Park was dropped in 1917.

The Lincoln Center is part of Lincoln High School and is defined as a program to “immerse students into academic life, boost their studying skills and social development and prepare them to graduate four years later as college or career-ready.  This is done through a program of enrichment and intensive academic support.  Students attend school from 7:35-5:00 four days each week with a normal school day on Friday.  Students receive approx. 540 additional hours of academic time each year, with summer school and two Saturdays a month adding to their academic workload.” About 25 to 35% of the student enrolled in Lincoln High School are also part of Lincoln Center.

The website for the school is http://www0.tacoma.k12.wa.us/schools/hsx/lincoln/