Worth the drive: 4 reasons to head to Tacoma

Published 1:30 am Friday, September 2, 2016

4 reasons to travel south

Haven’t been to Tacoma in awhile?

September is a good month to visit, and four museums right downtown make it worth the drive.

LeMay — America’s Car Museum, located next to the Tacoma Dome, is the largest car museum in North America with 165,000 square feet of display space. Most of the cars shown are from the vast collection of the late Harold LeMay, who, while running his garbage collection business, collected 3,500 vehicles. The car museum is located at 2702 East D St. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Tickets are $18, with discounts for military, seniors, students and children. Want to drive a simulator? Packages are available. Call 877-902-8490. More information is at www.americascarmuseum.org.

The Museum of Glass is recognizable by its tilted 90-foot chimney cone wrapped in steel. The museum includes a glass hot shop (thus the need for the chimney) where you can sit in the 180-seat theater to watch artists at work blowing glass. Arguably the world’s most famous glass artist, Dale Chihuly is a Tacoma native. Check out the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, a 500-foot pedestrian bridge that links the museum with the street above. The museum, located at 1801 Dock St., is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $15, with discounts for seniors, military, students and AAA members. Call 888-421-5179. More information is at museumofglass.org. The glass museum includes a cafe, which is a nice place to eat while you are on museum row.

The Tacoma Art Museum shows through Sept. 16 an exhibit of art from its growing permanent collection. The art museum, which is becoming of the main repository of 20th century Northwest art, is located at 1701 Pacific Ave. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with longer hours (until 8 p.m.) on third Thursdays. Tickets are $15, with discounts for families, seniors, military and students. Call 253-272-4258. More information is at www.tacomaartmuseum.org.

Washington State History Museum is a great place for history buffs. (Before you go in, though, check out a beautiful piece of history, the former railway station up the street. More than 100 years old, Union Station, 1717 Pacific Ave., is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It displays a grand chandelier designed by Dale Chihuly.) Coming Sept. 10, the history museum exhibits “A Revolution You Can Dance To: Indie Music in the Northwest,” sponsored by Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic. The history museum is located at 1911 Pacific Ave. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Tickets are $12, with discounts for seniors, students and military. Call 888-238-4373. More information is at www.washingtonhistory.org.

— Gale Fiege, Herald Writer