Seattle | 2020

I arrived in Federal Way mid-morning on Friday, February 28th. I decided to remain in the Federal Way vicinity that day as I wanted to revisit the amazing Pacific Bonsai Museum nearby.

After checking in at the hotel, I consulted my Apple Maps app for directions for the three mile walk to the museum. When I did this walk two years ago, I walked through a slightly iffy area, and so I felt relieved when the app suggested a different route to get there. I happily set out on the alternate route, but I started feeling a little wary when I realized the route cut through a mobile home park. I felt like I was intruding, but I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the mobile homes were set in a pleasant environment with lawns and even a clubhouse with a swimming pool - a far cry from the depictions we see on television. Sadly, this shortcut turned out to be too good to be true; after crossing the mobile home park, I encountered a fence between me and the road I was supposed to join. Ugh. I silently cussed the Apple Maps app and switched to Google Maps, which had me doubling back through the mobile home park and walking along the main roads again.

The roads leading to the Weyerhauser campus (where the museum is housed) were slightly iffy but I didn't feel threatened in any way. Along the way, I noted there were quite a number of Korean businesses. In many US cities this is an early harbinger of gentrification.

The Pacific Bonsai Museum was just as amazing the second time round. This time, I paid more attention to the signage. I learned that one of the bonsai - a Japanese black pine - had been propagated during World War II by a Japanese internee. I was struck by how someone who had been detained under such awful circumstances could still channel his energy into creating such a thing of beauty. On my prior visit, I didn't pay much attention to the largest bonsai in the museum because I didn't even think it could be a bonsai. This time, I read the description and I learned it was more than a century old and it had won awards all over the world.

After strolling through the museum, I called an Uber to take me back to the commercial hub of Federal Way. I ate seafood chowder for lunch at Ivar's (a local chain specializing in seafood), wandered around the area for a bit, and then hung out in the room waiting for Jeff to be done with his duties for the day. That evening, we drove out to downtown Seattle for dinner with his cousin. We had a pleasant time catching up over an amazing bowl of Vietnamese crab and shrimp noodle soup.

I authored an Atlas Obscura entry on the Pacific Bonsai Museum: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pacific-bon…

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