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.

This conservatory is free to public. Many come here for weddings picture. We saw one couple took…read moretheir wedding pictures during our visit. The sun glass dome is not big. The plant under this sun room is beautiful. Collection of the plants is good to visit. The entire area is a bit small. The visit only takes 15 minutes.

The W W Seymour Conservatory is located on top of the big hill in Wright Park…read more It's a fairly small venue but there is lots of exotic plants here and the inside of the venue is pleasantly muggy to make sure those plants thrive and grow. There is a pond with koi inside which adds to the tranquility of the place. Special events such as weddings are held here also and it makes sense as it's very enchanting and serene inside.

What a beautiful hidden gem! Wonderful, winding, and well maintained paths with all types of flora…read more An easy walk and plenty to discover in a quiet amd restful setting.

The Arboretum at South Seattle College is gorgeous, abit slightly neglected…read more The space isn't rife with amenities. There's no restroom on location that's open on the weekend (and whether one is available to the public during the week is questionable). But it's downright beautiful. I've never seen so many different conifers in one place. Even their cones and how they presented were different. Some stuck straight up, some dipped down, some were small, some big - just absolutely fascinating. The areas outside the conifer section were a bit on the neglected side however. A few of the branches and bushes could have used a trim and a couple of the trail openings between flora were almost totally grown over. It appears as if the space might be used for weddings in the Summer and not well maintained after August. All in all, my advice would be if you're going to visit, do so knowing there's not much here and plan your trip accordingly.

Rhododendron is not only hard to say but also hard to spell. Lol. So please forgive my spelling…read moreerrors. But this park, plants and flowers are beautiful. We only had 45-mins left in our time in this area as we had a family thing to go to. So we went through this park rather quickly. But even so, I have a lots and lots of pictures. Flowers in different shades of reds, oranges, pinks, purples, yellows and white against the green lush trees, leaves and ground covering. Well marked gravel paths, plenty of seating, a large open grassy area of family picnics and space for children to run around. Our time here was well spent. And you, I had to stop back in to the gift shop and pick up a magnet. We didn't see many staff members including the groundskeepers but the cashier at the gift shop was friendly and helpful. Free parking and entry fee into this botanical park is a reasonable $12 per adult, no military discount, there is senior and children discounts available. Highly recommend if you're in the Federal Way area.

I found this botanical garden out of chance on a Sunday afternoon because my family wanted…read moresomewhere to walk around. Anyway, I didn't know this garden was located in the empty Weyerhaeuser building area. You should know that the garden is divided into two sections: the bonsai section is 100% donation. The other side, which contains all the Rhododendron plants, requires admission fees. I visited the garden expecting it to fully bloom in different color schemes like the Botanical Garden at the UW area, but everything was in green color. My husband mentioned that we'd need to revisit this garden but in the spring time, when the flowers would fully bloom then. Check out my photos for the garden view. I enjoyed the Bonsai section because we got to see the carpentry art from a dude, who basically built everything from wood sticks. The exhibit was cool to look at, in addition to the Bonsai tree collection displays. Now, I want a Bonsai tree myself!

This is a fun way for the kids to learn about a very narrow and specific part of the history of the…read morearea. Of course, it is not a very important or interesting part of local history. It's always disappointing to see European intruders' subjection of land, animals, and people glorified in this way. But, if this type of history interests you, they've done it well. We took our 5 and 8 year old and had a discussion about the fort in the wider context of history and whether it represents changes that were positive or negative for the people living on this land.

Went to Fort Nisqually for the Queen Victoria's birthday celebration. The weather started out fine…read morebut turned into a rainy day complete with hail, lightning and thunder. We took up shelter in Store #2 which has the blacksmith shop currently. We had the chance to talk to many of the volunteers and staff during our visit. I have a little of knowledge regarding the local history, which I tend to keep to myself, and was shocked by the sheer volume of historical information provided by the volunteers and the staff, all was accurate to what I knew (I have read some of Dr. Tomie's diaries and the book "Company of Adventures" among other local historical books/ information. I questioned the blacksmith on one of his statements based on a historical reference I had read. Long story short, he was aware of the reference, and we discussed how accurate what I had read was. I was honestly shocked to find out he was a volunteer. This type of interaction was not unique to one volunteer. There was an individual with a straw top hat who was also incredibly knowledgeable, the carpenters were first rate just hitting on the tip of the ice berg here. Overall, phenomenal place to visit, I wish the more volunteers and staff were present during non-event days as well, but I will be going back. I understand they have a list of people volunteering and staff available in the gift shop so one can determine who is there before paying to enter. Couple of thoughts: - depending on when you go through, remember some of the staff/ volunteers may have something they are working on. If they ignore you when you first show up in their "space", remember they may have something happening that needs immediate attention. Don't be impatient. Watch what they are doing and ask questions. This is supposed to be an interactive experience, not necessarily an entertainment. - "Be curious" to quote Ted Lasso. - Depending on who is in Store #2 (blacksmith shop), ask about the "family courting candlestick". Interesting story there - I failed the "Blacksmith IQ test". See if you can do better...

The collection here is huge and varied. It's really all about life in Black Diamon and is staffed…read moreby local volunteers with lots of stories to share. You can take a quick stroll through or spend a couple of hoirs here. Black Diamond was a company owned town. Coal mining company that is. They owned everything. Miners came from all across Europe to mine coal here. Welsh, Croation, Italian and many more. The company eventually closed and sold the property. Many of the shops in business during the company days are still here and many decendants of those miners live here still. Exhibits include local history, mining history, day to day items. Just so much information. We spend a fair amount of time looking through the several rooms and speaking with the volunteers. They have so much information to impart and were all lovely. Parking is street side, just past the museum. Be sure to check out the out building and the memorial garden as well. If you are really keen, drive down the hill and check out the Union Stump memorial. Definitely worth a stop to learn the local history. Open Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Wow! What a lovely day. Pack with a lot of patience because parking was tough. We arrive not that…read morelate, but ut took us a bit yo get to a lot even when we already got a map for the available parkings. Slow movement but we got there.Some stress are closed. There are lots and lots of booths. Plenty of things to see, purchase, and eat along. We had some dumplings, lactose free dole (yaaay!), and cotton candy. Everything was great! I wanted some BBQ but lines were huge!!! We lost an hour for the cotton. Candy. Kids were playing in the meantime, but I suggest to keep an eye because there's gazillions of people! It is a fair!

Salmon Days!! Always a fun time while we watch our salmon friends move through the area (and you…read morecan eat them). This is the first year I've got in many, many years and I'm glad that I did. Like any other festival that shuts down a large area, the parking is pretty crazy. I got there nice and early to find a good spot and walked about a mile. Overall good selection of vendors! Most of them were artisanal and not something you can buy from a direct-from-China shop. The food court had a lot of great options, and, of course the Kiwanis salmon BBQ. They also had a large field section with games for the kiddos and a water dog competition! There were lots of salmon going through the ladder, so that was nice to watch for awhile. Overall Salmon Days is a great festival to get out and do something a little different!

Fife History Museum is a small museum, but it's a great place to spend an afternoon. It's packed…read morewith tons of history and interesting artifacts. They have historical military uniforms and memorabilia from Fife's service-members throughout history. They have an entire collection of beautiful, ornate miniature paper umbrellas folded by Japanese-Americans in the nearby internment camps during WWII using discarded cigarette wrappers. They have recreated schoolrooms, historic school yearbooks, and rotating exhibitions - right now it's one about the history of the QWERTY keyboard. It's a really cool spot that really took me by surprise. And the staff is really knowledgeable and helpful.