Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/299622
42 g o i n g p l a c e s | s u m m e r 2 0 1 4 (above) mahesh thapa/museum of glass, (opposite) barb sligl Once a working-class way station between Seattle and Portland, sea- side Tacoma's claim to fame was hav- ing the largest lumber mill in the world, something musician Neko Case alludes to in her lyrics. She grew up here and touches upon Tacoma's beleaguered history as a declining blue-collar town in the song "rice All American": "I wanna tell you about my hometown/It's a dusty old jewel in the South Puget Sound/ Where the factories churn/And the timber's all cut down." It's a love song of sorts, and I listen to it on the train from Vancou- ver, B.C., gliding past still coves, ancient trees and long stretches of driftwood-strewn beach. "People who built it they love it like I do/ere was hope in the trainyard of some- thing inspired," sings Case. Her ode to Tacoma is even more poignant given that something inspired has indeed transpired. It's that inspiration I'm seeking on a weekend jaunt south of the bor- der with my beau, starting with the leisurely five-hour-plus train ride that drops us off within minutes of downtown, where rough-and-tumble has mor phed into the Tacoma Museum District. Here, six world- class museums within blocks of each other are the nexus of what's become one of America's most walkable cities. We stroll from the Tacoma Ar t Museum over the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, past the intricate, almost ani- mated glass creations of the Venetian Wall to the restored urban waterfront and Museum of Glass. Its towering 27-metre Hot Shop cone, itself a mix of old and new, references industrial-age chimneys in a starkly modern design. It's Tacoma's new hallmark, where young men and women stoke blazing fires as in times gone by, but with modern-day passion. Tacoma On the edge of Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest, a former timber town sparkles with glass art and a hip new vibe Turnaround by barb Sligl W hat do Andy Warhol, Heath Ledger, Neko Case and Dale Chihuly have in common? Tacoma. Really. Pop artist and icon, tragic actor, indie-darling musician and living-legend glassblower – all have a connection to the city just south of Seattle largely known as the other half of SeaTac airport. ere's an artistic pull in this once down-and-out port and it's growing stronger. is is Tacoma's turnaround. The dream-like shapes of Dale Chihuly's Seaform Pavilion on the Bridge of Glass. p42-47Tacoma.indd 42 14-04-10 2:28 PM