Hess Bakery & Deli - Lakewold Gardens

Once upon a time, two women lived in Germany and then moved to the Seattle area, where they met. They often discuss what they miss most about Germany, including the food. So they decided to drive down to Lakewood - just south of Tacoma - to eat at Hess Bakery & Deli. And lo, it was good...err...wunderbar!

Yes, so Lisa and I decided to make a day of it and go to Lakewold Gardens as well, since it was near Hess Bakery & Deli. But I'll get to that later. First...food!

This is the real deal, folks. If you have lived in Germany, visited Germany, or even dreamt of Germany, go here and have a sandwich. I went in there kind of not caring what exactly I had, as long as it involved brötchen. I miss brötchen. It truly is one of the most wonderful breads in the world.

Ultimately, I ordered German salami, butterkäse (butter cheese) and German mustard on brötchen. Every single bite sent me back to Deutschland. It was delicious. And I had hungered for good German bread, meat, and cheese for so long. I had a side of German potato salad with it. True happiness. Lisa was happy too.

We went to the bakery side across the hall and got dessert, but it wasn't nearly as satisfying. I may have mentioned before that European desserts aren't generally sweet enough for the American palate. There are some exceptions. But this was true of the desserts at Hess. The desserts were completely authentic, but just not for us. We're all about the deli. But if you love German cakes in general, by all means, knock yourself out. You'll love it.

After lunch, we drove a couple of miles to Lakewold Gardens. I love gardens, which may seem rather obvious if you've been reading my blog for awhile. Lakewold Gardens is stunning. We saw everything in about an hour or so, but the drive down Gravelly Lake Drive was nice (beautiful homes with well-manicured lawns) and Gravelly Lake itself looked so inviting. It was a nice, restful place to enjoy some scenery.

The centerpiece of Lakewold Gardens is The Wagner House. I won't get into its history here. You can visit the Lakewold Gardens website (linked below) if you want more information. You can go inside to see the house, but you don't get access to more than about 3 rooms or so, and the upstairs is completely off-limits. I particularly loved the library.

But the gardens were far more interesting to me anyway. And the garden shop there has some nice merchandise. Definitely worth a stop.

So, enough babbling...you want to see pictures, don't you? Of course you do! (link opens slideshow)

Links:
Hess Bakery & Deli
Lakewold Gardens

Camping and Fishing Sites Near Kent, Washington

I suppose if you ever feel so inclined to camp and/or fish here in Kent, Washington, this article might help you:

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/camping-fishing-sites-near-kent-washington-12703.html

This is the 2nd of my USAToday.com articles. I don't have any pending at the moment because I just haven't had much time for anything. We added a 2nd dog to our family on Tuesday and my hands have been full. And I'm working on my main freelance project and schoolwork right now too.

Two weeks from today, I have plans to go down to Lakewood and visit Lakewold Gardens and enjoy some German food at Hess Bakery. I'm not sure I'll have anything to update before then.