I stumbled upon this tree spirit at a private home in Tacoma’s Lincoln District. It is delightful!
Tree Druid
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Monthly Archives: June 2013
What the Pho Xpress
Sometimes I think we have created demand for an entire category of restaurants because the word Pho sounds like…. well, you know. What the Pho at the Tacoma Mall is relatively new. The employees were charming (seriously, they were very nice) and the food was plentiful and good.
Elevated Ice Cream
Port Townsend’s Elevator Ice Cream at 627 Water Street is a must visit when we are in the area. They have made their own ice cream since 1977. I had one of their four favorite flavors — Ginger with real piece of ginger. Their other three most popular flavors are Swiss Orange Chocolate Chip, Amaretto Hazelnut and Espresso Chip.
McLendon Hardware has a perfect house in it
Model homes invite folks to imagine a different, more orderly life and this one at McLendon’s Hardware, 1015 N Pearl St Tacoma, WA 98406, is no exception. I was pleased when McLendon’s decided to open its 7th location and their first new store in 13 years in Tacoma. They are well known for having unusual stock and a can do attitude! Although they didn’t have the specialty item I was seeking, they searched all over to find it for me. McLendon’s website is here.
The building was constructed as a Pay n Pak, then became a Ernst, then a Saar’s (groceries) and now McLendon’s.
Pip & Lola’s Everything Homemade
Pip and Lola’s Everything Homemade in Freighthouse Square, 430 East 25th Street, Suite 40 is full of quality handmade items — clothes, soaps, art, etc. I went to visit to pick up some of their great soap which they make right there. When I checked in with FourSquare, my phone chirped at me that I’d earned a bonus and I was pleased to receive a darling heart shaped rose scented soap 🙂 Their Facebook Page is here.
Boehm’s Candy
I was driving around Issaquah looking for something interesting and was pleasantly surprised at my choices — a root beer drive in, a restored vintage gas station, cute stores, etc. The day’s winner was Boehms Candy at 255 NE Gilman Blvd. Issaquah, WA 98027. The company began in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood in 1943 and in 1956 they moved to their current location. The store is located in the “Edelweiss Chalet”, the first Alpine chalet in the Northwest. In addition to the store and the candy manufacturing facility, there is a replica of a 12th century chapel near St. Moritz, a fountain, a statue of William Tell, a park area with a decorative fountain and an enthusiastic water fountain (water is life).
To order learn more about Boehms or to order candy, click here
It occurs to me that I know nothing about William Tell except he has a theme song. I learned he was a folk hero of Switzerland. Looking over Wikipedia, I remembered that he is know for shooting an apple off his son’s head. The statue shows Tell and his son, Altdorf and is (I assume) a replica of the original statue by Richard Kissling in 1895.
1950 Cold War Rocket in Fremont
Every year we can, we go to the Solstice Parade up in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. Since this blog is rated G (ok, maybe PG) I won’t post photos of the body painted pre-parade bicyclists, though I admire their joie de vivre! Instead I focused on the 53′ Cold War era Rocket on the building at the corner of Evanston and 35th Street. In 1991 the rocket was deemed quirky enough for the off beat neighborhood and in 1994 it was installed.
http://fremont.com/about/storyrocket-html/
Treos, stands for Third Place
I had work to do and thought that I’d stop for an Americano. Treos now occupies the old Forza space at 1201 S Union Ave. They have a nice, streamline look to the interior of the space and the Americano was really good. There are now two Treos (I know, kind of ironic!), this one and one in Old Town. There is a drive through. Treos offers the traditional coffee drinks, as well as beer and wine and light lunch fare.
The premise behind the name is that this is a “Third Place” created as an informal place to meet family and friends. The first two places are home and work. The other place I can think of with this premise is Third Place Books. Treos reminds me a bit of the Mandolin, which I miss.
No dinosaurs today at Bell Square (The Bellevue Collection)
I don’t really much like malls. They just make me want to buy stuff I don’t need. But there I was up in Bellevue and Coldwater Creek was having a 50% off everything sale. I did need a pair of khakis. So, I stopped in. Out of all of the malls in the area, Bell Square, which I guess is now called the Bellevue Collection, at 575 Bellevue Square is one of my favorites.
When my daughter was little, about 4, we took her here on her birthday. The shopping center has a life size dinosaur collection as a temporary exhibit and dear daughter was going through her Little Foot phase. Little Foot is a series of kid’s dinosaur movies. We were on the second floor when we got to the two story atrium with a life size T-Rex with a moving head and tail. Dear husband was a little ahead of us and went over to have a better look. When the kid and I came around the bend and saw the huge dinosaur, her eyes went big and she ran to her father as fast as she could. Then she grabbed his hand and tried to drag him back to safety screaming Sharp Tooth! Run, Papa, run!
Spooner Farm
So, I went to the Proctor Farmer’s Market to buy so delicious strawberries from the Spooner Farm booth and they were sold out. Fine. I understand. So, I swung by the house and grabbed dear daughter to go visit Spooner Farm at 9622 State Route 162 East, Puyallup, WA 98374-1812. It was worth the trip. They have a gift store with all kinds of quality farm related items. Dear daughter fell in love with a darling apron (which we’ll get next time) and we purchased a 1/2 flat of strawberries, a jar of raspberry jam, scone mix, some fudge and some cold drinks. Dear daughter went home and made fair scones and strawberry shortcake. Dear husband declared the strawberries the best he had eaten since his childhood.
Spooner Farms has a variety of crops and is sounds like they have a great harvest festival. When we drove away from the store, I noticed this really big chair with a view of the fields and Mt. Rainier.
