The Cone/Reynolds House at 1244 South Ainsworth, Tacoma, was placed on the Tacoma Register of Historic Places in 1995. It was built in 1908 by Amanda Cone for the John W. Reynolds family. The original cost was about 5,000. Here is a link to the nomination form.
The castle like commercial building at 2515 South Tacoma Way was built as the Tillicum Toy Company in 1930 and sold Tacoma made toys all over the United States. It the early 1930s it was the largest toy plant on the Pacific Coast. It has also been owned and/or occupied by the Tacoma Milk Shippers Association, a cheese factory, Farm Maid Ice Cream and Darigold Farms. More recently it was MDC Technologies. The building is currently available for sale. While looking for more of the building’s history, I found this website devoted to buildings made to look like castles.
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Dear husband and I braved the drizzle today to join the Downtown on the Go group stroll through Tacoma’s Brewery District. It was really a fun, free tour and the light rain hardly slowed us down at all. It read more about On the Go, look here.
One of our stops was the site of a natural springs at the corner of South 25th and Jefferson proximate to the Prairie Line (the historic rail corridor). Our wonderful guide said that the water is still visible, but I didn’t see it in the quick glance I had time for. But I could tell by the vegetation that it is a damp area.
There are seven Saar’s Marketplace Grocery Stores in Washington State and two of them are in Tacoma. This Saar’s location is at 6414 South Yakima Ave. The store does a good job of low prices, friendly employees and ethnic foods (mostly Hispanic and Asian), but doesn’t have a huge selection or some of the niceties like a coffee shop or bakery.
End of the Line by Ilan Averbuch represents the golden spike at the end of the railroad tracks and indeed the South Tacoma Station at South 54th and Washington Streets was the end of the Sounder line for a while. The artwork stands 6′ tall. While I was there, the Sounder came by, so I took that photo too 
My work friend told me that Ezell’s had a righteous special on Mondays. Indeed they do, two large piece and a roll for about $1.40. It was a wonderful meal, especially for that price! I splurged and bought a piece of sweet potato pie. Ezell’s location in Tacoma is at 1902 Martin Luther King Jr Way.
Ezell‘s started in Seattle in 1984 and currently has seven Western Washington locations. Recent news states that franchises are now being sold including one in Dubai. In August 2012, Esquire Magazine declared Ezell’s to be “the Most Life-Changing Fried Chicken in America.”
The Proctor District is really pleasant to stroll around and the addition of Proctor Frozen Yogurt at 2510 North Proctor makes it even better. I ended up combing the lemon with the raspberry/pomegranate and dear daughter has the marshmallow. They were both a treat. The business is housed in what had been a house built in 1905.
Dear daughter has been working hard on her mural, so as a treat I took her and her friend out for a meal at the recently opened Shake Shake Shake, 124 North Tacoma Avenue. Dear daughter had the Cheese Griller with a chocolate shake, her friend had the Classic Deluxe Burger with a coconut shake and I had a Tacoma Dog with a frozen latte shake. The service was fast and friendly, the food tasty and the decor a lot of fun. Dear daughter declared her shake, the best she’d ever had. Shake, Shake, Shake opened March 13, 2013. The building was constructed in 1925 as a grocery store and in 1938 became an I.G.A. In 1999 it was converted to a mini mart.
A review can be found here and their Facebook page can be found here.
There is a glorious magnolia tree in front of the First Lutheran Church at 524 South “I” Street, Tacoma, WA. The church was founded in 1882 and their current building was finished in 1929. The church’s original mission was to support Swedish immigrants. There website is here.
The First Evangelical Lutheran Church was designed by Heath, Gove & Bell, arch. The Gothic design is tapestry brick with Tenino stone trim and an oak interior. An addition was added in 1957.
Ubiquitous Journey at 2607 Sixth Avenue opened on March 15th. They have a plentiful selection of spices, herbs and teas, as well as a grill and espresso bar. I’d love to come back and try the grilled cheese! Each of the spices and herbs had tester containers to sniff. I walked away with some amazing garlic salt and some dried onion, which is nice to have around for when I run out of fresh onion. I wish them the best of luck in this, their second location. For more information, go here.
Their motto is “Because you deserve the best flavors the world has to offer. Find them at Ubi’s!”
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