Tacoma, WA

If you’d love to walk in color and high definition, Tacoma’s Chihuly Bridge of Glass will satisfy you. I’ve walked this bridge and waterfront, pretty much, in every season and I have not been disappointed. I’ve got my own tour program when I have visitors, and the Bridge of Glass is on my list. You don’t have to drive to Seattle to find an art walk, its right here in Tacoma. And I’m always ready to show it off like it’s mine.

But, reality is, the last three times I’ve been here since this years beginning was to walk my toddler and my post-partum baby fat. During the whole colorful walk, I don’t even realize that I’m exercising. Parking might take a tiny string of patience. Only twice I’ve started at the waterfront end and parked on Dock Street, but I just prefer to use the one hour street parking on Pacific. Walk between the Washington State Museum and Union Station off of Pacific Avenue and you will be led to the bridge that crosses over the busy I-705.

This bridge leads you to the first part of the tour, the Seaform Pavilion. The glass art is above you in a long ceiling of glass-blown genius by Mr. Dale Chihuly. A rainbow of glass resembling sea shells, sand dollars and jellyfish spill above our heads. No matter who I’ve brought here, adult or child, they’ve got a slacked jaw and glazed eyes as they look above, like a newborn looking at a crib mobile. (I’ve been told I do it too.)

Next, the Venetian Wall is like two separate, humongous shelves of glass art, different colors, different shapes, figures I didn’t know could be made by human hands. Why is this guy so good? So, we each spend about 10 minutes trying to pick our number one favorite. It’s so hard to choose just one! This entire walk, including the waterfront, is a photographers dream. I’m no match to the professional next to me with his monster Canon.

After passing over the bridge, you enter into the pavilion where you can access the Glass Museum entrance. Lately, I seem to make it only during after business hours which are fine by me, because the eye candy hasn’t stopped. Just past the Amphitheater, Baby and me take a nice pleasant cascading walk down to the water front where there’s even more water on Thea Foss waterway to continue my exercise. But, the genuine work out is the journey back up the waterfall terraces. By the time I’m back up to the Venetian Wall, my legs are starting to feel the burn because I’ve kept a brisk pace. But heads up, there’s a coffee shop at the end that I always underestimate in the beginning. It’s Cascade Deli and they’ve got free WIFI, snacks, and tables in their cute little café. One day I’m going to finish this exhilarating and stimulating walk without one of their delicious iced mochas!