Tours & Local Attractions
Our venue in downtown Tacoma is close to many great attractions - many of them walkable. We have also planned an “extra fare” tours to the Museum of Glass.
Extra Fare Tour
The Museum of Glass (downtown Tacoma) - Thursday September 1, 2022
Just a short distance from the convention hotel is a very special museum, The Museum of Glass, featuring 75,000 square feet of glass, glass blowing demonstrations and a gift shop. Your day will start with a short ride on the Tacoma Link light rail followed by a walk across the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, a stunning 225-foot pedestrian bridge, a tunnel of glass designed by the Pacific Northwest’s own Dale Chihuly. At the museum, you’ll enjoy a guided tour of the spectacular permanent collection including displays of production glass (19th and early 20th century), pieces from the Studio Glass movement (1960s - circa 2000) and contemporary glass (circa 2000 to present). Enjoy the temporary exhibitions highlighting the work of glass artists from around the world. Take a seat in the Hot Shop, a combination glass blowing studio and theater. Watch glass artists produce works from the small to the large in front of your eyes as a narrator describes each step in the process. It’s easy to lose track of time as you watch these artists produce one-of-a-kind pieces, but you’ll probably need to take a short break, so it is a quick walk for a lunch at one of Tacoma’s wonderful restaurants. Enjoy everything from burgers to fish and chips made with fresh regional seafood and other locally sourced ingredients. After lunch, stroll back to the museum to see anything you missed or do some shopping in the gift shop filled with art glass by contemporary craftsmen. From there, it’s just a short trip on the light rail back to the hotel.
Depart Hotel Murano at 10:00 AM, Thursday September 1
Lunch at 12:30 PM
Depart Museum of Glass at your leisure
Cost $50 per person, includes museum entry and lunch
Local Attractions
You can explore many of the local attractions in Tacoma here. Below of some of the ones that may be of interest to narrow gauge modelers…
Foss Waterway Seaport
705 Dock Street
Tacoma, WA 98402
https://fosswaterwayseaport.org/
Admission Charged
Distance from hotel: 0.9 Miles
Less than a mile from the convention hotel in the historic Balfour Dock building is Foss Waterway Seaport. Foss Waterway Seaport’s mission is to tell the story of Tacoma's maritime heritage past, present and future with the use of classic wooden boats, vessel name plates, historic photos and other artifacts. Foss Waterway Seaport is also the home of the Heritage Boat Shop where you can watch craftsman at work constructing and repairing wooden vessels.
Washington State History Museum
1911 Pacific Avenue
Tacoma, WA 98402
https://www.washingtonhistory.org/
Admission charge
Distance from hotel: 0.8 Miles
Discover the stories of Washington's past, exploring the states unique people and places through the use of interactive exhibits and displays. Learn about major industries which shaped the state: farming, logging, coal-mining, dam-building and air/sea/rail transportation through its large collection of artifacts and images. See the largest collection of pioneer, Indian and Alaskan artifacts on the Pacific Coast. Finally, enjoy the state's largest permanent model train layout, which covers 1,700 sq ft recreating scenes from Tacoma's Union Station and other regional railroads - details of this HO scale layout are on our website here.
Lemay America’s Car Museum
2702 East D Street
Tacoma, WA 98421
https://www.americascarmuseum.org/
Admission charge
Distance from hotel 1.5 miles
The Lemay Museum is 165,000 square feet of exhibit space that tells the story of more than 100 years of cars from the birth of the automobile to the most futuristic cars. On the museums four levels you will find 350 cars displayed, notable for their speed, technology and design. Enjoy the interactive displays and historic objects spread through the galleries that examine car culture. Finally, take a look at the museum’s garage area with multiple bays where visitors can view museum vehicles being preserved and prepared for displays, exhibits and events.
The Lemay Collection at Marymount
325 152nd Street East
Tacoma, WA 98445
https://lemaymarymount.org/
Admission charge
Distance from hotel 13 miles
If you did not see enough cars at the Lemay Museum in Tacoma check out Lemay’s storage facility. Enjoy your walk through the gallery rooms displaying up to 500 vehicles.
Tacoma Art Museum
1701 Pacific Avenue
Tacoma, WA 98402
https://www.tacomaartmuseum.org/
Admission charge
Distance from hotel 0.4 miles
Using its collection of more than 5,000 pieces of art the Tacoma Art Museum focuses on the art and artists of the Northwest. The museum’s Haub Family Collection of Western American Art has enabled the museum to broaden its focus to include all of the Western United States. Using works the Tacoma Art Museum has acquired from both national and international artists the Tacoma Art Museum has been able to show how the art of the Western region relates to national and international art movements.
Lewis Army Museum
Constitution Dr & Main St
Joint Base Lewis-McCord, WA 98433
https://lewisarmymuseum.com/
Admission free
Distance from hotel 16 miles
The Lewis Army Museum tells two separate stories. The first story is the U.S. Army in the Pacific Northwest. This exhibit uses artifacts, historic photos and prints to tell the story starting in 1805 with the Lewis and Clark Expedition and ending in the present day. The second story is in the Hall of Valor, an exhibit that uses artifacts, historic photos and large map tables to tell the story of eight military operations that units from Ft Lewis participated in starting with the Battle of Manila in 1898 and going through Afghanistan 2001-2021.
Dupont Historical Museum
207 Barksdale Avenue
DuPont, WA 98327
https://www.dupontmuseum.com/
Admission free
Distance from hotel 16 miles
The Museum tells the story of the unique role that DuPont played in the development of Washington State and the Puget Sound Region starting in 1906. Using displays and artifacts the story of DuPont’s history is told in four separate eras; Native Americans, Hudson Bay Company, the Dupont Company and Weyerhaeuser's planned community, Northwest Landing. Finally, take a look at the Dupont Dynamite train, a narrow gauge train used to haul dynamite from the DuPont plant to the Puget Sound. The train is located in the park behind the museum.