The Chicago Tribune Visits Tacoma

Every once in a while we come across a story on Tacoma in the national media.  It’s usually pretty fluffy.  Tacoma, the “dirty dusty old jewel in the South Puget Sound”, is reemerging from Seattle’s shadow.  Check out the museums.  Look at all the new condos.  Blah blah…  Generally speaking most of these stories aren’t overly interesting to those people that live in Tacoma.  Today we were surprised to find a reasonably intriguing piece in the Chicago Tribune’s Travel section about Tacoma that goes beyond the downtown revitalization story.  In fact, the author didn’t once mention the burgeoning renaissance of this overlooked town.  And this Chicagoan wasn’t even tempted to drive up I-5 to Seattle for dim sum.

The start of the story doesn’t give me much hope.  “If you’ve never heard of Dale Chihuly, you must not know Tacoma.”  Not this story again.  Yet, Robert Cross of the Chicago Tribune writes something a little bit different.  Yes, it starts by talking about Chihuly, the Bridge of Glass, and the Museum of Glass.  The descriptions, though, are unique.  He calls the bridge a distraction and a ‘traffic hazard.’  This is actually a compliment.  In describing the Museum, Cross states, “Anyone who thinks artistic creation is somewhat effete should visit the Hot Shop and see the sweating, begoggled glass workers turning red-hot blobs into aesthetically pleasing objects.”  We’re starting to like this guy.

The story leaves the Museum of Glass and heads to Union Station, the Washington State History Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum and the University of Washington – Tacoma campus (which he calls Washington University-Tacoma, curiously.)  Then, the writer does something we don’t see that often – he left downtown.  We read about the Karpeles Manuscript Museum across from Wright Park.  He actually devotes a reasonable amount of space to Karpeles.  When was the last time you were there?  We read about the orchids in the conservatory.  In fact, “Point Defiance Park has a charming zoo and beautiful beaches, but I found more contentment in Wright Park…”  Crazy.  You don’t hear that every day. 

Link to The Chicago Tribune