Spent a wonderful afternoon at this museum, they had a variety of exhibits on the history of…read moreWashington mostly from 19th century to present. Located in downtown Tacoma, this museum is right next to Union Station and a short walk away from the Museum of Glass. Parking is available in an outdoor lot and a downstairs structure. On a Saturday afternoon it wasn't crowded, there were plenty of spaces. Parking is $4 for 0-2 hours, $5 for 2-4 hours, $8 for 4-6 hours. Walking into the lobby, it's very modern--built within the past two decades, clean and spacious. The entry and ticket/info counter is directly to the right and a gift shop on the right side as well. The staff was very cordial and helpful and helped validate this tickets right away, there was no line. Admission is $17 for adults, with discounts available to students/seniors, and those needing special assistance, with free admission possible on Third Thursdays and if you sign up with a library card in advance. A few key exhibits that I enjoyed: - Native Land: on the history of Native Americans, highlighting history of the people in the state, the oppressive treatment imposed by the federal government and how that has shaped the present, the importance of the environment to their culture, and resilience of their communities. - Immigration stories: on anecdotal accounts by immigrants with a diverse range of backgrounds ranging to 1700s to today. - Japanese American internment history: on the discriminatory policies enacted during WWII that incarcerated innocent US citizens, the impacts of this on those who lived thru it, protested against it and advocated for legislation reforms. - miniature railroad model: on the second floor, this was so fun to watch the trains loop around quite a large track, quite a lot of mini buildings and landscapes. The museum was spacious and not crowded on a weekend afternoon, I spent about 3 hours here reading thru exhibits though I didn't go through all of them super thoroughly. Highly recommend this place to anyone looking to learn more about Washington's past and how it shapes the state today.

What a wholesome experience for the entire family! 5 floors of different type of Model trains while…read moreyou go through the states history as well. If you are here for the train displays with your kids, you need to cover floor 1 as the last stop. Floor 1 has play area with Legos and Toy train tracks and the toddlers don't want to go anywhere else! Super friendly staff at each display who are eager to interact with the kids and the adults. I missed it last year, now, we might end up coming here every year!

I love coming here. For the last handful of months, a group of friends and I head over to the…read moreplanetarium for their hour long talks on the third Friday of the month. It costs $5 and there's always a very interesting topic being discussed. The people who work there are extremely friendly. They're always so happy to see us (especially if there are new people who have never been to the planetarium). Very energetic, informative, and fun to talk to. The main corridor of the building is decked out with infographics, posters, books, and all sorts of fun stuff to look at before or after the shows. The dome they built for the shows are comfortable with lots of space for groups. Though space can be limited. They do sell out sometimes. I will continue to come here and support these folks. I've loved planetariums since I was a wee one and I love that Bremerton has one that seems to be doing well, and is well loved by the community. Parking is free. It's located along Pacific Avenue. If you're coming from Port Orchard, you can hop the foot ferry and walk over. It's only about a mile, all flat, and makes it an even more fun adventure. Plus you can stop and grab dinner or a beer along the way. Go support the planetarium!

My friends and I went for the eclipse showings, and had a fantastic time. The presenter was super…read moreknowledgeable and clearly loves sharing their passion for astronomy with visitors. The showing we attended had about 10 young children in it who were fairly roudy and asked tons of questions and constantly interrupted our presenter, but the presenter was a total champ and was amazing at answering them. Their knowledge of how to operate the actual planetarium's video system (the whole point of the planetarium) was great, and they even did an on-the-spot trip to the moon to look at a lunar eclipse from that view. Overall fantastic trip, and glad that I found this hidden gem.

My husband loves bonsai trees and while I think they look nice, I don't really know much about…read morethem. When I saw that we would be in the area of the Pacific Bonsai Museum on our most recent travels, I was super excited to put it on our itinerary. Unfortunately, while I was researching, I noticed that although this is an outdoor museum, they have a " service dogs welcome but no pets" policy. It was disappointed because we travel with our small dog so I decided to take it off our list of stops. When my husband noticed he was visibly saddened and I knew I had to do my best to see if we could make it work. I messaged the museum here on Yelp and explained my situation to them. They responded immediately, and said that although that is their policy, because my dog is small, well behaved, always on a leash and has no behavioral issues, staff would likely not approach me to ask me to leave or show my credentials. I truly appreciate their fast response and understanding. They have amazing customer service here. Our visit to the museum was lovely. Our dog enjoyed the shady walk along the path to get there and sat patiently while we looked around. The museum is not only gorgeous, but laid out by region, so it's almost like walking through the world showcase at EPCOT but better because there were no crowds and the environment was incredibly peaceful. It was so interesting to see all the bonsais displayed and to learn about them. Masterfully designed and curated and incredibly tranquil, it was definitely one of the highlights of our stops in the area. I encourage you to stop by and to donate to this amazing museum if you have the opportunity.

The Bonsai Museum is a hidden gem. We had a few hours to kill before picking up dinner and heading…read moreover to my cousins house. Since she and her family live in Fife, I ordered and scheduled pickup for 2:30 pm in Federal Way. We weren't what to do in the meantime and so I looked up botanical parks. The bonsai Museum and the Rododendron botanical Park came up. We noticed they were across from each other and so we headed over to the parks. It's a nice drive over there as everything is so green and lush. Once we parked, we noticed that we needed to walk a bit to get to the exhibits. Once we got to the exhibits, the Rododendron botanical park was on the left side with $12 entrance fee and on the right side was the bonsai Museum with free entry. On the outside, they do have restrooms available before heading into the bonsai museum We didn't know what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised with all the bonsai displays they had by the different artists from different countries, and there were a lot. It took us about 30 minutes to get through the entire exhibit. We would've stayed longer to read all the information, but we were running short on time and we still wanted to visit the botanical park across the way. I highly recommend the Pacific Bonsai Museum if you're in the Federal Way area especially because it's free.

Not bad, but quite small. If you've been to the Seattle Museum, you might be disappointed…read more There is designated parking, so don't get towed. The staff is nice. Overall, it's not bad, but it's not great.

I was able to visit this museum for free on the third Thursday of the month. There was also a…read moreworkshop studio and I created a nice journal cover. It was a great experience. Please come and create your own adventure.

This mansion museum was a great way to spend a slow afternoon in Puyallup…read more It is currently a $15 fee for adults to do a self tour of the home. You are welcome to take photos, and please, take your time! There is plenty to read either on the pamphlet given to you at the entrance, or on the walls beside all the beautiful furniture, paintings, and artifacts. It's hard not to imagine yourself at the turn of the century, living in wealth in this fancy home, like the Meekers did. Ezra and Eliza Meeker were a fascinating couple who did so much with their lives, even into their last years. Traveling the Oregon Trail, hitting success with a hop business, Ezra being the mayor twice, Eliza founding the town's public library and strongly supporting the suffrage movement. I also can't help but to respect Eliza even more for her strength in character even though she was of small stature (4'8")! Especially for those who live in the area, I highly recommend you learn about this historic Puyallup family with a visit to the Meeker Mansion Museum!

I happened to be in the area and saw a sign for the Meeker Mansion, so I decided to check it out…read more Diane was very sweet and gracious and gave me a brief history of Ezra & Eliza Meeker. "Ezra was an American pioneer who traveled the Oregon Trail migrated from Iowa to the Pacific Coast. Once known as the Hop King of the World." A lot of good history of Puyallup. I didn't have time for the tour, but I appreciated seeing the mansion and getting a glimpse of this city's history. Next time, I'll have to do the tour. Thank you again, Diane, for being so nice and friendly!

This is a gorgeous and intriguing museum that I highly recommend - although be advised that right…read morenow they are renovating. They will re-open their main galleries in the fall of 2026. To help soften the blow, they have lowered admission price in the interim. The hot shop is also still open and you can watch live glass making there. There are a few exhibit cases on view. There are lots of fun works that kids' designed that are also on view on the main lobby and down the hall. We went for a glass making class, which was tons of fun. I'm sure attendance varies widely - ours was not crowded. The person monitoring the class, Audrey, was friendly; she explains everything and then you have at it. She is there to help, which includes cutting glass pieces to suit whatever design you are making (this probably depends on the style of glass you are making). FYI the gift shop is really nice and is available even if you don't go into the museum. You can purchase works by glass artists who have been at the museum - so it's more than your average gift shop.

This is a cool museum. Unfortunately most of it as closed but gave us a discount. We came an hour…read morebefore closure and saw everything. The glass making studio was cool to watch. The bridge in the back was quite a walk over so had to be picked up baby history museum.

Children's Museum for free! Yep! They ask for donation and I was happy to donate! The staff are…read morecourteous and helpful and even caution the unruly kids running around! Water play area is definitely the most high activity zone. My kid almost spent an hour playing in that area. The air flow duct with scarves is another fun area for the kid. Among all the other museums I have visited, the painting, arts & crafts area is quite unique to this museum. The wooden boards and the net at the end of the museum is another adventure for all kids and not available in other museums. This was the first time I saw my kid feeling the courage to climb over the ropes and explore. The paid parking area near the museum has good number of spots but the signs can be confusing as it says "only reserved" and you tend to wonder if you will get ticketed. Park Mobile app location 50271 is good and confirmed by museum folks! Or there is street parking too!

This isn't a very large children's museum, but my 5 and 8 year old had a ton of fun playing. It's…read moreso nice that it is pay what you can so that anyone can come. We were impressed by the cleanliness. Though, I didn't look closely, nothing jumped out as being gross. If you're in the area, it's worth a stop, but I wouldn't go too far out of the way for it.

Free! Donations appreciated Great local museum in a…read morespacious building. Was great learning history about the area. They have scavenger hunts for the kids and a small gift area.

A small but pretty interesting museum, especially if you're into boats and maritime history! You…read morecan comfortably explore everything in about 30 minutes, so it's definitely not somewhere you need to dedicate a lot of time to. The waterfront views are beautiful and add to the overall experience. That being said, I personally wouldn't go out of my way to visit unless you're particularly interested in boats or already exploring the Tacoma waterfront. Overall, a nice little stop if you're in the area, but not necessarily a must-see attraction.

A great pedestrian bridge that starts at Pacific Avenue, takes you over the freeway, and down to…read morethe Museum of Glass and the Dock Street Marina!! You definitely get a good taste of what the Museum of Glass has to offer, as this bridge has glass sculptures along both sides of the bridge!! I was staying nearby and walked across this bridge a few times to get to the marina. You also get some good views of downtown Tacoma from here!!

This is a famous Tacoma landmark - a glass bridge that performs its job well as a pedestrian bridge…read morewith a touch of beauty from the glass artwork instillation that lines the sides of the bridge. It's a great alternative to visiting the Museum of Glass for people who are short on time or arriving during closed hours (this bridge is open 27/7), yet still want to experience some beauty in their lives. This bridge connects the Thea Foss Waterway and the Museum of Glass. When I visited, it was quite hot and the sun was beating down. This illuminated the three amazing Chihuly glass installations, but I wished that there was more than a little covered area on the bridge to protect me. Oh well, they do say that beauty is pain, don't they? I saw that there were multiple photographers on the bridge to take in the peaceful surroundings. Definitely don't miss this in your visit to Tacoma.

I've came to this museum two times now and it's worth every penny! I love the large beautiful glass…read moresculptures. Walking through the museum just makes me feel so peaceful. There was one room that has large vessels of glass where if you shine a light on the glass it changes color! We did not know about this our first trip. We only found out about it because my daughter had the kids brochure and it said for that room to ask the museum staff a question. That's when the staff showed us the cool trick. I set up a tripod to take a picture and a staff quietly came by to tell me no tripods and selfie sticks allowed in the museum, which totally make sense since there's so many breakable items! I appreciated that they were super nice about it when they informed me.

A must see when in Seattle. Such amazing glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly…read more Be sure to look at the outdoor gardens for amazing pieces as well. Loved watching the glass blowing demonstration. And those items are available to purchase and they will ship it home for you. I did it!