1818 Tacoma Avenue had been one of Tacoma School of the Art locations for years, but they have left it in favor of the downtown post office building. The best thing about the building is the planters with student art work. I thought my photo was a tad dull so I added a frame and a flying saucer! A not edited (i.e. boring) photo is below, as is a close up of one of the planters.
Metro Parks Tacoma’s Star Center at 3873 S. 66th St., Tacoma, WA 98409 is very nice. Their website says “The 32,000 square foot STAR Center offers a stunning new hall for rentals, a new music and dance studio, a demonstration kitchen, fitness room, as well as a dynamic indoor/outdoor children’s playground with an adjacent party rental space.” What surprised me the most was the Subway Restaurant in the building. http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/star/
I was there for the kick off of the Prop 1 Campaign. The school bond, which will go on the ballot on February 12th, would provide much needed funding to renovate or replace 14 schools and would also make safety repairs and many other Tacoma schools. The 14 schools are Washington*, SAMI, McCarver*, Wilson, Stewart*, Wainwright, Arlington, Browns Pt., Lyon, Birney, Grant, Boze, Downing and Hunt. The schools with * will maintain their historic character. http://www.tacoma.k12.wa.us/information/Documents/Proposition%201%20brochure.pdf
Coming home I made a quick stop to snap this photo of the mural at the corner of South 14th Street and South G. Street. I was going to take the mural along South G Street in the same area, but there was a car that made me nervous so I decided to wait until another day. Safety first. The mural says St. Ignatius Immersion 2012.
While out running errands I stopped at Tully’s in the Stadium District (24 Tacoma Avenue North). This is one of three Tully’s in Tacoma and one of 200+ locations in the US. The first Tully’s opened in Seattle in 1992.
I usually order an Americano, but today I drank a peppermint mocha because it just looked so darned good advertised up there on the board.
Unbeknownst to me, Tully’s has been in the news the past few days. Apparently the chain is up for sale and Starbucks is one of the potential buyers. There are 47 company owned stores and I don’t know if this is one of them. Another potential buyer is a Grey’s Anatomy actor Patrick Dempsey’s investment group.
Dear daughter needed some professional clothing and I searched my brain on where to go. Finally I remembered how pleased I was that JC Penney made Ellen DeGeneres their spokes person and then stood by her when the One Million Moms group started complaining about her being gay. So, good job, JC Penney, you have our teeny tiny bit of disposable income. We went to the JC Penney at the Tacoma Mall. They had a good selection, a righteous after the holiday sale and pleasant and efficient sale people.
Dear daughter say that their mannequins are too tiny and don’t reflect real women. But I think they are a pretty standard size for clothing stores in the US.
Accident & Injury Chiropractic at 1702 South 72nd Street, Tacoma, makes good use of its building to share holiday joy! The building has colonial pillars wrapped in red ribbon (plastic?) and a huge wreath in the center of the second floor. Their website is here http://www.accidentandinjurychiro.com/
And now I’m back to making the ham and mashed potatoes for Christmas dinner 😀 Happy holidays everyone!
What better way to celebrate Christmas Eve then to take a family photo in front of Tacoma Elf Storage at 2602 South Holgate Street Tacoma, WA 98402. Eleven months of the year, this facility is known as Tacoma Self Storage, but in December they darken the S and make it a handy spot for Santa to store the toys and one assumes, elves. Their link is here http://www.tacoma-selfstorage.com/
The legend goes that a bird shorted out the letter S during the holiday season in 2007 when the business was new. It was so popular that the owners have purposefully recreated the dimming each year.
The building was originally Tacoma Ice & Refrigerating Co. and A.W. Sterrett was the architect. It was constructed in 1923. In 2000 it was known as Alpine cold storage. In November of 2006 it opened as its current use, a self storage facility.
Jesus’s Custom Muffler and Dual Exhaust Shop at 4003 McKinley Avenue is a cheerful yellow with red trim and has some great muffler art! The property started it life in 1925 as Mac’s Super Service Station and there was an addition in 1949.
Chirp & Co. at 3808 North 26th Street, in Tacoma’s Proctor District has been around for 20 years. It’s main emphasis is on wild birds and it offers feeders, food, book and gift items around that theme. There is also a quality pet food selection. Really it has some unusual items and is reasonably price. I walked out with a darling little bird figurine for my window and three different suet square for about $12 altogether.
Sculpture Fritz Church created Ole 99, a life sized metal horse that was installed at the corner of South 47th Street and South Tacoma in 2011. The horse looks like he is patiently waiting for a Pierce Transit bus. The piece’s name reflects that fact that South Tacoma Way use to be part of Highway 99, the original thoroughfare that ran from Canada to Mexico. I love that the sculpture is tied to an ring on a spike that had originally been used for real work horses.
http://www.tacomaweekly.com/citylife/view/south-tacomas-ole-99/
