It’s good to visit Old Town, to look out for Olympic mountains in the distance, for snow in the Cascade foothills, for a sighting of the Point Defiance-Tahlequah ferry crossing Dalco Passage.
Is this an ultimate, all time, best of the best, win or go home, top 5 list? No. Are these our 5 absolute favorite things in Tacoma? That’s not really the point. This is the 3rd group of 5 things from a list of way more things we think are good in Tacoma. Nothing wrong with good, right?
The master list is long: a garden gate twined by a particular vine in a certain month of the year, a delicious taco, a window in a cafe where the sun streams in, a drink we like to drink, a tree to notice, a place to go at sunset. Some of it costs no money at all. It’s sights, experiences, foods, and spots both well-known and lesser-known. It’s things we would look back on with nostalgia if they faded away someday. No city is the perfect city and no place has it all; this is a sample of what we do have that enriches the day to day of Tacoma.
It’s a living, growing list of good things (who needs all that best-stress anyway?).
1. Hometown tropical getaway at the WW seymour Botanical Conservatory - Wright Park, Hilltop
During our years of living near Wright Park, the conservatory felt like one of my friends, a place to go warm up in winter, to be stunned by the immensity of the lemons growing near the entrance, to be entranced by orchids, to take deep, humid, earthy breaths. We’d walk through Wright Park from Michael’s apartment a block south to go for groceries or coffee or Mexican food in Stadium, and the conservatory was always there, beckoning us in.
Years later, after we moved across town, the conservatory closed down for renovations. After a year of closure, the conservatory reopened in May of 2022. If you haven’t been back in, take yourself on a date!
Now there’s a living wall covered in 1,200 plants, a habitat for golden dart frogs, a carnivorous plant bog, a remodeled gift shop, and lots of structural and systemic improvements. It’s a special place, you can know and feel that without facts but facts are pretty cool, so how about this: did you know our conservatory is 1 of only 3 public Victorian conservatories on the West Coast? Thank you, Metro Parks! Read all about it, or better yet, come visit. Entry is free, but you can support the conservatory with a donation, by volunteering, or becoming a member.
Balloon Roof focaccia, sourdough, and cookies alongside some other farmers’ market treasures from Reverend Al of Bona Fide Potents and ripe Sidhu Farms summer berries.
2. experience the beauty of truly fresh bread with Balloon Roof Baking co. - Various locations
When this bread is on offer, head out early, stand in line. Like a good concert or your favorite theme park ride, it’s worth the wait. Besides, standing in line at the farmers’ market is never dull, not if you’re really paying attention. If you’re not into people watching, plenty of paws trot by, plenty of tails wag along. When I’ve showed up on the early side at the Proctor Farmers’ Market for this bread, I’ve been rewarded by a wide array of choices from classic (don’t even think about calling in “plain”) sourdough to sourdough with caramelized onions and gruyere baked in, from savory buns to perfectly crisp cookies.
I bake bread at home, my Mom baked it growing up, once in a while a sweet client will share baked goods with us, so the true goodness of good baking is not a stranger in my life, and still I love this bread! If baking isn’t part of your family life—or it’s just been so long since you tasted and smelled bread prepared by hand and baked in a hot oven that very day—the memory of good bread might be faint enough that you wonder what all the fuss is about. Please give yourself a reminder.
Baked in Fife and available at the Proctor Farmers’ Market, Field Bar, and elsewhere as the season progresses. (And we’re hoping Balloon Roof makes a return to The Delightful Market once it’s repaired, renovated, and reopened.)
3. Loop the Lake at Wapato Park - South End
Lace-up, leash-up and head-out around the 9/10 mile Wapato Lake loop.
I still remember the word “Wapato” from when my family lived in the South End until I was four years old. Nearly 30 years later Michael and I moved into that neighborhood for a few years and Wapato became part of my life again. The off-leash park was our second back yard while our dog was a crazy puppy, but the park is so much more than that. Wapato is a beautiful old park where flower beds burst with colorful annuals around the historic pergola in the spring and summer months. Metro Parks tells us the lake was formed by the movement of glaciers around 15,000 years ago and the park opened for visitors in 1889. In the many years between those eras indigenous people spent time at the lake and foraged for the wappato plant growing in the wetlands. So there’s history here, as everywhere, and plenty of wondering to be done about the people on the shores over the centuries, and plenty of pondering about the land as it once was. And pondering and wondering are well done while wandering which makes the lake loop a rewarding path any time of year. If you follow the main loop (all paved and flat) it’s 9/10 of a mile. Go twice if your head still feels full and needs another round, or go north beyond the paved path to reach the pipeline trail. This narrow trail takes you over the Wapato wetlands and connects back to the main loop trail. I’ve spotted a Barred Owl out there so keep an eye out for wildlife resting in the branches. You’ll surely see water birds and squirrels too (if you don’t see the squirrels, don’t worry, your dog will let you know they’re there.)
4. Embark on a treasure hunt in Tacoma’s Antique Row - Downtown
Tacoma's Antique Row is a neighborhood unto itself. Downtown, on Broadway, extending north from S. 9th St., it may seem ordinary enough from the outside. But enter in, and you'll find it's a destination for whiling away the hours of a gray day, a street for discovery, a place where treasure is sought, surprises are found, where rare gems of days gone by will catch your eye and strike your fancy. Go empty handed (perhaps with a pocket book), and return home with untold vintage delights, or at least the memory of them, now tucked away in some secret corner of the treasure chest inside your mind. Go. Don't be afraid. The shopkeepers are kind.
Treasure might be a chandelier or globe light for your dining room, the My Little Pony lost to one of those times it sounded like a good idea to donate your favorite possessions, a cookie jar in the shape of a cowboy boot (with spurs), or an ivory frock trimmed in ribbon and lace. Only you know what strikes your fancy—and often you don’t know either until the moment you’re struck.
Perhaps we'll meet on Antique Row one day, gazing at a shelf of fanciful salt and pepper shakers or pining over antique colored pencil drawings of beautiful bouquets. Wishing you luck wherever the search may lead.
5. Drink ginger beer at the mule - South tacoma way
We just think you should go to South Tacoma Way once in a while and visit The Mule while you’re there and fill up a growler with fresh housemade ginger beer. You can drink it straight (it’s nonalcoholic) or mix it into a cocktail. Ginger’s good for digestion, lemon is bright, reminiscent of summer, Italian terraces, and childhood, sugar is sweet, but not too sweet with the ginger and the lemon and the carbonation so just go ahead and try it and don't worry anymore about it. It’s going to be delicious.
You can take it home and keep it all for yourself, or take it home and share it, or stay at The Mule—in the dark moody interior, or out on the covered patio—order some pickled herring and soft pretzels, and actually enjoy being the designated driver this time.
You can read our first 5 Good Things and our 5 Good Things Vol. 2 if you missed them last year. And we welcome you to tell us some of your good things too. See you around Tacoma!
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