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Oct
31
Posted by Carol Miller
In the North end of Tacoma you will find a street called Proctor. People living in the area enjoy walking to Starbucks for a cup of coffee and good conversation. The street is lined with several restaurants and quaint shops like clothing, toy and gift shops. There is even a store for pet lovers and hobby train enthusiast. If you enjoy cooking with different types of foods, the Metropolitan Market is a definite must! It is also a great place to find fabulous fresh cut flowers. One of my favorite shops is Giardini Gifts, I always find something there I haven’t seen elsewhere. The Pacific Northwest Shop is great if you are looking to give a taste of Washington. Proctor is always doing something fun to keep the community involved. I’m bummed I missed the first annual Chocolate Fest in October. The local merchants all took part in offering something with a Chocolate theme! Just writing the “C” word makes me salivate! On Halloween the streets will be filled with children all dressed up in their costumes running from store to store collecting their loot.
Houses in the Proctor district are built in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s with an average selling price of $450,000 and average square footage of 2500. The homes carry a lot of character with owners updating them in today’s style.
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Oct
24
Posted by Carol Miller
The annual “Holiday Food & Gift Festival” starts today October 24th through October 28th at the Tacoma Dome. It is the largest holiday gift show in the nation with 600 exhibits. Plan on spending a couple of hours enjoying different arts and crafts, fabulous food and entertainment. I think it is too early to start thinking of Christmas, however, it is a great time to get some early Christmas shopping done! To get more detailed information on the festival visit http://www.showcaseevents.org/tacoma_event.htm.
The Tacoma Dome (located just off I-5 at exit I705) holds numerous events throughout the year. For more information about upcoming events go to: http://www.tacomadome.org/.
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Oct
14
Posted by Carol Miller
Holy Rosary Catholic church in downtown Tacoma. I thought this was a cool picture with Mt. Rainier behind it!
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Oct
10
Posted by Carol Miller
I was so excited the other day when I was at Ruston Way, I though my ship was coming in!! I ran to my car to get my camera and when I returned I realized it wasn’t for me; it was heading for the Port of Tacoma! The Port was created in 1918 covering 2400 acres, located north of downtown Tacoma. The Port creates 43000 jobs in Pierce County and 113,000 in Washington state. Houses sitting up on the hill above Ruston Way and NE Tacoma look out their big picture windows to catch a glimpse of the huge ships. The ships travel across the Pacific Ocean waters and move silently and boldly into the Port of Tacoma. They carry containers of items that are loaded up in semi-trucks or trains and distributed all over the US. Maybe next time it will be my ship, oh well, it is still an awesome sight! For more information about the Port of Tacoma visit: http://www.portoftacoma.com/whatsnew.cfm
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Oct
09
Posted by Carol Miller
Fall is officially here when you see the leaves change their color! Tacoma streets in Old Town are lined with the beautiful fall reds, oranges and yellows. I enjoy all seasons, but I think the season with the most vibrant color, is fall. Thanks to the city of Tacoma for planting the different varieties of oak and maple trees. It gives such great pleasure to the people passing by!
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Oct
05
Posted by Carol Miller
I was in the Sheraton Hotel downtown Tacoma (next to the convention center) and was excited to find out that the hotel is getting a whole new remodel job! Actually, it is even more then that, they are changing their name to Hotel Murano! I can’t wait for completion to see all of the glass art from forty internationally glass artist and the European design. It was 5 years ago that I got to visit Murano which is an island off of Venice, Italy. It was absolutely beautiful and that is one place I would love to go and visit again. Once the hotel is finished I am going to take a break and experience relaxing overnight in Murano Tacoma! Oh and by the way, if you go and check out the work in progress, stop by the bell stand at the front door and say “Hi” to Dale. He is the one that welcomes you when you come in the door with a smile!
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Oct
03
Posted by Carol Miller
Ruston Way is one of my favorite parks in Tacoma! It is minutes from downtown Tacoma and is graced by Puget Sound waterfront. The panoramic views are spectacular of Vashon Island, Olympic Mountains and Mt. Rainier. It is a two-mile drive with large paved walkways. I remember in the 70’s when I had my bright orange Datsun 240z and would drive up and down Ruston Way! Back then it was so innocent posing up and down the strip in a cool car (well, I thought my little sports car was cool)! You would see guys parked in the bright sunshine waxing their cars getting their hotrods ready for their Saturday night dates!
Today Ruston Way is prettier now then it was then. After closing the last of the lumber mills on the waterfront in the late 70’s, it has been transformed over the years into a beautiful park. Now you will find people walking, jogging, bicycling and rollerblading along the paved walkway. There are large grassy areas along the strip that you will see children playing, people having picnics or just sitting and enjoying the breathtaking views.
There are great restaurants outlining Ruston Way. One of my all time favorites is Harbor Lights which has been there since I can remember. Growing up my parents would take us there for our birthday dinner and oh what a treat that was back in the day! Today, there are numerous restaurants; Lobster Shop for seafood, Katie Downs for pizza, Shenanigans for Sunday brunch or the new Dukes restaurant for chowder; to name a few.
Ruston Way is definately a place to experience!
