A Literary Sort of Day in Downtown Tacoma

Last Thursday, my sister, father, and I celebrated summertime (as well as the fact that I have finally finished all of my assigned summer reading, YES!) by heading to spend some time in Downtown Tacoma. This family excursion allowed us to have some fun on the Link, swing by the weekly Farmer's Market and get some flowers for Mom, arrange letters in Tollefson Plaza, as well as explore some new places that we haven't been before around the city.

First, we hit up King's Books, because now that I won't be freaking out about my school books, I need some new books to freak out about. I'd never actually been inside the unique bookstore before, but now that I have, I can assuredly say that it is probably the best bookstore I've ever seen. The floor is covered with mismatched rugs covering random spaces, wooden tables and folding chairs afford you places to peruse your new purchases, and bookshelves lean different directions in places (but it's more like they're trying to give you a hug, then threatening to cave in on you!). Best of all, and the part of the bookstore that Dad loved the most, was the wonderful, large, black cat that takes up residence in the store, named Atticus. This cat looks like a miniature jaguar and enjoyed itself immensely when my dad started petting it. The cat is a jewel, much like the bookstore itself. This place was like a humongous scavenger hunt, and finding the coolest old books was the ultimate prize. My sister and father both walked out with two books a piece, while I led the way with five. More information on this spectacular bookstore can be found at: http://www.kingsbookstore.com/.

However, the Link, Farmer's Market, and King's Books had robbed us of the majority of the time we had to spend with our father before he had to get back to work. Before we said our goodbyes, we traveled down the rabbit hole to pick up some tea from the Mad Hat Tea Company. The entire place smelled delicious, and we quickly picked out some tea of our own to take home with us. I grabbed the Mad Snickerdoodle tea, from India, with the flavors of Almond and Cinnamon, while my sister went for Frank's Fancy, from China, a mix of Chocolate, Coconut, and Vanilla. We're going to try both this week to warm up the chilly mornings while we vacation in Sun River, Oregon. If you want to view a complete tea list from Mad Hat Tea Co., or see ordering information for the tea, then check out: http://www.madhattea.com/.

For a day spent in Downtown Tacoma that was completely Hello Cupcake-less, it was a great one. Hopefully we'll get to spend some more time in these fantastic stores, and find even more cool literary-minded places along the way.