$15 Well Spent in Tacoma

I'm still getting used to walking everywhere, carrying groceries home, and dealing with various weather conditions. Overall, it's been very sunny here with only a few days of overcast skies or rain. But after walking everywhere for a few weeks (and getting a parking ticket for being parked more than 72 hours in front of my apartment), Matt and I decided it was time for a road trip. We headed to Tacoma on Saturday (I thought it was the state capitol - obviously I didn't pay attention in elementary school).
Summary: it's a really cool city and it grew on me just during the few hours we were there. Lunch at a local brewery called Harmon Brewing and then a walk around to explore. We found the museum of glass across the railroad tracks from the brewery, which included a bridge of Chihuly's work in the ceiling above. If you know me well at all, I'm not the guy to spend $15 to walk through a museum, so we glanced around and kept walking. Few blocks later we found another brewery called Pacific Brewing and Malting Company, where I spent $15 on beer. It had a really cool history - the same location was opened in the late 1800's and then with prohibition in the early 1900's was shut down. Just last year, it reopened in the same location after being closed 98 years. That was worth celebrating with a beer and a picture of the doors opened wide with the logo engraved into the cement at the door.
We also had a run in with the police. Thankfully, it didn't involve a ticket but instead an off-duty police office who grew up in Tacoma and told us the best spots to hit during our short day trip. He recommended a large park called Point Defiance which is a 702-acre park including a zoo, beaches, hiking trails and more. A short drive later, I was standing on the rocky Owen Beach and driving around a 5-mile loop of some of the prettiest scenery I've discovered in Washington. It was the perfect weekend trip and great way to spend $15.