I can only imagine how many new-to-us local things we’ve all found this year as we’ve been staying closer to home. There is so much to do in our own neighborhoods, even when we don’t venture out very far. I was recently invited to visit Renton Washington, a city about 30 minutes away from where I live in Seattle on behalf of Why Renton to get out, shop local and support local. I’ve seen a lot of cool Renton-based businesses in my social media feed lately so this was a great excuse for a visit. And on a rainy Wednesday, with our yorkie poo pup in tow, the kids and I came up with a grand adventure involving bubble tea and watching airplanes land at Pathfinder Park in Renton.
Over the Rainbow (Bubble) Tea Bar in Renton Washington
Adventures in our family need to come with treats and I’ve been wanting to check out Over the Rainbow Tea Bar for a while. I like when Bubble Tea places also serve snacks and this Over the Rainbow Tea Bar has an Oreo cookie mochi waffle ice cream sundae that looked very decadent on the photos in Google Maps. I placed an order through Door Dash for pick up and everything was ready and really nicely packaged when we arrived. The waffle and sundae goodies were packaged separately than the ice cream so they wouldn’t all mush together and I love the little heart spill stoppers on the top of the bubble tea drinks too. (Wouldn’t this make a fabulous Valentine’s Day treat?)
Watching airplanes at Pathfinder Park
We thought that maybe we would go to some park to walk and drink our bubble teas, but it was one of those wet dreary days we tend to have in January and February in Seattle and we had our little pup in tow too. And with rain sometimes, it’s hard to manage bubble tea, a pup, an umbrella and a mask. So somehow we found Pathfinder Park near the Renton Municipal Airport and decided to check it out. Within minutes of parking our car, a teeny plane swooshed over our heads and touched down on the runway. And every 2 or 3 minutes after that another plane started to take off or land. Every plane we saw looked different and we had so much fun together trying to figure out which plane would enter the runway next.
Sitting in our car at Pathfinder Park, we didn’t even need to get out to feel like we explored somewhere new and exciting.
We were so engrossed in watching the planes we even forgot about the bubble waffle dessert. So as soon as we got home I put the ice cream in the freezer and it turned out just fine.
In our past life, our adventures would only just be beginning at bubble tea and hanging out watching airplanes, but these days we do less things at a time. Originally I still had a plant store and a coffee shop I wanted to see so a few days later I came back and finished the rest of our Renton adventure by myself.
Urban Sprouts is a plant store in Renton every plant lover needs to see
Urban Sprouts is a plant lovers’ heaven. One of my kids is smitten with gardening and my mom loves it too so I thought this would be a good store to look for gifts for them. It is full of beautiful plants and great plant accessories. They have build your own terrarium classes that you can book daily. I also noticed a bunch of little green moss balls in a fishtank and I came home with my own little “marimo” moss. These would make great gifts and the Urban Sprout Store even has digital gift cards to make things really easy too.
Have you ever seen one of these adorable marimo moss plants? The one I bought was 5 years old! Apparently they grow really really slowly. (Maybe they are the sloth of plants…). I also saw an adorable Hoya plant at Urban Sprouts that would also make a great gift too.
And because Urban Sprouts is near Boon Boona Coffee
It couldn’t be more perfect that this gorgeous plant shop is next to an amazing coffee shop too. The last time I went to Boon Boona Coffee, they were busy doing interviews about their shop which exclusively supports African Coffee Producers and they gave my husband and I some delicious drip coffee because they had to close shop for longer than we could wait.
This time I ordered a fancy drink made with one of their house-made syrups. I don’t remember what the drink was called but I really appreciated the way the ginger in the syrup paired with the coffee roast and I hope I can order this one when I visit again. I also bought a limited edition Mama Oya Box and I’m looking forward to trying these three different coffees over the next little while at home.
I love that I didn’t have to go very far from Seattle to explore some unique local shops in Renton. And I’m very thankful to Visit Renton for encouraging me to support local business nearby. If you are looking for more Renton adventures this is a great list of ideas in the area and feel free to message me too. (My guys are already planning their next trip to Pathfinder Park to watch the airplanes takeoff and land.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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