Tag Archives: Tacoma

Former Gruv Nightclub has an interesting mural

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The space at 3829 Sixth Avenue, which had previously been occupied by Gruv and before that Hell’s Kitche, is available for lease ($13/square foot) or sale ($660,000). Dear daughter has told me several times that I need to write it up as a new place because chances are that once it is leased or sold, the mural will be painted over. I like the mural which features a unicorn with 253 on its neck, the Tacoma Dome, a city skyline and a rainbow. The unicorn looks a little grumpy, but maybe that’s just macho.

The building was constructed in 1926 and has been Marshall & Kirkman Needle Work, Fowell’s Market, Snack-n-Tap, Purky’s Tavern, Spot Lite Tavern, Tuddi’s Restaurant (where it had a fatal fire because of a safecracker’s torch), Proctor Inn Restaurant, Kay’s Mexican-American Restaurant, Prosito Italian Restaurant. the Central Tavern, the
Sixth & Proctor Bar & Grill, Hell’s Kitchen Nightclub and Gruv.

MV Lotus

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The MV Lotus was moor along the public dock during Maritime Fest this weekend in Tacoma. The vessel, which is on the historic register, was built in 1909 as Edwardian Houseboat Cruiser. It is available for event and would be perfect for a wedding! More information can be found here: http://www.mvlotus.org/

Below is another photo I took while at the fest. http://www.maritimefest.org/   What a beautiful day it was!

Update 6.18.17 We again went to the Tall Ships event (to see the Big Rubber Duck) and here are a couple of new photos of the MV Lotus.

 

A 1967 Amphicar at Sharp & Sons USA of Yesterday Motors

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This car on display at USA of Yesterday Motors at 455 St. Helens, Tacoma, is one of 500 remaining Amphicars left in existence. The informational sign said that these amphibious cars are capable of crossing between England and France!

The USA of Yesterday building was constructed in 1948 and contains 61,000 square feet of space. It was originally known as the Mueller-Harkins Motor Co. Building and Silas E. Nelsen was the architect. It was a Buick Dealership. It is now U.S.A. of Yesterday Motor Car Co. (see the link below) and besides showroom space has a large banquet room in the style of the 1950s. In 2007 there was talk of demolishing the property to make way for a downtown grocery store, but that didn’t happen.

http://collectorcar.com/

A picture of the building from 1950 can be found at Tacoma Public Library http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=2&o=2&n=24408&i=8170#text

1912 Buick in the showroom.

Cafe Elite looks like a coffee pot

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Coffee Elite is a drive through espresso stand at 7214 Bridgeport Way in Tacoma. It has a very fun coffee pot shape. Dear daughter and I had successfully gotten through dentist appointments and since it was over 90 degrees we thought we needed a cold treat — a raspberry/strawberry smoothy for her and an orange creamcicle one for me. They were great!

 

 

 

Owen’s Beach on a summer day

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Dear daughter and I were going to go to one of the local pools, but it was packed! So, I suggested Owen’s Beach in Point Defiance, Tacoma. It was a great choice.The weather was perfect, there was a comfortable crowd and I found a parking spot in the shade. We were bold and went out into the water and some nice lady was right when she said that it wasn’t cold after about five minutes. That’s because my feet had lost all feeling!

The park, which was named for Floyd E. Owen, a Metro Parks employee of 48 year, has plenty of shoreline/beach, picnic areas, restrooms and a concession stand.

http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/owen-beach/

Tacoma Musical Playhouse

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The Tacoma Musical Playhouse at 7116 Sixth Avenue, Tacoma has a great exterior wall showing a variety of customers waiting in a cheerful line for their admissions. Their website is here tmp.org/

Tacoma Armory

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The 1908 Tacoma Armory at 715 S 11th Street, Tacoma WA takes up the entire block. Until 2011 it was the home of the National Guard, but its been vacated and is now available for lease (see the link). Over its history, it was visited by three president, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson and Harry Truman. It was placed on Tacoma’s Registry of Historic Places in 1976.

http://washingtonguard.org/rent/cities/tacoma.htm

Tacoma Nature Center

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The Tacoma Nature Center at 1919 South Tyler was a hopping place this lovely summer day. There was a guy taking photos, a jogger, a couple taking a stroll, an entire group at summer camp and me. The weather was perfect as I walked the mile loop around the 17 mile Snake Lake and its associated wetland. It’s been a while since my last visit and I noticed some updates to the 71 acre nature preserve. The bridges looked better then I remembered and there is now a Discovery Pond play area for the kids (oh, and there were some moms with kids there, almost forgot them!)

http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/tacomanaturecenter/

A Moveable Feast

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Dear daughter, her dear friend and I had to go to Tacoma’s first Movable Feast, a gathering of food trucks mostly from around the region. It was great. The location in the parking lot of Cheney Stadium was convenient and parking was plentiful. I had 1/2 a pulled pork sandwich, daughter had a burrito and her friend had curry. Then we had strawberry shortcake (only it was really strawberry on a split doughnut) and amazingly good ice cream from Ice Cream Social.

http://www.tacomafoodtruck.com/tacoma-food-truck-festival/

 

Anthem Coffee & Tea

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Originally uploaded by Gexydaf

Anthem Coffee & Tea at 1911 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, in front of the Washington State History Museum has been open since November 2011. Dear daughter and I visited today to purchase delicious drink treats and to share a tasty sandwich, which came from Joseppi’s. Anthem has a nice vibe to it, stylish and comfortable. And the folks behind the counter were super nice!

http://anthemcoffeeandtea.com/