My Neck of the Woods - Fort Nisqually

Fort Nisqually is literally in the middle of Tacoma. One second you are on a city street, complete with houses and fast food and a right turn later you are on the five mile drive that winds through the old growth forest of Point Defiance Park where one fork dumps you at the zoo and the other drops you into the middle of the 1800's at Fort Nisqually. (Links take you to two different pages about the fort)

While on a trading expedition down the Sound last Spring with 8 or 9 men, I applied 12 days of our time to the erecting of a store-house 15 by 20...This is all the semblance of a settlement there is at this moment: But little as it is, it possesses an advantage over all the other settlements we have made on the Coast.

--Archibald McDonald,
Founder of Fort Nisqually
May 1833

Our family visits the zoo a few times during the year and we usually do a stop at the fort or the logging trains for a short while just to see what is happening, but once a year we make it a point to go to the Brigade Encampment. There are a small number of recreationists on staff throughout the year to handle group tours and educational programs, but for the Brigade Encampment over 100 reenactors pour in from all over to assume their roles of traders, pioneers, Hudson Bay personnel, and Native Americans to give you a chance to truly see life in and around the fort more than 150 years ago.




Last year due to a great deal of construction, the encampment was limited and we didn't attend, so we are truly looking forward to August and seeing all of the new changes and rebuilding at the Fort based on the original architectural drawings and archaeological research that has been done.

David loves that he can be hired by Hudson Bay along with all the other children in the "Engagé for the Day" program where they can take part in actual camp activities learning new skills, such as firestarting with flint and steel, blacksmithing, or spinning wool! It is a great lesson before he has to return to Anime and Wii.

Next month for the first time I want to go for the Spring event of Queen Victoria's birthday. This one is a shade more for the adults though children are welcome as the ladies in their hoop skirts invite you in for the celebration and the bagpipers in full regalia gather to honor her majesty.




If you are in the Tacoma region, the whole of Point Defiance is not to be missed as a respite from the fast pace of modern life with activities for the whole family, but don't miss Fort Nisqually for a real bit of time travel.

My Neck of the Woods - Northwest Trek

My neck of the woods is literally the woods. Northwest Trek is a 723 acre park that was once a private property since donated to the State of Washington and part of the State Park System. It features more than 200 animals in a natural habitat with disguised fencing to separate predators from prey. In addition it is as a stop over for migrating birds as well as visitors from surrounding wood areas.

You have your choice of riding the tram around the park or taking a leisurely walk on the many hiking paths that meander around the various enclosures. There are many programs for students and tour groups to introduce them to conservation and the lives of the animals that surround them. During the summer, you can camp out overnight to listen and view the many nocturnal animals, and many families wouldn't miss the Santa Train in winter.

What makes NW Trek truly special is the sense that you really are in the woods with the animals all around you. It is a truly peaceful place that restores your connection with the earth and creation.

My Neck of the Woods - Friend In Motion

It's only the second week and already I'm cheating on the mission to write about "My Neck of the Woods". This isn't really my neck of the woods. Just the neck of the woods for someone else and a place I visited that if you happen to ever get there, you don't want to miss. This is Hamish. He is a fully functional Highland Cattle bull and as with most highland cattle, one of the gentlest creatures you are ever likely to meet as long as you don't touch his horns. He doesn't like that and will toss his head and you don't want to be on the receiving end of those points by accident.

Many of you have asked about the little Hielan' Coo on my sidebar. That is there in honor of Hamish whom I met while traveling Scotland five years ago. Before I've posted actual pictures of him, but while fiddling around You Tube, I found a video of some tourists who met Hamish and had a handy video cam. It was good to see a fondly remembered animal still in good health and just as good natured as ever (despite tourist squeals).

I also found another tourist who was as taken with Hamish as I was, possibly even more so since she took a whole album of pictures. Should you ever have reason to visit the Trossachs area of Scotland (and how could you miss Loch Lomond), be sure to drop in at the shopping mall (all the tourists buses go there). If you happen to have a carrot on you, it will definitely be appreciated.

My Neck of the Woods - Museum of Glass

Shelly over at This Eclectic Life has started a new feature for Saturdays called "My Neck of The Woods". The rules are simple in order to participate:

1. Talk about something that you have visited, so you can give a first-hand review of it for the readers.

2. Title it “My Neck Of The Woods [+ the name of the attraction or the town],” and tag it with “travel” and your state, so people could track them all on the Internet.

3. Come back to my own posting for that Saturday to let me know, so we can share links.

Since this is the first week, I'll start out gently. Tacoma, Washington where I live is sort of the red headed step child of the state. It isn't the magnificent big city of Seattle. It isn't the State Capitol of Olympia. It isn't one of the glorious natural areas or Indian homelands. It isn't even one of the quirkier little kitschy ethnic hamlets complete with faux Swiss Chalets and Alpenhorns. It's one of those basic bedroom communities that are almost somewhere else. The really big nearby areas of "somewhere else" are Mount Rainier where we will go eventually if it doesn't blow up first and Fort Lewis which gives the area a heavy military presence also reserved for another date.

In recent years there has been an attempt to revive the older portions of town, create interest and activity around an industrial (Tacoma Aroma) port, and encourage the outlying home owners to come into the vicinity of downtown. The majority of this activity is centered around two areas: Tacoma Dome (Another Saturday) and The Museum District. You get one third of this area today: The Museum of Glass.

You reach the Museum of Glass by walking under the Seaform Pavilion (below right) past the wall of more than 100 Chihuly glass sculptures (below left) and across the Chihuly Bridge to enter the modernistic glass cone (yes it is glass) that dominates the landscape (above center). The pictures on the page do not do it justice, but can only give you a hint of the artwork ahead.

Once inside you have your choice of three different galleries that display glass in all its forms of blown, etched, and molded into both fantastic forms and usable items. If you are curious about the how these beautiful items are created there is a working Hot Shop with amphitheater and lecturing tour guides pointing out the various stages of creativity as you watch skilled artisans create with molten glass.

Once you have marveled at all the possibilities there is a museum shop with objects from quirky glass animals and inexpensive marbles to fabulous art works valued into the thousands. So if you get off a plane at Seatac International Airport and take the freeway the wrong direction to end up in the Tac part instead of the Sea part, do make the time for a little glass work while you are here.