Monthly Archives: June 2012

Off to the United Kingdom, the London Eye

Leave a reply

The London Eye, on the banks of the River Thames in London, is 443′ tall and has 32 sealed compartments. What surprised me is that the Ferris wheel doesn’t stop for loading and unloading, it moves so gradually that visitors just step on or off. The exception being those that actually need more time.  The black and white photo was taken with Hipstamatic from the Hungerford Bridge (which can be seen in the color photo).

I was delighted to accept an educational trip to the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Though I had good intentions of continuing my “New Place of the Day” Blog, it simply got away from me. So, I’m catching up now, with brief entries for each day 😀

 

Fircrest Swim Shop

Leave a reply

Dear daughter needed a swimsuit. We were at Target anyway, so we checked there. She hated them all. Fine. Then later we were at the outlet mall in North Bend, so we checked there. Nope that didn’t work either. Then I remembered The Fircrest Swim Shop at 620 Regence Boulevard in Fircrest. I remember my husband saying he bought his bathing suit there and that they had a good selection and reasonable prices. He was understated, they have a great selection and very competitive prices! They also have friendly, helpful (but in no way pushy) sales staff. We found a darling suit and since I was there I found one too 🙂

Their Facebook Page can be found here

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fircrest-Swim-Shop/154837334552579

Jay Berry’s in North Bend

Leave a reply

If we are hungry when we visit North Bend, we usually eat at Jay Berry’s Pizza and Pasta at 456 Mt. Si Boulevard. The first time we went, years ago, we thought it was going to be just another pizza place in a strip mall. But each time we go (at least once a year for many years) we are impressed by the quality of the food and service. This time dear daughter and I shared a baked tortellini and we each had our own French Onion Soup.

http://jayberrys.com/

Update: 4/2017 When I went to take myself out to an early dinner, I found that Jay Berry’s was gone and another restaurant was in its space. But I do see that their website is operational and links to their restaurant in Renton. Guess I’ll need to go there for some great pasta!

Pagliacci Pizza

1 Reply

 

I had a late meeting at the Starbucks on the Ave near the University of Washington in Seattle. Afterwards I stopped at one of my very favorite pizza places, Pagliaco Pizza. at 4529 University Way NE, Seattle. I love this restaurant because I can order a good size sliced and not an entire pie. They also have some great salads. I got a slice of margarita pizza and a vitamin water for just over $4. What a deal. Pigliaco has 22 locations. It would be great if they opened up a location in Tacoma!

http://www.pagliacci.com/

 

Century Link

Leave a reply

The CenturyLink Building at 4818 South J Street is an industrial building constructed in the 1950s. It isn’t open to the public as far as I can see. Century Link provides high-speed internet/DSL service. The website for the company is here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CenturyLink

Another new 7 Eleven in Tacoma

Leave a reply

I needed milk today and just didn’t have the energy for a stop at a grocery store. There before me appeared a relative new 7 Eleven at the corner of South 56th Street and Yakima. It was a really nice, well stocked, well light and pleasant employees. Beside the needed milk I picked up a good looking sandwich for lunch tomorrow for only $3.99.

Charlotte’s Blueberry Park

3 Replies

Charlotte’s Blueberry Park at 7402 ‘D’ Street is a 20 acre public park with well over 3,000 blueberry bushes. I’ve never seen so many. There are five variety of bushes and all of them were full of unripened berries. I am sure to be back come July when hopefully they are ripe. The public is welcome to pick the berries, which have no pesticides on them.

The property has been farmed since 1952 and was purchased in 1968 by the Tacoma School District in 1968 for a new high school. The neighborhood opposed the proposed high school and in 1994 traded 23 acres of the property to Metro Parks in exchange for the acreage that became Manitou Elementary School. Over the past few years Metro Parks with the help of volunteers has planted thousands of bushes, installed a paved trail, picnic tables and signage.

The park was named for long-time Blueberry Park advocate and founder of Friends of Blueberry Park, Charlotte Valbert.

The website for the park is here http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/charlottes-blueberry-park/

 

Gibson’s Westgate

Leave a reply

Gibson’s Frozen Yogurt at Westgate, 5916 North 26th Street, Tacoma, opened in May about a year after the original Gibson’s opened in the Stadium District. It has the same wonderful yogurt as the Stadium location and it also features Corina Bakery pastries, Valhalla Coffee and Mad Hat Tea — all local companies. This location has more extensive outside seating and the interior is more spacious.

Dear daughter and I sampled almost all of the flavors before going with the Pistachio and I also had some fresh blueberries and raspberries. Dear daughter went with the classic rainbow sprinkles.  Their other flavors this week included  Alpine Vanilla, Dark Chocolate, Euro-Tart, Peach Mango Tart, Very Strawberry, Mango Tango sorbet, Very Berry sorbet, NSA Raspberry, Red Velvet, Cake Batter and Cookies & Cream!

Their Facebook Page is here http://www.facebook.com/Gibsons.Yogurt.Westgate

And their website is here http://www.gibsonsyogurt.com/

This location has previously been a Little Caesar’s Pizza http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=1286 and before that it was a shoe store.

7 Eleven, Indian Food Restaurant, 7 Eleven

Leave a reply

When we first moved to Tacoma, this 7 Eleven was well ummm a 7 Eleven. Then for a while it was a pretty decent Indian food restaurant. And now its a 7 Eleven again. It is located at 3115 Sixth Avenue at the corner of Sixth and South Alder in Tacoma.

Peace Be Upon You

Leave a reply

The Islamic Center of Tacoma is located at 2010 Bridgeport Way, University Place. I thought I’d find a bit more about them on the internet, but their website is down. Their Facebook page is here.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Islamic-Center-Of-Tacoma/187098864649904

The Tacoma Public Library’s Northwest Room indicates that this is the second Islamic Center in Washington. The stucco building was constructed in 1981 and dedicated in 1982.