Finest

It's the beginning of vacation season, and my blogging friends post from all sorts of beautiful, exciting places - new cities, new countries, where they travel. Looking at these pictures, you might think that I am also on a vacation, perhaps exploring grand castles somewhere in Europe.

In fact, I am still in my American hometown - that's what I came to call Tacoma, Washington. I only landed here 9 years ago, and my love of Tacoma did not begin immediately, which is quite understandable, as her bigger and better-known brother Seattle offers so many exciting opportunities for exploration. But gradually, Tacoma won over my heart. It is a city with a warm small town atmosphere, easy traffic, fantastic geographical location, appreciation for culture, arts and children's education and some breathtaking historical architecture, such as Stadium High School, a historical landmark and, as one of the vintage postcards says, "finest high school in the United States" (vintage post cards source).

The school is built on a hill overlooking Puget Sound to the north and Mt Rainier to the east. On the photo above, you see me looking at our neighborhood (photo below).

You can read the whole story behind this grand building following the school link above, but in a few words, it all began back in 1891. The architects Hewitt and Hewitt were working on what had to become a fancy hotel. You see, at one point Tacoma was developing very successfully and many businesses were flourishing thanks to the newly built railroad. (The Railroad was routed through Tacoma and on to Seattle, which is why the equally fast growing Port Townsend on a peninsula across the Sound stopped growing, even though they had big dreams of becoming the New York of the West - I wrote their story in the earlier post City of Dreams.) The style of the new hotel was reminiscent of a French chateau. Bricks from China and sandstone from Italy were used in the construction (they used these materials as ballast in cargo ships coming to the Port of Tacoma).

But the depression (the Panic of 1893) interrupted the grand plans, and the construction was abandoned. In 1904, Tacoma Public Schools bought and began the reconstruction of the building, damaged by a massive fire in 1898. The new school opened in 1906, and the "bowl" stadium in 1910, which gave the name not only to the school, but to the whole district of Tacoma where the school is located.

What were we doing at this wonderful location? It is the school where our daughter would go after she graduates from her middle school - our address is assigned to this particular high school. And I love the idea just because of this magical, imaginative historical building, though there are many other great aspects of studying there. But our school district offers an opportunity to all students to choose a high school which fits their interests best, and Anya is interested in pursuing some other avenues, which we totally support.

So last night, we listened to her school choir concert at the Stadium Performing Arts Center, a modern hall with beautiful acoustics. I am amazed with the Music Department of her middle school, with the talented enthusiastic teachers who love music, love their job and love kids, which makes them, in my book, the finest. They are not afraid to work on complicated pieces, such as Fa Una Canzone, an Italian madrigal from the 16 century. 

As always, to celebrate my daughter, I try to incorporate something she loves into my outfit. She is into black these days, and so was I last night, total rock chic for my favorite girl on earth and beyond... You rock!

Moto jacket - Christian Siriano for Lane Bryant

Jumpsuit - Chico's (old)

Necklace - Talbots (old)

Pumps - Rockport (1 or 2 years old)

Clutch - Cole Haan (old)

Photos by Justin

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