Tacoma Fun

After looking at the house on the water on Saturday, we went to the local store, and Ann ran into one of two people we know in the entire state of Washington.

On Sunday, we went to the United Methodist Church at Brown’s Point (https://brownspointchurch.org/), up on the hill on the north side of town. It’s a beautiful chapel with a clear glass wall right up front – kind of overlooking Puget Sound, but more looking directly into the trees right next to it. We spoke to the pastor as we were leaving, and she asked where we were from. When I said Missouri, she said, “Oh, do you know Kim Jenne?” They were friends from seminary. Kim not only works in my office but is also my supervisor. I was on a zoom call with her the next morning.

We took a walk through the park, which is a block away, called Wright Park. Being an arboretum, the trees are labeled. Ann appreciated this. Not that she doesn’t know all trees, but after a full career in Missouri, she is still not all that familiar with a few of the trees here, like Monkey Puzzle for instance.

After church, we stopped by a Ukrainian grocery store. It was packed. We got a good deal on some chicken and a few other things.

I walked through Wright Park during the day later in the week, and at first it appeared there was some kind of high school cheerleading event going on, but then I realized it was a cross-country meet, and the cheerleaders were just being stationed at strategic locations to do their cheering.

Later that night, we walked back over to Wright Park, and as we approached it, we heard music. We couldn’t tell if it was live or not. We walked into the park, and there was a four-piece string band playing folk tunes. In total darkness (there are few lights in Wright Park). Just a few yards away, you couldn’t see them at all. One of them was playing a string bass, a rather hefty instrument to carry into the shadows of the park. We walked across the park, and on the other side (about 1/3 of a mile) there was a couple sitting on a picnic table, and one of whom was smoking weed, the other who was playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow on a euphonium.

Friday night we walked across the park again and had dinner at Doyle’s Public House and split a cobb salad and a brisket bowl. We ended up in a big conversation with a couple of lawyers sitting next to us drinking Guiness. One was a public defender. He told us not to go into Wright Park after dark.

We had been in Tacoma and hadn't seen Mt. Rainier yet. Although we had nothing but blue skies and sunshine, apparently, there was a haze obstructing the few, perhaps due to wildfires. Then suddenly on our walk, there it was. 

After dinner, we went to the Grand Cinema in downtown Tacoma and watched One Battle After Another. I think it was opening night for it. I’d never heard of it and was expecting a basic action movie. There was a lot more to it than that. I’d recommend it.

After the movie, we had dessert at a very nice little restaurant called Over the Moon Café and split a little cake. As we were getting home, I got an email from Citibank that showed a charge for $133. We had split a dessert and had water to drink. I left a big tip, but not that big. I called and they said they had accidentally run the wrong bill on the wrong card and had already put it back through to refund it. I checked my account, and it was refunded.

I thought maybe they’d refund what I paid for the dessert as well, but we weren’t that lucky.