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 7th, 2013 Why I love the Ruston Way Waterfront

So this is actually a challenge under the ambassador headline. I am asked to write about "why I love the Ruston Way Waterfront". I don't mind because I would love to talk about the Ruston Way Waterfront. I've been doing this contest for a little over 4 days and I've been back to the waterfront 6 times since then. This summer I've probably been there 20+ times. If I get an opportunity to cruise the waterfront I do. I love to see the people walking, biking, rollerblading, falling in love, walking their dogs (sometimes cats), catching fish, playing Frizbee, running, skateboarding, duck gazing, exploring, contemplating life, etc. I've done most all of those things. Does anyone remember the man who was stuck in the early 90s and would play rad old music and wear old school roller skates and dance around all day everyday each summer.

There are so many small changes the waterfront has undergone over the past 14 years I've been coming here. The sundial is such a cool feature because it genuinely tells time. It's also a great photo opportunity. Here's a picture of my good friend Elizabeth partaking in this photo op sometime last year.

I was so stoked when they added the Tacoma Chinese Garden and Reconciliation Park a few years back. I watched it as it was built and looked forward to walking around the beautiful sites. One of my favorite parking spot for the waterfront includes under the bridge where a lot of cars don't park. I like to start at one end of the waterfront and walk all the way down. Here's a fun pic of me and a few friends down there a few months ago.

Last, let's not forget to mention the amazing new addition to the Ruston Way Waterfront- the Waterwalk. This is a picture from the outskirts of the waterwalk from March of this year. Look at the colors!

As you can see I love going to the waterfront to take pictures. I spend most of my time there finding beautiful things. I can wait to go there later today to take more pictures for the contest.