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sheltered monumnet wall at War Memorial Park
Picnic Shelter along Beach: no tables though
Central Meadow with Puget Sound in background
Chambers Bay Golf Course imitates old world course
Tacoma has a shiny new convention center which is the second largest in Washington State. Designed by the Bellevue firm of Mulvanny G2, the center is a bit boxy perhaps, but it is certainly very sleek and dramatic. I like the way that it uses glass for dramatic effect!
I have already covered the Thea Foss Esplanade (a series of walkways interspered with private lands) from the 11th Avenue Bridge going south to Waterway Park.
This tip covers the Walkway going north from the 11th Avenue Bridge.
As with the secion of the Esplanade that runs south from the bridge, there is a mixture of modern walkway in concrete, older sections of the walkway on the original piers and woodwork, and some sections that are simply not there at all yet.
Thankfully, this part of Dock Street isn't so busy as to make walking on the sidewalk completely miserable, but just realize that there are only segments of the "Esplanade" that have been completed along the waterfront.
There are only one or two sections of the walkway that are in shade, and most of the time this would not be a problem. However, on the rare hot day, it is hard to find a pleasant place to sit.
There are several public access docks here, and it isn't unusual to see people in kayaks or otherwise out on the water enjoying themselves.
The esplanade eventually comes to an end at Thea's Park, which has shade, open grass, and a small beach of sorts.
The park benches here are a unique "walkover" design that I have only seen used in various railroad passenger cars and streetcars. The bench direction can be switched by simply pulling the seat back to the opposite side of the bench.
In a few places you will find the walkway also has a view of Mount Rainier.
The only restaurant of any sort along this section of the walkway is Rock the Dock.
You will also find the Foss Waterway Seaport Museum on the north side of a building that is second from the north end.
The far end of the Esplanade features Thea's Park, which a testament to the efforts of an early Tacoma businesswoman.
Just north of the intersection between Ruston Way and Alder Way, you will come across two waterfront restaurants sitting on pilings above Commencement Bay. Between these two restaurants you will find a small memorial to Tacoma's fallen firefighters.
The most obvious land mark here is Fireboat Number 1, which was built in 1929 and served Tacoma until 1983, when it was last used as a training vessel for the crews on the boats that replaced it. This boat is located on the far northern end of the waterfront complex that makes up the two restaurants, the firefighter's memorial, and the fire boat.
The small park around the plaza offers a little bit of a view out over commencement bay, but the primary occupant of the public plaza is the memorial area.
On the water side of the memorial plaza, and slightly to the south, is a small rock garden plaza that overlooks Commencement Bay to a more complete extent.
How to Get Here: Ruston Way north to a parking lot that serves this small park, plus Duke Ruston Chowder House (3327 Ruston Way, Tacoma, WA 98402-5309) and Katie Downs Waterfront Tavern (3211 Ruston Way, Tacoma, WA 98402-5334). The nearest street intersection is Alder Way & Ruston Way. The nearest bus route is #11 at approximately North Proctor Street and 34th Street. It is necessary to walk east on 36th street and down hill on Alder Street.
Note that this park and plaza are connected to a number of other parks along Ruston Way by the Ruston Way walkway, which runs through this park. For more information about this walkway, see my Ruston Way walkway tip.
This is part of the series of tips about Pierce County's Chambers Bay Facility, which contains a huge number of different features. My main tourist tip about this facility is located at
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tp/204854/
and there are links from there to the various tips that discuss the sub-pieces of this wonderful park, golf course, trail, beach, and educational facility.
On September 16, 2010 the new pedestrian bridge connecting the Chambers Creek Park and other facilities to the beach was opened to the public in a fairly typical western Washington cold and wet day.
The construction of this bridge over the railroad main line opens an entire section of Puget Sound beach that has been closed to public access for over 100 years. The section of beach that can now be accessed from Chambers Bay is approximately 2.5 miles in length, though that depends a bit on the tides.
The bridge features an observation deck that overlooks the water and two staircases that drop down to beach level. The summit of the bridge is some 24 feet above the railroad line. The current structure is some 900 feet in length, and cost $3.8 million to build. $3.15 million of that came from state grants and approximately $650,000 of it came from the county sewer utility.
There are eventual plans for the structure to be extended out into Puget Sound where it will connect a floating dock with the park, and the decayed industrial dock will be removed. However, for now the structure provides an important link between the beach and the popular park facilitiy on the other side of the tracks, plus a view point at the end of the walkway.
Pierce County hopes to have historical and directional signs installed on the bridge at some point in the future.
How to Get Here: Please see my general Chambers Bay tip, which is located at
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tp/204854/
as it is somewhat complicated.
MSM is the place to go for the absolute BEST sub sandwiches!! Forget Subway, Blimpie, or Quiznos, come to MSM for the real deal! You won't be dissapointed! :) Mike's Deluxe Sub. But any of their subs are excellent. They have a variety of other sandwiches, food, and drinks too.
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Address: 8710 South Hosmer Street, Tacoma, Washington, 98444, United States
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