Visiting Tacoma, WA in 30 Hours

Tacoma, 30 minutes south of Seattle, in the days of limited traffic, was a town I frequented when growing up, to visit my Great Aunt Mabel. She moved out west as a “spinster”, from Ludington, MI to be a history teacher at Lincoln High School.

During my days visiting Aunt Mabel, she had already retired and lived in a small apartment downtown. The town had a pulp mill creating the “Tacoma aroma”, as it was called – not pleasant. And, the downtown area was just plain depressing.

Fast forward several decades and I am now excited to go to Tacoma and stay overnight downtown, explore fantastic museums and wonderful parks and savor good food with my partner, Tom!

Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Tacoma, WA

11:00 am – After a painless one-hour drive from Seattle, we arrive at War Memorial Park – the starting point for the path across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Little did we know that it was 79 years ago today, November 7th, that the “Galloping Gertie”, as the bridge was called, tragically broke apart during a storm. The bridge was rebuilt in 1950 and a second bridge, including a pedestrian and bike path, was added in 2007.

We follow the paved path downhill for .5 miles and marvel at the majestic architecture as we begin our walk across the bridge. The Olympic Mountains can be seen to the west while to the south we see the waters of Puget Sound in the strait with Tacoma to our left and the Kitsap Peninsula to our right. Below us are swift currents and eddies - glad we aren’t in our kayaks down there.

Once on the other side we decide go back instead of following Highway 16 any farther - the traffic noise is deafening. As we turn around, we see Mt Rainer, in all its glory, through the cables of the bridge. The three-mile walk is well worth it!

 12:30 pm – We drive a few miles across town to Rushton Way, which follows the shores of Commencement Bay, as does a lovely 5.9-mile walking path, but we are in search of lunch, and choose Harbor Lights. It’s an ole 60’s place, right on the water with a variety of great seafood – luckily we get a window seat.

Monet, Tacoma Art Museum

2:30 pm – Tacoma Art Museum (TAM), just a couple miles south, is hosting an Impressionist Exhibit so that’s our next stop. The exhibit is small but has some of the big names; Monet, Degas and Renoir and illustrates the impact of impressionism on local artists of the time.

3:30 pm – Just another mile south is the famous Lemay, America’s Car Museum. The building itself, with an expansive view of Tacoma, is nearly as impressive as the three enormous floors of immaculately restored automobiles from the Model A all the way up to current hybrids. As we tour the floors, the cars we grew up driving bring back fun memories.

Vintage Jaquar, Lemay, America’s Car Museum

5:00 pm - McMenamins, the recently and fantastically renovated Elks Lodge is our home for the evening, so we go north a couple of miles and check in. We get a wonderful room, a little balcony and a view of the Bay. McMenamins is known for its historical renovation projects and their fun and somewhat crazy décor. They have gone over the top with the chandeliers in this one! The hotel has six floors, two with rooms, six bars and restaurants, and the Spanish Ballroom for entertainment – a unique place.

6:30 pm – A personal recommendation and good reviews leads us to Over the Moon for dinner, only a block up the hill from McMenamins, on Opera Alley. We enter the small and comfortable dining area, get seated quickly and are impressed by the menu. I settle on button mushrooms in a coconut cream sauce over angel hair pasta while Tom chooses the pork Bolognese. We treat ourselves to a nut, gluten, dairy and nearly sugar free desert just to see what it is like – all are delicious.

Luckily, we walk downhill back, to McMenamims, after our 10,000 steps today!  

8:00 am – What better spot to have breakfast than McMenamins Pub at Elks Lodge, the main restaurant, with windows overlooking downtown, right in the hotel. I’d describe the food as upscale pub – egg breakfasts are great.

Wright Park, Tacoma, WA

10:00 am - Wright Park, established in 1890, is just a couple blocks up the hill from the hotel and happens to be the neighborhood where Great Aunt Mabel originally lived. It includes 27 acres, 600 trees (150 species) from around the world, a pond and the vintage glass Seymour Conservatory. As we meander along the multiple paths, we enjoy all the labeled trees slightly past their fall peak.

11:00 am – Neither of us has ever been to the Washington State History Museum, opened in 1996 and designed to complement its neighbor, the Federal Courthouse, the historic former Union Station. We use more than our planned two hours exploring the geological, early settlement, industrial and Chinese and Japanese, historical exhibits.

2:00 pm – After finally being “museumed-out” the Antique Sandwich Company is the perfect stop for lunch – nice fresh sandwiches and salads, a few miles north, on the way to Point Defiance Park.

2:30 pm – Point Defiance Park, 760 acres, is on the northern tip of Tacoma between Puget Sound and Commencement Bay. The Park has a lovely beach, Owen Beach, the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, Five Mile Drive and several hiking trails.  We had planned to do the 5.1-mile outer loop trail but opt for the four-mile inner loop trail since sunset is fast approaching. You can park many places along the Drive and just start walking, following the appropriate color of arrows, the inner loop being yellow. We quickly discover that the path is a quiet, soft, wide, well maintained trail through a healthy old and first growth forest of big leaf maples and Douglas firs. The only noises we hear are the crunching of the fall leaves and the occasional distant car.

Tacoma, WA skyline

5:00pm – We arrive home, quite happy with our short get away to some of the best of what Tacoma has to offer!

If you go:

Transportation – Another great way to get to Tacoma is via train from either from Seattle or Portland. Trains run regularly and walking and/or Uber/Lyft work well. As you have read, most things are close to downtown.

To avoid traffic on I-5 we have taken the Vashon Ferry from Point Defiance to Vashon, driven the length of Vashon and then taken the Ferry from the north end of Vashon into Seattle. It’s a fun scenic alternative.

Additional Museums – We did not go to the Museum of Glass this trip but it’s worth the visit. There is a live glass blowing exhibit in the “hot shop” and rotating exhibits. In addition, we missed the Foss Maritime Museum right on Commencement Bay.

Travel Tacoma has wonderful travel passes for discounts to all the museums.

Additional Walks – There are many additional walks in Point Defiance Park. The 5.9-mile walk along Commencement Bay is a favorite, but we simply ran out of time. In addition, world class Chambers Bay Golf Course has a 3.25-mile walk with spectacular views of the Sound.

Shopping – We’ve heard good things about the Tacoma Book Center, a massive used bookstore, near the Lemay. And, Broadway has some nice independent shops – just ran out of time for everything.

Theatre – The historic Grand Cinema, Pantages Theater, Rialto Theater and Theater on the Square are only a couple of blocks from McMenamins. Next time!

Hotels – Hotel Murano, downtown, looks like a good modern alternative to McMenamins.

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