August 19, 2013 A Little bit of History

My brother was leaving town tonight on a Greyhound, so I took him all around the area. We drove the 5 mile drive. We took a few photos in the park: Owen Beach and the Mountaineer Tree (the tree is over 450 years old!) for his dad and my step-dad, Don. Don came to Washington almost 20 years ago from New Jersey. He really loved the Point Defiance area. I'm not sure that the park has changed all that much, but I know the Waterfront has! The waterfront hadn't changed much until this whole new area came in. When I think about the history of Tacoma in general I can think of all of the major and subtle changes. Downtown and Hilltop was a huge crime area just 20 years ago. Safe Streets, a nonprofit, was largely responsible for the clean-up in the area. As for the waterfront area, I'm sad to see the tunnel is closed off. I think it would have been cool if we could at least walk through the area.

Chris and I stopped down at the waterwalk. He was so impressed with the views and really liked all of the attractions. I wish he would have seen the area before so he would understand what a huge undertaking it is to add all of these magnificent things. When he comes to visit next year he is going to be so impressed with the retail shops and additions.

August 11, 2013 Sunday Funday

Today was one my favorite days down at Point Ruston. We went to the waterfront in a few different areas to get pictures, but we coordinated friends to come down to do the 9 friends photo. It was fun to show people the new area and talk about the possibility of living down at the water. Though it was overcast, the weather was nice enough to wear shorts and a tank top. I was pretty surprised how clean the area was given there was a huge concert there the day before, but I guess it makes sense that they're on it. It was a happy coincidence that one of the friends that showed up for the picture has a family member doing the contest. She hasn't quite gotten past the trivia portion yet, so she has a lot to catch up on, but after the phone call he had with her I think she will get on it :)

I also attempted to get a cool photo of Jack Hyde Park, but it's not quite good enough, so I haven't turned this one in.

We had a pretty long conversation with a tenant as she was passing by to go home. We got to chatting; it turns out she was the 2nd tenant in the Copperline Apartments. She told us about the improvements they plan to make in the area and the features she's looking forward to the best. I was a bit disappointed that they will only have boutique-type stores in the shopping area. I think it would work with the area if there were a few shops that were priced toward middle-class shoppers. I've seen some really cool shops that were very worthy of shopping in. If the area is only filled with boutiques then it keeps some of the population from being able to shop there. We will see though. I know they have very smart people making sure everything in the area will make sense.

Something cool that she mentioned was the fact that they will be having more apartments on top of the movie theater. The other apartments will accommodate more families as they will have a lot of 3-bedroom apartments. It sounds like 247 Fitness is an excellent deal. Right now they have founder's specials for $19 a month. And if you rent from the Copperline Apartments you get a gym membership for one person for free. That's a pretty good perk. She doesn't know when the Forza will be up and going. The gym and the Forza are the two things I'm really looking forward to at first! One other thing she told us was about the deal they have between the Apartments and the Condominiums. Apparently if you decide to buy a condo from Copperline and decide to rent from the apartments first, they will apply the rent from the apartment to the mortgage to the condo. How cool!

After a few friends left a few more showed up...with like a million kids. :) We played with a volleyball, hacky sack, and rode the long board around. We stayed past sunset, but the kids had to get to sleep, of course, so we didn't stay too long in the dark. It was pretty windy, but the breeze off of the water made it a cooler night than I expected. Before we left we took a fun picture with everyone plus all of the kiddies.

August 8th, 2013 A walk in the Sunset

So this post is actually about my time last night on the Waterfront. I don't know how most blogs go, but I always like to take some time to reflect on my day and then post about it the next day. My plan was to get my Forza picture. There are a few Forza's that were my favorite locations that either closed or one in particular that has the same owner, but changed the name to another store in honor of the tragedy of the police shooting. However, having just recently graduated from UW Tacoma I definitely have some favorite Forzas. I chose the in UP that's nearest to a family friend's house. I also like it because the walls are awesomely decorated. The location is also really close to Grandview Drive as well. So, I ended up leaving later than I planned and got there about 10 minutes before they closed. The indoor shot was really not working out, so I was planning to do an outside shot with the door in the background, but the sun wasn't working out. Here are some of the "fails"

             

This was basically the view I wanted to do, but with me in it:

We stopped off at Point Defiance so Tony could do his pagoda shot. What he got was sooo cool! He found this little obscure pond and found the perfect angle to get the reflection of the building in it. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little jealous of his shot, but happy he found it. I like the one I turned it because it shows the beautiful architecture, but his is really creative! I saw the entrance sign at the park and the sun was shining just right, so I stopped to get a photo of that. One of my "25 reasons why I like the waterfront" is the proximity to Pt. Defiance Park, so I will likely use this photo in my 25 reasons collage:

Anyhow, so we decided to do the sunset photos down by the Waterwalk. It was a beautiful night. I checked-in at the Giant Pacific Octopus and took a cool pic and did some effects to it:

We took some photos, but mainly it was about enjoying the night. I'm really getting used to being down in that area. I know winning is a bit of a long shot, but I still like to dream. We saw quite a few families and people hanging around. There was a couple doing a photo shoot of one another. Then they stood together in each other's arms admiring the Olympic Mountains. That inspired me to take the photo I submitted for the sunset. I think one of the magical things about the waterfront is really the opportunity to connect back to the world. We are so busy in our jobs, lives, etc that sometimes we forget to step back and enjoy the day and the world we live in. When I see the couple I saw just kissing and taking cute photos of one another I know that it is a night they will remember. As for me, I will be there tomorrow again doing some photos for the contest, but I also plan to pack a picnic and hang out at Marine Park. That's a great place for a picnic and some Frizbee. I'll see if some friends want to join me as well. OK, well until tomorrow...thanks for reading :)