It's been nice being back in the Seattle area…
South of Seattle there is a little town called Des Moines, which is about halfway between Seattle and Tacoma. The area is mostly residential, but there is a Marina District of Des Moines that is really nice to have a coffee at one of the cafes in, take a walk along the waterfront, shop around in one of the secondhand shops, have a bahn mi at the local Vietnamese sandwich place…
Though the Marina District may be too quiet for some, it is a nice little town to chill in when you do want to find some peace and quiet!
***Views of the Des Moines City Marina District***
On most days, you can easily find parking down here.
Des Moines also has a History Museum located in the Marina District. The museum is volunteer run by the Des Moines Historical Society. It contains a lot of THINGS in such a small space (just like HK). We went to check it out, so wait up for a future blog post about what treasures this small, but mighty museum holds.
Besides the full service Marina on the waterfront, there is also a boat repair shop in the area. We went down there just to check out how much some of the boats were selling for (there was a boat in the back lot for sale, btw). It's a nice place to see boats up close…besides walking the docks at the Des Moines Marina.
There isn't a big chain supermarket located in the Marina District, which is quite nice to see. There is a local grocery store, though. It has a bit of everything, which reminds me of life in Mui Wo! If you are in need of a birthday card, you can find them there. If you are in need of drinks for a last minute house party, you can find them there. If you need some bandaids from cutting yourself while gardening, you can find them there.
On some blocks of the Des Moines Marina District there are plazas where you can find a lot of shops (butcher, framing, yarn, etc). It's one of the nice things about this small area, you can walk around and see what shops they have!
Back when I was in high school, this theater was functioning. It was where movies that were a few months old would be shown at a discounted price. Now, the theater is abandoned. I wonder what it'll become when I come back next summer…if anything!
I haven't tried a lot of the restaurants in the area, but there is quite the variety down here. There is a Thai restaurant, teriyaki, sushi…Chinese restaurant…There is a Red Robins down by the Bank of America. There is a sports bar at the other end of the block from the Des Moines theater. There are also quite a bit of local seafood places. Before I leave for the summer, I definitely plan on stopping by the Lighthouse Lounge…it was one of the spots on our Pokemon Go game…and it looks like a great place to dine.
At one of the plazas, we found a shop that is totally my kind of shop: second hand treasures! It's called Castaway and there (like the Marina Market and Deli) has a bit of everything. It's such a fun place to scour through and find a few treasures!
Though most of the area is commercial and residential, there is a little Inn located on 7th and 223th.
I love little communities like this!
Another great week back home gone by!
