Starbucks

If you find yourself in the beautiful state of Washington and you decide to visit the Museum of Flight there’s one more stop you should make in Tukwila, WA. Down the street from the Museum of Flight and the Boeing Field is Starbucks. For all you coffee-lovers out there, this is a must see. Starbucks on East Marginal Way South is made completely of re-purposed shipping containers as a way for Starbucks to reduce their carbon footprint. It has a convenient drive thru (which may or may not be packed with Boeing employees early in the morning), but don’t worry; you can also park your car and go order from the friendly baristas. You can choose to sit in their pleasant outdoor seating area and enjoy your cup of joe while watching the sunrise. Modern, industrial, in coffee and earth tones, this architectural success is one to see.

I frequent this Starbucks when I’m working on a habitat restoration site near it, along the Duwamish River. Not only is it a creative and cool approach to reusing industrial materials in an innovative manner but the Starbucks employees are great! I lead groups of volunteers working on restoring habitat along the river and several times we have asked Starbucks to provide additional ice water for our large water containers (10 gallons) on really hot days. They have been incredibly supportive and always gracious of our requests and efforts.