Fresh Twitter Updates from @hotel_murano
- Our new neighbor, Hells Kitchen, has a great happy hour on Tightwad Tuesdays: $2 wells, $2 beer, and two tacos for $2.00! http://ow.ly/UqEn 7 minutes ago
- Check out Brownie Morrison, a NEW boutique selling novelties & cool gifts! @711 St. Helens. 253.683.2924 about 22 hours ago
- Matador is our fave for happy hour! ($4/$5 apps 4pm-6pm and 10pm-1am). Great atmosphere and 90 different types of Tequila! http://ow.ly/SKYq 1 day ago
The Looking Glass Blog
Ring in the New Year at the Hotel Murano
My 3-year-old grandson, Hayden, recently visited me here at the hotel (he loves it when I ride him around on a bellcart). He was wearing big sunglasses he got on a recent family trip to Hawaii. When I asked him why, he said, “’Cause, Grandpa, there’s so much shiny glass in here!” Sometimes I need to be reminded that I work at one of the most beautiful hotels in the country (just ask Conde Nast). It got me thinking—why not spend New Year’s Eve at the Hotel Murano?
Start the night in the Lobby Bar with a good, old-fashioned drink, like a gin martini, to remember the past. Next, a great dinner at Bite, maybe fresh grilled salmon, to celebrate the present. Take a walk around the neighborhood, stopping in here to warm up. Back to the Lobby Bar in time for a midnight champagne toast, in hopes of a great 2010. Head up to your room, leaving the rest of the party to keep going. Sounds perfect.
Happy New Year!
Dale
Choo, choo, choose Tacoma’s 14th Annual Model Train
Festival
Maybe it’s not a huge club, but folks who are into model trains are really into model trains. So, I’m probably preaching to the choir, telling the groupies about Tacoma’s 14th Annual Model Train Festival. But for those of you who have never been to one of these before, they’re definitely worth a visit.
On December 26 through January 2, the History Museum will be filled to the brim with all things train. Come check out the miniature villages and the play area just for little engineers. Since it’s the holidays, the place will be especially done up. There will be no less than 10 full layouts by the major model train outfits, including The Pierce County Lionel Club and the Sound Model Railroad Engineers. So, get on board! (Sorry, couldn’t help myself.)
Dale
The Dance Theatre Northwest’s Nutcracker
On the rare weekend when I don’t have something else going on, sometimes a friend and I will just hop in the car and hit the road. We don’t care where we end up, it’s always an adventure. If we’re really lucky, we land in a small town with a local theater production going on.
If you live in Tacoma, or your road trip brings you here, you’re in for a treat. The Dance Theatre Northwest will be performing the seasonal
favorite, The Nutcracker, at the Mount Tahoma High School Auditorium the first weekend in December. Sure, every city in the country (the world?) will have The Nutcracker showing somewhere, but here’s your opportunity to see it in a more relaxed, a more small town, kind of atmosphere. I, for one, am really looking forward to Clara, the Prince, the Mouse King, and easy parking.
Ta ta,
Danielle
Decking the halls for the Seattle Men’s Chorus
Remember when people used to go caroling? When I was a little girl, I used to love it when the doorbell would ring and suddenly, like a gift, the house was filled with song. Carolers don’t come around much any more, people don’t like to open their doors to strangers. Lucky for us, for one night only, we can all still get into the holiday spirit with the Seattle Men’s Chorus.
SMC’s specialty, for over 30 years, has been putting a modern twist on the traditional. This year’s show, Santa Baby, will give us their take on TV Christmas specials. Not quite sure what to expect: I’m hoping for the classic Charlie Brown Christmas Time Is Here. Oh, and a rendition of Snow Miser/Heat Miser would make my night. No matter what they choose to sing, it’s always super fun, just as good as when I was a kid.
Tickets are $39 and $52, and you can purchase tickets online here.
Happy holidays,
Danielle
Jog before you hog: Tacoma’s Turkey Trot Fun Run
Like most people, I look forward to Thanksgiving with a well-seasoned mixture of gluttony and guilt. I can’t help but look forward to that big, well-browned bird and its friends—the mashed potatoes, the stuffing, the gravy, the green beans with those crispy onion things. I’ve learned over the years, that I can enjoy the gluttony, with very little guilt, if I get out and burn off some calories before the feast is on the table.
And this year we can do it together. Come on down to the Centre at Norpoint on Thanksgiving morning, November 26, and join me in the Turkey Trot Fun Run. It’s only a 5-k run, or a 2-mile walk (with a special walk for the kids), but you’ll feel righteous for having done it. There are also prizes (Prizes? Who needs prizes with a 20-pound turkey at home in the oven?) and snacks (ditto). Then we gobble.
Get in the swing with the Murano’s Stay and Play golf getaway
If you golf, you know that fall means the end of sunny days on the links. So, get it while the getting’s good. The Hotel Murano has a great hotel package right now, with a tee-time included to play on the course Travel & Leisure Golf Magazine named the best of 2007 and Golf Digest, in 2008, deemed the best new public course.
I guarantee that the Chambers Bay Golf Course is one of the most spectacular you will ever see. Right on the Puget Sound, you’ll enjoy magnificent views, grass-covered dunes, and not a golf cart in sight. That’s right, you duffers, it’s a walking course (with caddie-service available).
After a day on the greens, head back to the Murano for the night, $60 toward the Savi Day Spa (hey, I could use a massage these days after walking 18 holes), breakfast and parking. Fore!
See ya later,
Dale
Be a dal, and tikka your honey out to dinner at the Bombay Bistro
Have I told you that Indian food is my absolute favorite? I haven’t? Well, it is. The spices, the sauces, the chutneys, oh my. So, I’m always on the lookout for a great place I haven’t tried. We’re lucky, here in Tacoma, to have the Bombay Bistro, and luckier still that they’re having a special event.
Tonight (Nov 6, 2009), head down to Sixth Avenue. The Bistro is hosting a limited seating dinner at a cost of only $30 per person. The night will feature a buffet of their specialties (which I really hope will include Ragani Ghost, a delicious lamb curry) and traditional Indian music by Pandit Debi Prasad Chatterjee and Ravi Albright. They also have a full bar and you’re crazy if you don’t try the mango martini; it’s just the best.
Oh, and by the way, Bombay Bistro was also voted best overall restaurant in Tacoma. That should sweeten the deal.
Ta ta,
Come celebrate life at the Day of the Dead festival at the Tacoma Art Museum
If you’ve ever been to Mexico in October, you know that the Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, is such a cool, colorful holiday. On November 1 and 2, Día de los Muertos is a way for family and friends to celebrate the lives of loved ones who have died.
This year, you can come check it out, too. On October 17, the Tacoma Art Museum began a two-week observance of the holiday, and is holding a community-wide celebration at the museum on Sunday, November 1. In the museum lobby, local artists will be creating a colorful tapete (sand painting). Everybody is also invited to join in on building a collaborative altar, or ofrenda.
If you’ve never seen the amazing folk art, altars, dance, and music associated with this holiday, here’s your chance. It really is a great, life-affirming experience. And don’t let the skeletons scare you!
Pop it! Cork Wine Bar is the perfect place for a flight and a bite
Cork Wine Bar, a fantastic Tacoma wine bar, which took second in the South Sound Magazine Best of South Sound wine list, is definitely worth checking out. A friend and I recently hit it up Wednesday night—all flights $8. We sampled two of their wine flights, with generous two-ounce pours.
Love the names, too: Forgive Me For I Have Zinned, with Alexander Valley Temptation zin, California; Tobin James Ballistic, California; and Writers Block zin, California and You Had Me at Merlot, featuring McGavick, Washington; Napa Cellars, Napa Valley, California; and Shooting Star, Kelseyville, California.
They offer a simple yet satisfying menu, featuring mainly Italian goodies like bruschetta, antipasti, yummy cheese plates, a delicious Caprese salad, and a great variety of topped flatbreads. Tuesdays and Fridays are all-night happy hour, Thursdays feature complimentary wine tasting, and Saturdays there’s live music.
Oh, and leave room for dessert. We had Amaretto Almond Biscotti Torte, layers of biscotti soaked in amaretto with a smooth amaretto almond mousse filling. In fact, maybe it’s just safer to start with dessert!
Make holiday memories at the Tacoma Holiday Food & Gift Festival
As soon as I heard about this event, at the Tacoma Dome, I was reminded of a day when I was a little girl. It was late November and my mother took me to the huge hall at the county fairgrounds. We spent the entire day visiting booths at this giant “Christmas Fair.” We made gifts, bought gifts, got ideas of what to make later on our own. It was one of those magic days that you have as a kid.
Well, maybe your magic day is awaiting at the 27th Tacoma Holiday Food & Gift Festival. I’m hoping that the art and crafts booths, the sparkling jewelry, and the tables overflowing with Christmas ornaments and decorations inspire a bunch of great gift ideas.
If not, I can always just get an eggnog latte and gawk at the 45-foot hanging Christmas tree and get my picture taken with Santa.
