Located in downtown Tacoma, nestled amongst antiques stores and local businesses, The Cobra Lounge was significantly easier to locate. The front desk offered a handful of concoctions, ranging from flavorful fruits and jasmine to muscle relaxing and vivid dream-inducing sheesha blends. I made my order - purchasing another $5 membership, the standard apparently - and was handed a pre-packed bowl.

I walked into dimly-lit lounge, fitted with a variety couches, pillows, white canopies, high ceilings and lights strung this way and that. It was Zen garden meets outdoor wedding.

I plopped down on a comfy couch where a hookah was already waiting. Not a minute passed before an employee came by with coals and I was ready to puff away. The hookah immediately started producing wonderfully thick, flavorful smoke.  I slouched back, felt the buzz rush in and listened to the house music playing on the sound system.  

The lounge, although one big room, was quite intimate. The comfortable, strategic layout accommodates a range of people - anywhere from a unique date to a barhopping bunch. The graffiti-covered walls left a little to be desired, though they certainly reflected the creative, youthful, urban vibe Tacoma so often embraces.

THE COBRA LOUNGE,7 P.M. TO 2 A.M. TUESDAY-SATURDAY, 713 COMMERCE ST., TACOMA