The Bonsai Museum is a hidden gem. We had a few hours to kill before picking up dinner and heading…read moreover to my cousins house. Since she and her family live in Fife, I ordered and scheduled pickup for 2:30 pm in Federal Way. We weren't what to do in the meantime and so I looked up botanical parks. The bonsai Museum and the Rododendron botanical Park came up. We noticed they were across from each other and so we headed over to the parks. It's a nice drive over there as everything is so green and lush. Once we parked, we noticed that we needed to walk a bit to get to the exhibits. Once we got to the exhibits, the Rododendron botanical park was on the left side with $12 entrance fee and on the right side was the bonsai Museum with free entry. On the outside, they do have restrooms available before heading into the bonsai museum We didn't know what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised with all the bonsai displays they had by the different artists from different countries, and there were a lot. It took us about 30 minutes to get through the entire exhibit. We would've stayed longer to read all the information, but we were running short on time and we still wanted to visit the botanical park across the way. I highly recommend the Pacific Bonsai Museum if you're in the Federal Way area especially because it's free.

Admission to the Pacific Bonsai Museum is free and there were a vast amount of bonsai trees on…read moredisplay. I loved that the exhibit is located among the Pacific Northwest trees. I enjoyed seeing the variety and reading about its history from the original owner who started the growth of the tree. This museum is next to the former Weyerhaeuser headquarters which is now vacant. Highly recommend this museum whether you are a bonsai fan or not.

This mansion museum was a great way to spend a slow afternoon in Puyallup…read more It is currently a $15 fee for adults to do a self tour of the home. You are welcome to take photos, and please, take your time! There is plenty to read either on the pamphlet given to you at the entrance, or on the walls beside all the beautiful furniture, paintings, and artifacts. It's hard not to imagine yourself at the turn of the century, living in wealth in this fancy home, like the Meekers did. Ezra and Eliza Meeker were a fascinating couple who did so much with their lives, even into their last years. Traveling the Oregon Trail, hitting success with a hop business, Ezra being the mayor twice, Eliza founding the town's public library and strongly supporting the suffrage movement. I also can't help but to respect Eliza even more for her strength in character even though she was of small stature (4'8")! Especially for those who live in the area, I highly recommend you learn about this historic Puyallup family with a visit to the Meeker Mansion Museum!

I happened to be in the area and saw a sign for the Meeker Mansion, so I decided to check it out…read more Diane was very sweet and gracious and gave me a brief history of Ezra & Eliza Meeker. "Ezra was an American pioneer who traveled the Oregon Trail migrated from Iowa to the Pacific Coast. Once known as the Hop King of the World." A lot of good history of Puyallup. I didn't have time for the tour, but I appreciated seeing the mansion and getting a glimpse of this city's history. Next time, I'll have to do the tour. Thank you again, Diane, for being so nice and friendly!

As you enter the Karshner Museum and Center for Culture & Arts your eyes will immediately be drawn…read moredown the hallway to a very large wooden welcoming figure. These figures are seen along the Pacific Northwest coastal region welcoming people to villages or homes. The figure is supposed to represent a shaman or some say even Dr. Karshner and it has it's arms stretched out welcoming you. The best thing about this exhibit is you get to put your hands in the hands of the welcoming figure and if you are sad, it will help make you happy. This is a great way to start your visit to the museum. The Karshner Museum is almost ninety years old and was founded in 1930 by Dr. Warner Karshner and his wife as a memorial to their son who died at an early age from Polio. Today, the Karshner is a teaching museum which is actually owned and operated by the Puyallup School District. It contains over ten thousand artifacts which include many from Native American/First Nation People as well as from Dr. Karshner's travels around the world. On the day I went, the Museum was closed and they were setting up exhibits. I explained that I had a friend visiting from Korea and she wanted to see this museum and the staff were kind enough to allow us to explore everything. I really appreciated that the staff were so cooperative and friendly and were also excited to explain some of the exhibits to us. You can see that they truly do love their work and appreciate being able to share stories about some of the pieces. If you have kids, the Pioneer Room is an entire room set up like a classroom with lots of hands on activity for little hands. They even have a stagecoach that the kids can climb on and explore. The room has so many things to see that it will definitely entertain kids for a long time. There are even some work sheets available on the door of this room so kids can also get involved in showing what they have learned. Some of the worksheets which will aid your kids in exploring this room. They can find the basket full of games that pioneer children played, try on clothing, explore goods from the trading post, discover what it was like to go to school in 1855 and lots of other activities. Currently, there is an exhibit entitled Who Are We? - Washington's Kaleidoscope which will be on display until January 2018. This exhibit is great because it tells the story of Washingtonians who have been faced with and have overcome obstacles or hardships and have left a positive impact on our great state. This exhibit is also contains people from different ethnicities which is always a good thing to see. The most beautiful objects in this museum are not the Chihuly glass on display, but the beautiful carved and painted Shamish Nation Panels which were gifted to the museum. There are four panels in total including one of a killer whale and calf, eagle with salmon, native run salmon and raven, wolf & moon (which is my favorite). If you are in the area please stop by the museum and check out all of the displays. It is a very eclectic collection and there is something here for everyone. Make sure to ask questions if you have any because the staff have so much knowledge. Thank you for a great visit and an awesome learning experience.

From the owner: Karshner Center is a sophisticated, hands-on learning museum owned and operated by the Puyallup…read moreSchool District. We host field trips and culture and arts festivals. We are open to the public free of charge 2 pm to 4 pm when the Puyallup School District is in session.

Kent Historical Museum is located in the historic Bereiter house. Beautiful grounds, lovely old…read morehome. We held a birthday party for my mom there, and had the use of the whole house. Nice to be able to wander through the home and enjoy the museum displays. A nice sized living room and dining room to visit in, set up a dinner or buffet. This would be a great place for a wedding or a birthday or anniversary celebration. Steven, our museum host, made us feel welcome.

I stopped in with our 11 month old and 4 year old yesterday. The grounds are beautiful and the…read morehouse is amazing. This historical displays set up inside are well presented and interesting. My kids loved it in there (which surprised me.) We only had 20 minutes so missed seeing the upstairs, but we will be back, for sure!!

This place is an absolute gem and any racing hobbyist would love this place. You can't miss this…read moreplace because there's a big hydroplane outside. Once you walk in though you aren't very sure because nobody is around. Then suddenly a guy shows up , he's glad to take whatever you pay him, and suddenly he's just giving you a tour! He basically tells you everything and goes through the history of each hydroplane there. He's literally like a walking encyclopedia and is more than happy to answer your questions. There's other workers there working on hydroplanes and they're more than welcoming and wanting you to see what they're doing. You can feel the passion and love . Its not a big musuem. Its basically a bunch of hydroplanes cramped in a storage building. I'd say it takes about an hour. I learned so much that I never knew and I'm a huge fan of hydroplanes now!

To see all these vintage unlimited hydroplanes up close is amazing with the men giving the tour…read moredescribing all aspects of each boat. Some great shirts in lobby as well as hydroplane model kits and nice bike boats too. Great history and two more boats being built now of the Miss Madison and Miss Circus Circus. And 2 minutes off I-5 at top of Southcenter hill makes it so easy to get to also. And special Circus Circus booster club membership available is cool too. But Bardahl, Wahoo, Pay n Pak, Notre Dame, SLO-mo-shun, Tempo, Budweiser, Atlas, and Squire Shop and more of these boats were impressive up close.