Tat’s Bizarre Travels

Tacoma, WA - Dale Chihuly’s Bridge of Glass connects Tacoma proper with the Museum of Glass. And if it wasn’t for the Bridge of Glass, the Museum of Glass would be like any other museum out there. In fact, I’d give a pass on the museum and just head on over to the bridge. It will save you the entrance fee and the only (slightly) unique thing you’ll see inside the museum is a team of glass blowers making giant apples, or other a sundry chakies to sell at the museum store.

The Bridge of Glass, however, is worth the visit. It’s not a bridge made of glass, like I desperately hoped (in my mind I pictured a giant amorphous Chihuly glass bridge that you could walk on and somehow withstood the elements and thousands of people walking on it), but instead it’s filled with Chihuly glass well worth a small fortune. Although slightly disappointing, because it’s filled with glass instead of made out if it, you’ll get over it as you see the plethora of Chihuly in a row and overhead.

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Fremont, WA - Under the Aurora Bridge in Fremont stands the Fremont Troll. He’s a large fellow with an apparent dislike for Volkswagen Bugs, or possibly a childish love that makes him have to possess them. Either way, he’s truly awesome…yet another of the great sites to see when wandering through Fremont.

The Fremont Troll was constructed by four local artists and was sponsored by the Fremont Arts Counsel. It’s quite a sight to behold and people flock to get a closer look, or just hang off of him (or out his nose). While I was there the troll went from being virtually alone to having at least 20 people gathered around at one time. Both kids and adults clamored around the beast to have their pictures taken. It was almost like Christmas the way the troll get’s everyone having a good time.

I’ve got to say, I especially love the big guy. Not only is he somewhat of an artistic masterpiece, I love how he’s hidden away under the bridge. It’s not a far trek from the hart of Fremont, but it’s still very close by to a bunch of residences. If you get a chance stop by, he’s right on (you guessed it) Troll Road.

Meadville, PA - My first stop this weekend was Read Between the Signs (better known as the PennDOT mural), a fantastic and exciting display of environmental art. The mural is really hundreds of road signs expertly lashed to the cyclone fence that separates the the highway from the PennDOT backyard. From what I can tell, it depicts the different parts of Pennsylvania, from the rolling hills to the snow covered mountaintops hilltops. It’s a visual representation of a John Denver song, only much, much, much, better.

When I first read that PennDOT had a “sculpture garden” of flowers made out of street signs, I knew I was in. Little did I know what it had blossomed into. In fact the flowers, impressive though they are at an average height of 6′ tall, are secondary to the mural itself.

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