After a hard day at work in a Tacoma factory or office, the temptation is strong to just veg out on the couch and watch life pass by. However, if you can just summon up the energy to leave the house and perhaps have your personal chef, Toronto, pack you your supper to go, you can find many worthwhile cultural experiences in the museums and galleries in and around Tacoma. So next time you see a documentary about glass or 19th century life or American artwork coming up on TV, turn it off and go see these things with your own two eyes instead.

Museum of Glass

A lot of SR & ED, or scientific research and experimental development, went into making the cone of glass and the glass bridge connecting the museum to downtown: two of the most arresting structures in Tacoma. Inside are thousands of art pieces made entirely from glass by legendary artist Dale Chihuly and various artists invited as part of the Visiting Artist program. And if seeing the final product isn't impressive enough, you can attend a demonstration and see glass blown in front of your eyes.

Tacoma Art Museum

The light, airy openness of this downtown Tacoma museum is the ideal situation in which to enjoy the 3,000 pieces of Northwestern, American, European, and Asian art that form the art museum's collection. Pieces reflect the struggles of visionaries like Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Jacob Lawrence as they attempt to visually represent their views on everything from the class system to time and frequency standards.

Washington State History Museum

Tacoma and Washington State in general have enjoyed an interesting history. Starting out as the traditional lands of the Puyallup Native Americans, the Tacoma area first came under European influence with the arrival of explorers like George Vancouver and traders from the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada. With displays on pioneer lifestyle, old maps, and Native artifacts, the Washington State Historical Society attempts to show how we went from untamed wilderness to a major city where people's major concern is finding the right band of organic baby lotion.

Fort Nisqually

The problem with museums, in the eyes of many ordinary people, is that they are dull. Most ordinary museums feature a hushed atmosphere of artifacts carefully enclosed in glass cases with words on walls behind them to describe their origins. If this sounds unfun, Fort Nisqually is for you. As a living history museum, Fort Nisqually allows you to observe and participate in life in a 19th century fur trading post. Reenactors go about their lives while you can take in the demonstration gardens, trade store, and learn about life before electricity and airplanes.