There is a house near Lincoln High School that if full of red and yellow tulips, currently in full bloom. It is startling the number of tulips! What a labor of love that I appreciated seeing this fine Easter Day!
Sparky the Salmon by Susan Carles is in front of the fire station at 2515 North Proctor, Tacoma, WA.
I had a quick lunch at European Bistro at 2515 North Proctor in Tacoma and it was delicious. I was in a rush and picked what I assumed was the quickest thing available, the lentil soup. It was a full bowl and coupled with the warm bread made an exceptional meal, especially considering it was less than $4! I’m eager to go back when I have a little more time and try some other items on their menu. It all looks good. There website is here.
Savor Creperie at 1916 Pacific Avenue in Tacoma opened in April 2013. I had some time before my book group meeting (we read The World’s Strongest Librarian) and needed dinner. I’ve been wanting to stop at Savor for sometime and there was an unusual amount of available parking in Tacoma’s museum district. I had the Maple Roasted Butternut Squash, Stilton Cheese, Candied Hazelnuts, Fresh Thyme Crepe and it was amazing. And the service was flawless. They also have glutten free rice flour crepes. Next time I go, I’m going to try a sweet crepe. I loved the hanging artwork of photos of local landmarks. Their website is here.
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.
Allen C. Mason was a real estate developer who coined the phrase City of Destiny for Tacoma. He arrived in Tacoma in 1883 with almost no capital and eventually became a major developer for Tacoma’s North End. His statue festoon in holiday finery is located in Allen C. Mason Plaza at the southeast corner of North 26th and Adams Street near the Wheelock Library. The plaza also features six pillars from Mason’s mansion. In addition there is a replica of the Star of Destiny, which is pretty interesting.
http://www.proctordistrict.com/index.php/aboutus/masonplaza/
Dear daughter and I hadn’t actually had this plaza in mind when we set off in the night, but the parking lot and ancillary parking lot for zoo lights was full! The plaza is pretty cool anyway. I’m glad I saw it!
So, I was cold and tired and really just wanted to go home. But I got talked into stopping at Stadium Thriftway for some of their soup. While there I ran over to Morrell’s Stadium Dry Cleaning at 608 North First Street and snapped a photo. The building was constructed in 1928 and apparently has always been a dry cleaner, starting as the Puget Sound Cleaners. Their website is here http://tacomadrycleaner.com/
Side note to the young man who was yelling at his girlfriend through the payphone, complaining about your “soon to be ex-girlfriend” to me in no way makes me inclined to give you bus money to Everett. Just saying. And to the guy that I thought might be stealing a bottle of wine from Stadium Thriftway … really?!
In December I try to make a point to go to local businesses and “Buy Local”. Today it was Giardini Gifts at 3815 N 26th St. in Tacoma’s Proctor District. The place was packed with unusual and good quality holiday gift ideas and very busy with shoppers. A youth band (the Salvation Army Band?) played in front of it. Dear daughter and I made a small donation. I did find an old photo from the Tacoma Public Library that showed the space as the Red & White Store in 1933. http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=1&o=1&n=4027&i=9341#text
Update: Giardini Gifts closed after the holidays and Compass Rose opened in the summer of 2013.
Stadium Video at 29 North Tacoma Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98403-3124 is closing its doors. Today dear daughter and I went back to visit and pick up a couple of anime dvds. I remember a few years back I was stuck home for a couple of weeks during a quick recovery period and I sent my dear husband to Stadium Video every other day. They were the only ones who had the quirky, interesting movies that I needed and they always have such great recommendations! I will miss them when their gone.
An article on their closing is here http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/01/28/2003287/sad-news-for-tacoma-movie-buffs.html
Their Facebook page is here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stadium-Video/63099191351
Their going out of business sale is going to continue for a while, so go check them out!
Dear husband needed a mirror for his new to him electric bike and we went to Tacoma Bike at 309 Puyallup Ave, Tacoma. They advertise that they are the region’s largest full services bicycle shop and it is apparent. There are hundreds of bikes and all kinds of accessories. Their website is http://www.tacomabike.com/
