Franke Tobey Jones – Page 3 – Retreading for Retirement

Dear Community Members,

Thanks to WordPress Daily Prompt for this writing topic:

Community Service

Your entire community — however you define that; your hometown, your neighborhood, your family, your colleagues — is guaranteed to read your blog tomorrow. Write the post you’d like them all to see.

Dear Retirement Community Members,

I’m glad to have this opportunity to address all of you at once. I want to thank you for making me feel so welcome when I moved here a little more than three years ago.

As you know, there’s always a waiting list for available independent-living duplexes. Our name made it to the top of the list in late March 2013. My husband wasn’t planning to retire until the end of the year, but we were afraid that, if we passed up the opportunity and let our name go back to the bottom of the list, we’d have to wait three to five years for another opening.

I made a quick trip to Tacoma in late March to see the unit. I’d never seen the inside of a duplex, only a drawing of the interior floor plan. I immediately fell in love with it. Even though all the duplexes have identical floor plans, I loved the location of this one on the corner, near the road. Without another building right next to it, this one felt bigger and more open.

When I returned home, my husband and I decided we’d take this duplex instead of waiting. So I packed my little car to the gills, taking what I’d need to set up housekeeping, and drove the 2,100 miles to Tacoma. I arrived at my new home on April 10, 2013. My husband would join me after he retired at the end of December.

It was a bit scary making this move on my own, but several of you knocked on my door and welcomed me to the community. (A few of you even gave me plants as a welcoming gift, and I didn’t have the heart to tell you that house plants come to my house to die.) Your kindness helped me adjust, and I quickly came to love my new home.

Originally I didn’t have much to unpack, so I soon began learning my way around my new home town. We had been visiting our daughter in Tacoma for about 15 years, so I knew my way around a tiny bit, but I had a lot to learn. Once again, many of you came to my aid, telling me how to get to Metropolitan Market and Trader Joe’s as well as other places. When I said I was interested in learning about the city’s history, you suggested parks, monuments, and buildings I might want to visit. You explained to me how to sign up for events held at Franke Tobey Jones and for excursions to other places, such as the monthly Lunch Bunch outing.

By the time my husband arrived to stay in December, I already felt well settled in. Again, many of you went out of your way to come meet him and welcome him to the community.

Now, after more than two years, we both continue to marvel at how friendly everyone here is. We knew we were going to retire to Tacoma because our daughter lives here, but we’re so glad that we chose Franke Tobey Jones. I think that the sign out front should be changed from “Retirement Estates” to “Retirement Community,” because community is what we’ve truly found here.

Sincerely yours,
Mary Brown

Lunch Bunch: The Gateway Cottage

Gateway Cottage

146th Pacific Ave
Spanaway, WA 98444
(253) 536–8100

Friday was our monthly Lunch Bunch outing. This time we went to a local favorite, the Gateway Cottage Restaurant & Lounge, located not far from Pacific Lutheran University. This restaurant is so popular with local folks that a waiting list formed for the trip, limited to 20 by the size of our bus.

Probably the restaurant’s popularity with local folks arises from its historical provenance. In 1890 retired U.S. military officer Captain Ludlow and his wife established the 80-acre homestead of Orchard Hill. Years later, George and Amy Jensen purchased 10 acres of Orchard Hill. In addition to expanding the Ludlow home, the Jensens built a guest cottage on the property, which was known as the Tacoma Silver Fox Farm in the 1920s and 1930s.

The Gateway Cottage restaurant opened in 2000, after owner Lynda Hogan spent two years renovating the dilapidated cottage. She filled the remodeled cottage with artwork she had collected while working at Corinthian Studios, an antiques store in downtown Tacoma that’s now closed. The artwork and furniture give the interior a comfortable, homey feeling.

(Click on images to see a larger version.)

The exterior courtyard garden, with its large trees, is also inviting. Gateway Cottage often hosts PLU graduation parties and other events there.

Hogan and her ex-husband, Walter Hogan, started one of Tacoma’s best known restaurants, Stanley & Seafort’s, in the early 1970s. They owned it for about five years before selling it to Restaurants Unlimited.

Gateway Cottage is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday and dinner on Saturday. Friday’s lunch menu featured lots of salads, sandwiches, and soups. The couple next to us both had Reuben sandwiches, which were so generously stuffed that each took home a half sandwich for Saturday’s lunch. My husband and I had the sirloin steak, which was cooked medium-rare, just as we had both ordered it. The accompanying vegetables—fresh yellow and zucchini squash, yellow peppers, and broccoli—were tasty, as was the creamy seafood chowder.

I always marvel at how well restaurant servers handle our luncheon groups, which require lots of separate checks for couples and singles. Our group this Friday was particularly large, yet the service was good and our waitress handled the many separate checks with grace.

I’m looking forward to going back to Gateway Cottage some evening to check out its dinner menu.

A Google search reveals that Gateway Cottage has received the following ratings (all on a five-star scale):

Google reviews: 4.3
Yelp: 3.5
Trip Advisor: 4.5
Facebook: 4.3
Yahoo: 5

Three Things Thursday

It’s Thursday again!

Time for Three Things Thursday, the purpose of which is to “share three things from the previous week that made you smile or laugh or appreciate the awesome of your life.”

Trip to Leavenworth, WA

Since moving to Tacoma we’ve traveled along the West Coast between Seattle and San Francisco, but we haven’t yet gone inland from here into eastern Washington State. One of our new neighbors, a life-long Tacoma resident, suggested that Leavenworth would be a good place to visit. So when Franke Tobey Jones offered a three-day, two-night trip to Leavenworth, we jumped on the opportunity.

Leavenworth is located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, about 120 miles east of Seattle. It’s Washington’s Bavarian Village, with most buildings in town decorated with ornate woodwork and murals of Bavarian motifs. In summer the buildings and grounds in the city are ablaze with full-color flower displays.

(Click on any photo to see a larger version.)

1. Bavarian Lodge

We stayed at the Bavarian Lodge, which epitomizes the city’s identity with its painted decorations and flower boxes. Our room was large, the bed was comfortable, and the free breakfast was delicious.

2. Decorated Building

Imagine a town full of buildings similar to this one and you’ll visualize Leavenworth. The paintings on the buildings were fascinating. The many stores carry a variety of items, from typical tourist souvenirs to hand-crafted cuckoo clocks and music boxes, nutcrackers, Dresden china, and artwork by local artists. There’s even a nutcracker museum, although we did not get a chance to visit it. Behind the building you can see the steep, rocky Cascade foothills.

With its Bavarian village setting, Leavenworth obviously caters to tourists. For outdoors folks there are nearby centers for hiking, climbing, biking, skiing, snowmobiling, kayaking, and horseback riding. Leavenworth is beautiful in summer, but it also offers lots of festivals and events during other seasons, including the following: Ice Fest, Christmas Lighting, Wine Walk, Maifest, Autumn Leaf Festival, Oktoberfest, Salmon Festival.

The highway to Leavenworth passes through Stevens Pass, elevation 4,061 feet, the site of a winter downhill and cross-country ski resort. Stevens Pass is often closed in winter when there’s snow in the Cascade Mountains, so plan accordingly if you decide to go in winter.

3. Eagle Creek Winery

We also had a wine tasting and tour at Eagle Creek Winery just outside the center of town. The heat and soil make the region a perfect place for growing grapes. We liked several of their wines and came away with six bottles.

We also attended a production of the play Into the Woods by the Leavenworth Summer Theater at their outdoor venue, Ski Hill Amphitheater. (No photography allowed there—sorry.)

Overall, the trip to Leavenworth was delightful. We hope to return on our own sometime. And now that we’re retired, it won’t even matter if we get snowed in.

Three Things Thursday

Another Thursday brings another episode of Three Things Thursday, the purpose of which is to “share three things from the previous week that made you smile or laugh or appreciate the awesome of your life.”

Vintage Cars

(Click on any photo for a larger version.)

Recently we had a few vintage cars on display here at Franke Tobey Jones during the ice cream social on a beautiful Friday afternoon.

1. Dodge Brothers 1928

The Dodge Brothers Company was founded by brothers Horace Elgin Dodge and John Francis Dodge in 1900 as a supplier of parts for automobile makers in Detroit. The company began manufacturing complete cars in 1915. Both brothers died in 1920, and the company was sold to Chrysler Corporation in 1928.

The wheels on this car are made of wood. The owner told us that he has gotten the car up to 50 miles per hour, but it cruises along best at about 40 mph.

2. Buick Special 1938

The Buick Special was the company’s entry-level full-size auto from 1936 to 1958.

3. Studebaker Commander 1941

Studebaker Corporation used the model name Commander between 1927 and 1964, except for 1936 and 1959–1963.

Three Things Thursday

It’s yet another good week for Three Things Thursday, the purpose of which is to “share three things from the previous week that made you smile or laugh or appreciate the awesome of your life.”

Olympic Music Festival

Last Saturday a group of us from Franke Tobey Jones drove an hour and a half out onto Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula for a performance at the Olympic Music Festival. The venue of the festival is snuggled into the grandeur of a forested, sparsely populated area.

Alan Iglitzin, a member of the Philadelphia String Quartet, founded the Olympic Music Festival in 1984. He originally intended the festival to be a summer retreat for the Philadelphia String Quartet, which had been the quartet-in-residence at the University of Washington in Seattle from 1966 to 1982. But the summer festival drew such large audiences that the festival quickly expanded from the three weekends of its opening season to the current twelve.

The Olympic Music Festival takes place in the refurbished barn of an old farm that Iglitzin purchased near Quilcene, WA. An extensive picnic area surrounds the barn, and many patrons arrive early and enjoy a picnic before the performance. Two listening options are available: seating on benches and bales of hay inside the barn, and outdoor listening (on your own chairs or blanket) on the grassy hillside adjacent to the barn. The outdoor seating allows families to bring children who may not be quite ready to sit still quietly indoors for an extended period. The atmosphere reminds me of Tanglewood in Lenox, MA, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

True Confession:

Last Saturday was a windy, overcast day with occasional sprinkles of much-needed rain. We did manage to eat our picnic lunches outdoors before the performance, but it was not a good day for photography. Therefore, the photos below are from our 2014 visit to the Olympic Music Festival.

1. The Barn

When Alan Iglitzin bought the farm near Quilcene, it had fallen into disrepair. He knew nothing about the farm’s history. But over the years he learned that the farm’s original owners were a Japanese American family who had built the farmhouse and barn to accommodate themselves and a herd of dairy cows. They also grew berries and other seasonal produce and for many years provided dairy items and produce to local residents.

When the U.S. entered World War II, the family was sent to an interment camp. After the war they were unable to regain the property, which passed through multiple owners but never again became a thriving, working farm.

In the 1990s Isamu “Sam” Iseri, the son of the family that had built the barn called Iglitzin and asked if he could visit his boyhood home. He and Iglitzin became friends. Sam died in 2004, but members of the Iseri family continue to visit their ancestral farm periodically.

2. Musician

For some, the festival provides the opportunity to speak to the young musicians.

3. Tractor

There are several reminders of the venue’s history as a working farm.

Three Things Thursday

Here’s this week’s installment of Three Things Thursday, the purpose of which is to “share three things from the previous week that made you smile or laugh or appreciate the awesome of your life.”

Seattle Mariners Game!

(Click on photos for a larger version.)

And awesome my life was yesterday, when a group of us from Franke Tobey Jones went up to Safeco Field for a day game between the Seattle Mariners and the Detroit Tigers. We sat in the Hit It Here Cafe, which is a covered area just above the right field wall.

1. Safeco Sign

Safeco Field is a beautiful stadium that officially opened on July 15, 1999. I especially like this sign along the third base side of the field:

2. Runners on 1st and 2nd

The Mariners had runners on 1st and 2nd in the opening inning but didn’t manage to score:

3. Cleaning up the Infield

The grounds crew rushes out for a quick clean-up job on the base paths just before the start of the 7th inning:

It was just about a perfect day for baseball. We were all glad that we had chosen the seats in the covered cafe, as people on the lower levels were in direct sun. The temperature was in the low 80s, but as always up here, it felt much cooler than that as long as you were in the shade.

We even had a bit of added excitement during the game: a fan ran onto the field. He was quickly tackled by security personnel and escorted off the field. He spent at least a few hours in jail and will pay a hefty fine. This guy wasn’t a streaker because he had pants on. I don’t know if you get fined extra for running naked onto the field.

The only thing that kept the day from being perfect was the Mariners’ 5–4 loss to the Tigers.

Lunch Bunch: C.I. Shenanigans

3017 Ruston Way, Tacoma, WA 98402
Phone: (253) 752 – 8811

The first Friday of every month our activities director at Franke Tobey Jones offers us the opportunity to go out for lunch. Today’s destination was C.I. Shenanigans, on beautiful Ruston Way. Shenanigans advertises that it features sustainable seafood, Harris Ranch beef “from cattle that spend approximately 80% of their lives grazing on grass,” and artisanal cocktails.

I can vouch for the cocktails. My Moscow Mule (vodka, ginger beer, and a splash of lime) was delicious. There were five people at our table. I had a cup of their lobster bisque, which turned out to be delicious. My husband ordered the crab-stuffed mushrooms and pronounced them quite good as well.

For our main courses, the gentleman who ordered mac and cheese said that it was too dry. Two women liked their salads, which were generously sized. My husband and I both had Columbia River King Salmon, “simply grilled,” which was cooked through but not dry. Our vegetables—green beans, wax (yellow) beans, and broccoli—were also good, not overcooked.

Our only complaint was that it took a LONG time to get the food. We had a group of 20, so it’s understandable that we might have put a strain on the staff. But our activities director always lets restaurants know well ahead of time how many people will be coming, so I’m disappointed if an establishment doesn’t prepare adequately for us. My husband and I have eaten at Shenanigans a couple of times on our own, and I don’t remember the service being particularly slow.

I see that Shenanigans gets three out of five stars on Yelp, 3.5 stars on Trip Advisor, and 4 stars on Open Table and Facebook.

Ruston Way hosts a huge crowd every Fourth of July. Early in the day the road is closed to traffic, and people pack the place. On our way to and from the restaurant we saw city workers setting up out rows and rows of blue portable toilets all along Ruston Way to accommodate tomorrow’s crowd. They were also setting out many huge plastic trash receptacles. We’ve never gone down on the Fourth because it’s just too crowded. And tomorrow’s high temperature will be about 88 degrees. So we’ll stay home tomorrow and let all those other people enjoy the day along Commencement Bay’s beautiful Ruston Way.

Three Things Thursday

I’m really excited about today’s Three Things Thursday, the purpose of which is to “share three things from the previous week that made you smile or laugh or appreciate the awesome of your life.”

Tacoma Rainiers Game!

Our new activities director took a group of us from Franke Tobey Jones to a Tacoma Rainiers baseball game this week.

The Rainiers, of the Pacific Coast League, is the AAA team of MLB’s Seattle Mariners. That means that players stop here just before being called up to the Major League Baseball team. In fact, we watched Franklin Gutierrez play in Tacoma on Tuesday, then saw him on television with the Mariners on Wednesday, just after being called up. Fortunately, it’s a short trip from Tacoma to Seattle.

Tuesday nigh was a beautiful night to be at a baseball game. It was a sunny day, but our seats were in the shade of the high stadium wall up the third base line. The temperature was just right. Here are some photos. (Thanks to my husband for photo #3).

1. Stadium Hill

Hill along first base side of Cheney Stadium

The grassy hill next to right field, up along the first base line, is a popular destination for families with young children. Both young and older fans can spread out and relax while watching the game. A lot of foul balls end up there, so if you go, you should bring your glove.

2. Rainiers’ Mascot: Rhubarb

The Seattle Mariners’ mascot is a moose, and I used to think that Rhubarb, the Rainiers’ mascot, is also a moose. But this week I discovered that Rhubarb is in fact a reindeer. It has a nice alliterative ring to it: Rhubarb, the Rainier Reindeer.

Rhubarb, Rainiers' mascot — Rhubarb, Rainiers’ mascot

But be honest here. Could you really tell from those antlers that Rhubarb is a reindeer and not a moose?

Cheney (pronounced chee-nee) Stadium, home of the Rainiers, is a very family-friendly place, and Rhubarb plays a big part in creating that atmosphere. He dances on top of the dugouts, and mingles and schmoozes with fans up in the stands. And after every Sunday game at the stadium, Rhubarb brings kids down onto the field and leads them in running around the bases.

3. Tribute to Ben Cheney

Ben Cheney was one of the community leaders responsible for getting a stadium built in just three months and 14 days, in time to open as the home of the San Francisco Giants’ AAA club in 1960. Since that time Tacoma has been the home of a number of minor league teams. The Rainiers have played at Cheney Stadium since 1995.

Cheney Stadium underwent a massive remodeling between the end of the 2010 season on September 2 and opening day of the 2011 season on April 1.

The spirit of Ben Cheney attends every home game at the stadium named in his honor.

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Trip to Leavenworth, WA

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Vintage Cars

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Olympic Music Festival

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Seattle Mariners Game!

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Tacoma Rainiers Game!

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