Richard Hacker

I love a good adventure. Doesn’t have to be too crazy, just something out of the usual day to day.  Last weekend my bride Sidney and I hopped on the Vespa and went to Tacoma.  We couldn’t take I5, since the 150 will only do 50 or 55.  So we had to get a little creative.  We drove through the city to West Seattle, taking a ferry across Elliott Bay to Vashon Island.  This lush, green 5 X 15 mile island has a nice, laid back vibe.  We stopped at a little cafe then rode to the south of the island, taking another ferry to Tacoma, then drove along the shore to downtown.

Our quest?  The  newly opened LeMay Museum — what has got to be one of the premier automotive museums in the country now.  I’ll plop a pic or two down in the blog, but believe me, my photos can’t do the place justice.  If you’re a gear head, drive, walk or crawl in the direction of this place.  Favorite?  A ’32 Ford like the one my dad drove as a teen in the late 30’s, a Jaguar E Type — probably the closest thing to sex in car design, and the Tucker from the 1950’s.  The Jag to the right is a 1952 XK120.  I could go on and on.

Sunday morning, we took the return trip, this time stopping at the birthplace of the coffee craze in Seattle, which oddly enough is on Vashon Island.  After a second ferry over to West Seattle, we stopped for pizza and beer by the beach.  While couples and families strolled the sidewalks, guys and girls in swimsuits played beach volley ball, boats with sails straining in the breeze and motorcycle drivers rumbling by, we drank cold ones, celebrating a great dayto be alive.