The Khmer Theravadin Buddhist Temple is located at 1420 East 44th Street in Tacoma. I was welcomed to look around a take some photos. In fact the monk that was there actually offered to take my photo 🙂 and told me that I’d have good luck because I had placed a donation in the donation box.
I wandered off to revisit the lovely leaf mural on S. 43rd Street (310 East 43rd Street). But it was gone! Of course the bridge is still there, but there is a new mural. I had to consider it a while before I decided that although it was very different from the leaf mural, I really like it. My first impression when I drove over the bridge, is that it was swirls of colors, but when I took the time to get out of the car, I realized that it was words that said “No One Else But You Can Feel Along the Grooves”. The mural was created in 2013 by David Long.
To see the previous mural, go here.
One has to look hard for the mural on the barrier blocks at 5699 Pipeline Road East, Tacoma. But they are worth the Eastside search with their bold, red color and jaunty graphics. My favorite barrier (if one can have a favorite barrier) is the one with the word ‘Adventure’ on it! The artists are Natalie Oswald, K. Candejas, Y. Simone and J. Warren. The Tacoma Murals Project mural was created in 2012. The top photo shows the barriers as they sit and the bottom photo shows them Photoshopped side by side.
I was looking for a Halloween House because its Halloween when I got an email about this place off of A Street and South 58th Street on Tacoma’s eastside. I pulled up and thought, well that’s nice there are some big ghost in the yard and a couple of pumpkins and blowup creatures. But then I noticed the heads bopping around in the window! OK, that’s pretty cool. And the window behind the witch has zombie like creatures shuffling along. I hadn’t seen anything like it before! So, you should really click on the 5 second video to get the idea. The video is the link above the photo. The second time you watch it, you might notice the zombies 🙂
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.
The Dometop Community Garden is really something! Located in Roger’s Park at 3151 East L Street, it has amazing view of Mt. Rainier. The garden was created in 2011 cooperatively with the Eastside neighbors and Metro Parks. There is water throughout the raised garden beds and when I stopped in one of the organizers was watering the individual gardens. It was a pleasure to chat with her. The plots themselves are gorgeous and well tended. Scattered throughout there are bits of whimsy and cheerful flags flapping in the breeze. There is a real pride of ownership here. Perhaps my favorite area was the small field of huge sunflowers planted in a boat 🙂
There is a great website that shows the garden being developed. http://tacomadometop.com/mckinley-hill-community-garden.php
 
And this site details all of the area’s community gardens and farmer’s markets. http://www.growlocaltacoma.com/
3801 McKinley Avenue, Tacoma, WA
http://www.taqueriaelantojo.com/
The shopping center is on the previous site of a gas station. See this link to the Tacoma Public Library for more information.
http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=1&o=1&n=32028&i=9468#text
Tacoma Public School has announced that it may close schools in order to save money. Foss is the high school they are considering and elementary schools with less than 300 students are also possibilities. These elementary schools are Franklin, Lyon, Roosevelt, Stanley, McKinley, Wainwright and Geiger. Geiger has had a program change and has been taken off the table. I thought over the next week or so, I’d take photographs of the mentioned schools and use them as my new places of the day.
Read more about possible school closures at :
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6
Today’s school is Mary Lyon Elementary at 101 E. 46th St.. Their mascot is the lion. The school was constructed in 1910 and has a student population of about 270. Their official website states “The school is named after a 19th-century farm girl who was born on Feb. 28, 1897 who eventually became a teacher and established the first women’s college-Mount Holyoke-in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Mary Lyon Elementary was originally a one-room, wooden portable and has developed into a brick and stucco structure with 18 classrooms, along with classrooms in adjoining portables that were added to accommodate Lyon’s population growth.”
A photograph of the building as it appeared in 1924 can be found here:
http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=1&o=4&n=6743&i=4814#text
Over the years, the building has had extensive renovation, as can be readily seen when comparing the historic photo from Tacoma Public Library to the new photograph.
