Tag Archives: Puyallup

Did you know this Regal theater was there?!

8463249045_37d54b24bf_bUntil today, I hadn’t realized this six theater Regal Cinema existed. The Regal South Hill Cinema 6 is located at 3500 South Meridian, Puyallup, WA.  More importantly it is located in the back of the mall, behind Target, so it is easy to miss. It was the only theater playing The Impossible, a striking movie about a family of five’s experience during the 2004 Thailand Tsunami.

Regal South Hill 6

The Impossible

 

 

Casa De Leche in Puyallup

Casa de Leche is located in the Gold Parking Lot near one of the main entrances to the Puyallup Fairgrounds. My Spanish is rusty (or almost non existant), but it seems to me that it translate to the house of milk. The fun cow shaped sculpture was created by Bruce and Shannon Anderson and is part of Puyallup’s Arts Downtown’s Permanent Art Collection. The Anderson’s website can be found here http://www.andersenstudios.com/index.html

Regal Theater, Puyallup

My family had made a point to watch all of the movies that lead up to the Avengers, but then two of us went on a long trip and somehow it seemed like we’d missed it on the big screen. But yesterday dear husband noticed that it was still playing at the Regal Longston Place Stadium 14 at 13317 Meridian Avenue in Puyallup. The movie was great and we are glad to have made the effort to see it. The theater itself was just fine with friendly employees and comfy seats. Our theater only had a dozen or so customers in it and we were a little surprised when the security person came through with her glow stick three times. Wonder if that has always been the procedure or if it was in response to the recent movie shooting in Colorado.

http://www.regmovies.com/

Have a Smiley Day!

Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt in Sunrise Village (10306 156th St E Suite 101
Puyallup, WA 98374) was packed yesterday! It was a lovely, warm Saturday — just right for a frozen treat. I had read an article in the Tacoma News Tribune reviewing all of the new frozen yogurt shops in the area and thought trying out a new one sounded fun. I love Gibson’s in Tacoma (blog entry here http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=2891) and Black Bear (blog entry here http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=1355). Menchie’s staff is wildly friendly. “Have a smiley day”, they gushed at me after I paid. Ummmm. OK. “You too”! I purchased coconut and cake batter swirl with coconut chips and whipped cream and ate it in my peaceful car.

Menchie’s Website http://www.menchies.com/ says they have 170 locations worldwide. There are seven locations in Washington State and seven more in the works including one in Gig Harbor. While it was a treat to visit, I would just as soon go to Gibson’s or Black Bear for their quirky home grown feel. But even those two will soon be a chain (of two each) since new locations are forth coming. 🙂

House of Tomorrow

The Home of Tomorrow is also known as the House of Tomorrow and the Smyser House and is located at 4907 66th Ave. E., Puyallup, WA 98371.  The house was designed by Bert Smyser who is also known for designing the Tacoma landmark, Bob’s Java Jive. I became aware of the house when the Tacoma News Tribune ran an article on Mr. Smyser, mentioning this house and his other projects including a prototype of the Seattle Space Needle.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/03/25/2081358/where-were-you-in-62-likely-not.html#storylink=misearch

A photo of Bert Smyser can be found here http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/images/dt6n.asp?un=2&pg=1&krequest=Smyser&stemming=On&phonic=&fuzzy=&maxfiles=5000

The library also mentions that Mr. Smyser’s wife was a member of the Rubber Hat Club and sometimes modeled for them.

The all plywood, steamline moderne house was constructed in 1940 is under private ownership now, so I stayed on the side of the road to snap my photo. The site also fronts on Clark’s Creek. The house was listed for sale at one point and the listing can be found here http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4907-66th-Ave-E-Puyallup-WA-98371/49190659_zpid/.

 

Watson’s Nursery

Watson’s Nursery at 6211 Pioneer Way E., Puyallup, WA 98371 is a soothing place and its it is easy to while away a couple of hours. I joined my friends for lunch at their Flower Pot restaurant and then two of us took advantage of their special ($9 for 4 fuchsia starts planted in our own pot)

A Glorious Day at Thun Field

We are going through a miraculous run of lovely weather for the beginning of February. The temperature went up to 57 degrees and it was sunny. I found myself in the South Hill area of Puyallup with a couple of hours to myself. I drove myself to Thun Field and for the price of a cup of tea and a piece of pie I sat outside in the sun and watched small planes take off and land. I especially enjoyed seeing three generations (grandfather, father, son) enjoying a late breakfast and watching the planes.

Thun Field is owned by Pierce County. Their website says “Thun Field was built in 1944 and purchased by Pierce County in 1979. Situated just south of the City of Puyallup in the South Hill neighborhood, Thun Field offers spectacular views of Mount Rainier. There are approximately 225 aircraft based at the airport, and approximately 89,000 operations (take-offs and landings) each year.”

http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/pc/abtus/ourorg/pwu/airport/

Place of Circling Waters — Twulshootseed

The Place of Circling Waters at 1621 Marine View Drive in the Port of Tacoma is a splendid example of morphing something ugly (a gravel mine) into something wonderful (a habitat at the mouth of Hylebos Creek ). I remember when it was a gravel mine and for a while I thought it was turning into a vineyard, but this year it opened as a habitat.

We arrived during low tide, the muddiest time to see the habitat.  Dear daughter and I were the only two civilians there, though there was a friendly Port Police Officer who was taking a quick check. Apparently thieves have been going into the fenced off areas to steal the irrigation wiring to strip it for the copper! Jeez!

While the terrain consists of 26 acres, only a small portion is accessible to the law abiding public. The rest of the area, which can be viewed from the observation platform, is left to nature.  We did see geese and apparently there are all sort of other birds including a kingfisher (I’d like to see a kingfisher!). There was also a sign on the fenced off hillside that warned of bee nests. Not the kind of nature I want to experience up close.

It is difficult to capture the scale of the project from the observation deck, so check out the Port’s webpage.

http://www.portoftacoma.com/hylebos-creek

Gandy Dancer

At the corner of East Main and 3rd Street just off of the downtown area of Puyallup is Gandy Dancer by sculpture Jim Mattern. In doing a little research, it appears that the art piece had been in Port Orchard or that there are two of them. I’m betting on it having been moved. It is part of the Arts Downtown project. The sculpture features a rail worker and is well placed next to a rail line.

My Greek and Italian Restaurant

I don’t especially enjoy the South Hill area of Puyallup, but there I was looking for a place to grab dinner before an appointment.  That area of town has block after block of chain restaurants and we were leaning towards Ivars when I spotted My Greek and Italian Restaurant at 13333 Meridian Avenue East in a small strip center. I had the steak salad with blue cheese crumbled on top and it was very good. Dear daughter had a shrimp dish which she enjoyed.  Service was fast and friendly.  I’d really like to go back and try the flaming cheese and hear the live music. I loved that in the sea of chain restaurant My Greek and Italian Restaurant is family owned.

http://www.mygreekanditalianrestaurant.com/index.html

Update: I went by today (7/31/2012) and the space was empty. Their website says that they are moving to Sunrise Village as of September 2012.