July 5, Tacoma, Washington

Phil and I took the train from Bellingham to Tacoma on July 3 for a three-day getaway and stayed in the same downtown hotel as before, in easy walking distance of the waterfront and several excellent museums.

I wanted another chance to visit Preston Singletary's "Raven and the Box of Daylight" (this blip) at the Museum of Glass before the exhibition closes in September, and was just as deeply moved as I was the first time I saw it. From there, we walked a short distance to the Tacoma Art Museum, which we'd not visited before. We enjoyed several interesting exhibitions, including one on Immigrant Artists and the American West that was particularly fascinating and certainly has relevance in today's world, as you can read about here. (See also the sign in the extra photos about the land on which the museum sits.)

There was more of renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly's work here, including "Untitled Seaform Set, 1986," two images of which I've put in the extras, and the engaging "Ma Chihuly's Floats, 2006," in the museum's central courtyard. Chihuly's diverse blown glass balls resemble the glass spheres used on Japanese fishing nets, and the stone sculpture by Richard Rhodes is meant to represent a wave. Both Phil and I found this display very engaging, as you'll see in the extras!

Before getting on our late afternoon train back to Bellingham, we returned to a gastropub we'd enjoyed on our first day in Tacoma. Peaks & Pints offers 19 outstanding draft beers, a few other beverages, and one of the best food menus I've seen in a pub. We relished a flight of cherry beers (not sweet!), as you can see in today's blip, as well as some of that wonderful food, and had a nice send-off from the staff.

We probably won't be back in Tacoma again this year, as we have two more trips coming up, but it's definitely on the list for next year!

Blip 2014