What does one do with oneself while avoiding a plague smack dab in the middle of December? If you're at a loss, we have a new batch of social distancing-compliant ideas, from the return of Lan Su Chinese Garden and Gateway Green to places to go last-minute IRL shopping (like Music Millennium), and from places to get hot toddies and mulled wine (like the GlüBar Like List pop-up) to Outdoor Skating at Lloyd Center Past Event Like List . For even more options, read our guides to the best online events this week Like List and the best movies to watch this week Like List .

Jump to: Holidays | Food & Drink | Other Picks & Happenings

HOLIDAYS

Hit up local shops for last-minute holiday shopping. With Christmas only a week away, the shipping deadlines have passed to get gifts online from many Portland retailers in time for the holiday. Luckily, even in this weird year of COVID-19, many local shops are open for in-person shopping, so you can stop by and get your hands on the perfect gift. (Note that shop hours are subject to change and some places require appointments before you can shop, so it's always a good idea to call ahead before heading out.) Some ideas: Powell's (which, as you probably know, has lots of little gifts that aren't books), Music Millennium (which has rounded up their favorite albums of 2020 if you need some inspo), Jackpot Records, Providore Fine Foods ("a food lover's playground"), quirky furniture shop Lounge Lizard (and clothing store Lizard Lounge, for that matter, if you're after a very high-quality sweater), and MadeHere for a plethora of locally made goods. We could go on (House of Vintage Like List , insect specimen emporium Paxton Gate, cool lightbulb palace Sunlan), but this should give you a head start. For more inspiration, check out our holiday gift guide Like List —online orders may arrive after Christmas, but in the times we live in, we don't think it'll hurt to extend the festive season.

Get holiday books for dramatic readings on Zoom. If not a creature is stirring in your house and you're celebrating the holidays over video calls with loved ones instead, pick up a classic Christmas story from your local bookstore and put on a reading by a virtual fire. It's always a good idea to check online first, but Powell's, Annie Bloom's, and Daedalus Books Like List —all of which are open for limited in-person shopping—have plenty to choose from, including Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory, which tells the story of a young boy and his beloved older cousin's Yuletide traditions in a time of Prohibition-era struggle. (You can also hear the author's own reading for inspiration.) Other top-notch oratory options currently available on the shelves include Clement Clarke Moore's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Charles Dickens's A Round of Stories By the Christmas Fire, J.R.R. Tolkien's Letters from Father Christmas, O. Henry's Gift of the Magi, Hans Christian Andersen's The Steadfast Tin Soldier, and Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. 

Celebrate the winter solstice. The longest and darkest night of this long and dark year falls on Monday, giving you a chance to start fresh before the official new year takes hold. We're rounded up all the online or otherwise socially distanced ways to ring in the new season in the Northwest and nationwide, from the Northwest Film Forum/Holocene collab party Longest Night Past Event Like List  to the winter solstice live from Stonehenge Past Event Like List . See them all here Like List .

See holiday lights. If the string of bulbs you have hanging over your window cheers you up in this particularly dreary time of year, imagine the SAD Lamp-adjacent power of the millions of LED lights arranged in the likeness of wild animals at the Oregon Zoo's drive-through ZooLights Past Event Like List display (open daily through January 10, with the exception of Christmas Day). Other COVID-safe options this year include the Winter Wonderland at the Portland International Raceway Past Event Like List , which has also moved its operations to drive-through only and opens this Friday through January 2. The Portland Christmas Ships Past Event Like List have also returned to the Columbia and Willamette rivers to cheer up on-shore bystanders and lucky people who live on houseboats. 

Other notable weekend events:

Black Santa PDX 2020! Past Event Like List
Portland's beloved Black Santa will hang out outdoors inside a giant snow globe in front of a Christmas backdrop, where families can drive up and take family photos social distancing style. Don't forget to make a reservation ahead of time. 
Tabor Heights United Methodist Church, Southeast (Saturday-Sunday)

Christmas Ships Past Event Like List
"Each December, the Christmas Ships once again toot-toot-toot across our waters, sometimes going in little circles as they banish the Willamette’s vile horrors and give Portlanders a super-cute lightshow. Their lights winking and glittering with wondrous whimsy, the Christmas Ships spread holiday cheer..." wrote Erik Henriksen in this glorious paean to this vastly underrated holiday spectacle that graces the Columbia and Willamette rivers each year. The meet-and-greets are canceled for 2020, but you can still watch the parade from the shore—just make sure to spread out and wear a mask!
Various locations (Friday-Sunday)

The Cinnamon Bear Holiday Show Past Event Like List
Instead of hosting a Portland Spirit cruise like previous years, the Cinnamon Bear, Portland's Santa alternative of more than 80 years, will entertain audiences from the safety of their cars with a drive-in concert and sing-along with the Cocklebur Cowboys. Joining the party will be Chipper the Squirrel and Santa Claus.
Oaks Amusement Park, Southeast (Friday-Sunday)

Clackamas County Winter Fair Past Event Like List
Escape from reality and into a brief quarter-mile wonderland in the form of a sparkly light tunnel that you can drive through in your car. Christmas sounds and visits from socially distanced Santa will sweeten the deal.
Clackamas County Fairgrounds, Canby (Friday-Sunday) 

Coopers Hall-iday Market Past Event Like List
This semi-outdoor market will feature goods from local businesses like Woodblock Chocolate, Aesthete Tea, Aurora Elixirs, Christopher Miller, and many others.
Coopers Hall, Southeast (Friday-Sunday)

Gnome for the Holidays Past Event Like List
Pick up a "gnome card" from one of five participating Alberta Street locations and go on a hunt for hidden gnomes hanging out in store windows. When you're done, drop it in the "gnome post mailbox" at 1722 NE Alberta to be entered in a raffle.
Various locations, Northeast (Friday-Sunday)

Drive-By Christmas on the Campground Past Event Like List
Enjoy thousands of lights, a life-sized nativity scene, and towering Christmas trees from the safety of your car.
Christmas on the Campground, Southeast (Friday-Sunday)

Holiday Market & Tree Stand Past Event Like List
Get your Noble firs and holiday trinkets (made by local BIPOC artists and artisans) in one fell swoop. 
Blackthorn Mercantile, North Portland (Saturday)

Ping Pong's International Holiday Bazaar Past Event Like List
The Olde World Puppet Theatre and the Portland Puppet Museum's annual holiday bazaar is back open for all your eccentric gifting needs. 
Portland Puppet Museum, Southeast (Friday-Sunday)

Voodoo Catbox Annual Holiday Show & Sale! Past Event Like List
Need to up your music poster game? Local printmakers Voodoo Catbox will sell their screenprints through Christmas Eve. If you buy two, you get the third free.
Music Millennium, Southeast (Friday-Sunday)

Winterland PDX Past Event Like List
Check out wintery window art displays all around Portland made by local artist Mike Bennett and a team of local BIPOC makers. 
Various locations (Friday-Sunday) 

FOOD & DRINK

Have a holiday tea at home. If you miss the tradition of a fancy teatime amid the hubbub of the holidays, it's the perfect opportunity to recreate some of that elegance at home. Set the mood with a crackling holiday yule log video playing in the background on your screen of choice, then brew some tea (tea cozy optional) and carefully arrange a platter of dainty bites. Pix Patisserie Like List 's takeout holiday tea comes with a proper spread of sweet and savory bites beautifully packaged in a decorative bento box, along with a cup of Jasmine Pearl Like List tea of your choice. Kachka Like List also has a "tea assorti" with an assortment of sweet treats to complement your cuppa, including oreshki (small walnut-shaped cookies filled with milk caramel, chicory, and walnuts), chocolate kolbasa (fudgy chocolate no-bake cookies with hazelnuts and cookie pieces), and pryaniki (small glazed spiced honey cookies). Tea Bar, Tao of Tea, and Tea Chai Té Like List have you covered if you'd like to pick up some new loose-leaf options to pair with your posh snacks.

Enjoy hot toddies and mulled wine. In need of a cozy pick-me-up? Imperial Bottle Shop and Taproom Like List has opened a new pop-up called GlüBar Like List , serving mulled wine, cider, and beer, as well as champagne and baked goods. The pop-up Whiskey Barrel Lounge inside the recently opened Valley Public House Like List also has festive "patio toddies" with bourbon, pear brandy, and cranberry joy and hot "Good Morning" coffee cocktails with hazelnut-infused bourbon, Nossa Familia coffee, and house-made Irish whipped cream. And the laidback bar Donnie Vegas Like List is serving hot drinks in quirky mugs, which you can enjoy on their patio next to a firepit. If you're more of a beer geek, check out our guide to places to get wintry brews Like List .

Send your holiday packages and grab a bite to eat. Stopping at the post office to ship some gifts this weekend? Why not combine your holiday errands with a nourishing meal? In Southeast Portland, the hip Japanese izakaya Afuri Ramen Like List , the Eastern European favorite Kachka Like List , and the vegan deli Fermenter Like List are all located conveniently near a post office. And the wood-fired pizzeria Life of Pie Like List in Northwest Portland and the recently opened Mexican cafe República Like List in the Pearl District both have post offices just a short walk away. 

OTHER PICKS & HAPPENINGS

Revel in nature at newly opened green spaces. As the statewide freeze winds down, two valuable Portland outdoor spaces make their return: the Lan Su Chinese Garden and Gateway Green. The former reopened its gates last weekend at limited capacity after a month-long beauty sleep and, as of December 14, they've even set up a Discover Lan Su mobile app that allows for a contact-free garden audio tour and scavenger hunts. Their gift shop is also open for last-minute shopping. As for the latter, a 25-acre biking and hiking destination in the Eastside's Gateway District that's been closed for quite a while for upgrades, it's back in action with improved trails and paths (including a new gravity-oriented mountain bike trail), native habitat improvements and plants, an asphalt pump track, and spiffed-up restrooms and drinking-water stations.

Other notable weekend events:

Bye 2020 Past Event Like List
Blind Insect Gallery's inaugural holiday mini art exhibition shows smaller-than-average paintings, collages, sculptures, woodcarvings, and jewelry by 37 artists. 
Blind Insect Gallery, Northeast (Friday-Sunday)

Outdoor Skating with the Skatemobile! Past Event Like List
The Rose City Rollers will make your winter wonderland dreams come true with ice-skating in an open-air parking garage. Their Skatemobile will be on site with all the gear you need.
Lloyd Center, Northeast (Friday-Sunday)