Outdoors
There are few ways you can enjoy everything that makes the Northwest so awesome all at once, but take a cruise to Blake Island and you can do it all, from quintessentially Northwest views to food to history. Blake Island is only accessible by boat. If you don't have your
Military Life
Although Anna Grimm grew up in Washington state, falling in love with her husband Jeremiah Madden, a master sergeant in the Air Force, has taken her around the world and back during the past seven years. "When we met, I was working in Seattle, and he was stationed in Hawaii. I
News Front
In 2013, Americans ranked cyber attacks as the top threat to the country, second in danger to the current class of terrorists. This year in a recent Pew Research Center poll, ISIS and Iran's nuclear arms program polled first while cyber attacks ranked second, placing ahead of global economic instability, infectious
Music
Karaoke can be a divisive thing: it's implicitly designed to let the singer let off a little bit of steam, to picture themselves fronting a band, to get their moment in the spotlight without anyone judging them. Karaoke is a place for amateurs to imagine being professionals, and I believe
South Sound Cinema
Going to the movies in 2016 is sort of a depressing experience. You plunk down $12-15 just to get in, then $10 or more for popcorn, soda, candy, and whatever else you like to munch on. The days of sneaking in food are long past us. Then you sit down
Features
I've grown up and spent 90 percent of my life in Tacoma, and like any good son of Grit City, the candy-cane-colored Frisko Freeze sign is seared into my brain forever. Frisko has always been a favorite of mine, and it's one of the first places I take Tacoma newbies.
Military Life
Once a military family receives orders to PCS, one of the very first things they discuss is housing options. Will they live on post or off post? Will they rent or buy? No matter where a military family finds themselves, there are lots of options on where to live. If
Travel
Outlet malls are well worth the time to visit. As I walked around the mall in North Bend, I marveled at the variety of products offered by such stores as Banana Republic and Lane Bryant to Kitchen Collection and Pendleton. Outlet malls feature scores of stores offering well-known consumer product brands, with
Outdoors
Ready to join the growing peloton and pedal around Pierce County? For those who like to ride their bicycles, the county has just published its seventh version of the Pierce County Bike Map. The free map focuses on the on-road bikeways, such as roads with wide lanes, paved shoulders, and designated bicycle
Attractions
Many of history's most important moments required documents of some sort. When Einstein discovered the theory of relativity, he had to write it down somewhere. If someone wrote a book or a play or an opera, there was always a first draft. Generals didn't have Microsoft Word to type out
Attractions
Most shopping malls really aren't that different from each other. Sure, you can visit the Tacoma Mall and feed your Cinnabon addiction, but the mall doesn't do a whole lot to differentiate itself from any other successful, middle-class mall around the country. If you want a true, 100 percent Tacoma
Outdoors
To be honest, if you're looking for a perfect, multi-faceted park, visit Point Defiance. However, this is supposed to be about hidden gems, right? If you're constantly being named one of the best city parks and running trail destinations in the country, you forfeit being underrated. You know what is
Outdoors
It's one of the oldest nautical legends in the book: The giant sea creature with unending tentacles that destroys ships and devours sailors. Whatever you want to call it - the Kraken, the Hydra, Jerry - tales of sea monsters have been around for as long as people have traveled
Features
There are a lot of things that make a bar successful, and without question, a good happy hour is one of them. Nearly every, pub, bar, tavern, restaurant in town has a signature twist intended to bring us in to partake. And with so many to choose from, how do
Online Interactive Guides
Welcome to the Pacific Northwest. In order to help you get the most out of your stay or visit, we present our bi-yearly guide on what to do and see. Click the link below and start your journey today. Click here to view our interactive 2016 Summer
Music
Even in a town as small as Tacoma sometimes feels, it's still fairly easy to lose touch with those around you, to retreat underground for long periods at a time, only to emerge, squinting at the sun and seeing your friends once again. This is not even taking into consideration
Music
Where were you on April 28, 1994? That's the day All-4-One's cover of "I Swear," originally a chart-topping country track from John Michael Montgomery, was released to the public. That crooned rendition also hit #1 and stayed there for 11 weeks. If you're a member of Generation X, there's a
Arts
Elise Richman's unique installation, "Spectral," may be difficult for many to grasp, but should be worth the effort to really look and contemplate deeply. Call it a wall hanging, a painting or assemblage with plastics, this piece explores properties of light and color and was inspired, according to a statement from
Arts
On Tacoma's eastside, Swan Creek Park is a somewhat hidden and undiscovered-to-some 373-acre oasis with an active salmon stream, a vast network of pedestrian trails and a 50-acre mountain bike trail system. It's also home to a food forest, which is a one-acre plot permaculture garden utilizing the natural processes
Stage
New Muses Theatre Company is among a handful of lesser-known companies that produces excellent theater for mostly sparse audiences. By my count, there were only 10 people in the audience opening night of Luigi Pirandello's absurdist play Six Characters in Search of an Author. The actors outnumbered the audience by
