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FULL DAY EXCURSIONS - South
TACOMA
A Day in Tacoma: Just 45 minutes south of Seattle and 20 minutes south of Sea-Tac International Airport, Tacoma offers a wealth of museum and cultural attractions. Start your tour in the city center — the heart of Tacoma's growing "museum mecca." The Washington State History Museum features interactive and multimedia exhibits, plus the largest collection of pioneer, Indian and Alaskan artifacts on the Pacific Coast. Adjacent is the 1911 Union Station, designed by the architects of New York's Grand Central Station; today it displays glass sculpture by renowned artist and Tacoma native Dale Chihuly. Free admission. Opened in July 2002, the Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art is a wonderful attraction, linked to the History Museum plaza by the 500 foot (150 meter) pedestrian Chihuly Bridge of Glass. The dramatic bridge showcases Chihuly's glass art worth $9 million. The Museum of Glass features a working "hot shop" where visitors can watch glass artists at work, then browse through the museum's additional exhibits. The Tacoma Art Museum opened in May 2003, housing among many other galleries a permanent display of the world's largest collections of Chihuly's early work. Other Tacoma museums include the Pioneer Museum of Motorcycles and the Harold E. LeMay Museum (automobiles and transportation.)
Pause for lunch at the Harmon Pub and Brewery, and sample wine at the Hoodsport Winery tasting room next door. Browse the antique shops and boutiques along that block, then head for Antique Row on Broadway for more collectibles. Visit the free Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum to see original letters and documents handwritten by some of history's most famous people. The W. W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory is a 1908 Victorian glass marvel housing 200 exotic species of plants and colorful seasonal displays. Free admission.
Drive to Point Defiance Park to see Fort Nisqually and Camp 6 Logging Exhibit. The reconstructed fort recreates life in a Hudson Bay trading post, circa 1855, with docents in period garb. Camp 6 illustrates the history of steam logging in Washington from the 1880s to the 1940s when "loggers were boss and steam was king!" Free admission.
MOUNT RAINIER
Mount Rainier Loop: Located 106 miles (170 km) southeast of Seattle, Mount Rainier dominates the skyline on clear days. Enroute from Seattle, stop at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park to see native animals roaming free in natural habitats. Take the one-hour tram ride to view moose, elk, caribou, bison, bighorn sheep, antelope and deer; then see predators such as grizzly bears, wolves and cougars in moat-separated habitats.
Continue to the Nisqually entrance of Mount Rainier National Park. Drive to Paradise, pausing at Longmire to see its small natural history museum. Paradise, perched at 5,400 feet (1,620 meters), offers unequalled views of Mount Rainier and the Nisqually Glacier. Facilities include a visitor center that features displays and a film presentation about the mountain. Visit the historic Paradise Inn with grand dining room, snack bar, cocktail lounge and gift shop. Both long and short hiking trails fan out from here. After departing the park, pass through Enumclaw (home of the King County Fair) and the historic coal-mining town of Black Diamond on your way back to Seattle.
Note: This tour features spectacular scenery best seen from late spring to early fall. The road to Paradise is kept open year round with snowplows, but the facilities there are open only mid-May through September. The amount of snowfall determines road accessibility and conditions throughout the park and surrounding area.
MOUNT ST. HELENS
Mount St. Helens: "Nature's Institute of Higher Learning." Truly, no other classroom or university can display the primordial power of the 1980 eruption, its ensuing destruction, or the enormity of regeneration two decades later. The incredible events leading to and following the eruption are recounted at world-class interpretive centers at Silver Lake, Hoffstadt Bluffs, Forest Learning Center, Coldwater Ridge and Johnston Ridge. Other major attractions include an aerial tour by helicopter or Cessna airplane, guided motorcoach tour, road trip through the blast zone, self-guided discovery drive loop tour, giant screen film show of the eruption, a hike to the crater, and overnight in the blast zone. Surrounding area attractions include national forests, wilderness areas, fish hatcheries, Lewis River waterfalls, Native American living history programs, Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens, Cedar Creek Grist Mill, Columbia River and Lake Sacajawea. |
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