The Rose Garden in Point Defiance Park was a feature but there weren’t only roses. They also had a dahlia section. Nancy loves dahlias so we checked this out. The variety of these blooms was almost as good as it was for the roses!
Ask any engineering student about famous bridges and the Tacoma Narrows has a great chance of coming up. The original bridge failed pretty spectacularly due to aeroelastic issues. It was replaced and the bridge has stood since without significant issues other than overcrowding. Consequently, a second Bridge was added a few years ago. The pair span the narrows and provide a roadway for the busy local traffic.
The hike around Point Defiance Park takes you out onto the overlooks the narrows and, as you move along the trail, you get differing views of the bridges. The further south you get in the park, the clearer the view is of the whole span. I grabbed a few shots of the water and the bridges and also shot some closer shots to make a pano when I got home.
Point Defiance Park had a rose garden that seemed worth a visit. Walking in to the garden I was immediately struck by the fragrance of the flowers. Some roses are a lot more fragrant than others but, stick enough of them together and you are going to get a strong smell. Roses are interesting in how many varieties that they come in. Some look exactly like you might imagine a rose while others are very different in shape.
The garden was laid out around a central point with rows of blooms curving around the middle. They were attracting human and insect visitors in large quantities. Some blooms seemed to be quite persistent while others looked like they reached their peak before quickly wilting and being replaced by another bloom.
We had entered the garden from one side but on the other was a more structured entrance which took you through an arch covered in multiple blooms. The concentration of flowers made it visually striking. Also, having the light coming through from above meant that the flowers were backlit which made for a nice look and a filtered color of light inside the tunnel. Hardly a person passed without taking their own photo.
We took a trip through Tacoma after our visit to the Bonsai Museum to go to Point Defiance Park. There was plenty to see and do in the park and, while we were there to go for a hike on the trails, we did check out some of the other parts. Some of these will have posts of their own but to start things off (if you exclude a post that has already come out from the park), here are some shots of the park grounds. There is a nice visitor center that has the look of a large chalet about it. There is also a pond area which is home to plenty of ducks and turtles. There is also a Japanese themed event location that can be hired out and was apparently being used for a wedding while we were there.
The park is also home to a zoo. We are known to visit zoos to see what they have on offer, but this trip was not about that. We may well head back some time to see the animals but that will have to wait for now. Before we started exploring, we had brought some lunch with us and we were able to enjoy one of the many picnic benches. The one we chose was very close to a statue commemorating one of the founders of the park. I can’t recall his name, but I think I am safe in saying it wasn’t Point Defiance (unless his parents really didn’t like him!).
The pond in Point Defiance Park was busy with ducks everywhere but they weren’t the only occupants of the water. There were quite a lot of turtles, particularly given how small the pond was. There was one rock in the pond that appeared to be the best spot for a turtle. It was fully occupied. A couple of other turtles seemed to be interested in getting on but the inhabitants were not intent on sharing and they were “discouraged” from joining.