We're back with more suggestions for activities and IRL events to help you give February a proper sendoff, from a Westside city hike linking the Hoyt Arboretum Like List and the newly reopened Pittock Mansion to Black-owned businesses and brands to shop from to cap off Black History Month, and from a new Northeast food cart pod Like List to visit to things to do on a day trip to Salem. For even more options, read our guides to the best online events this week Like List , the best movies to watch this week Like List , and our complete, ever-evolving guide to in-person things to do in Seattle. 

---

Jump to: Black History Month | Food & Drink | Shop Local | Arts | Outdoors

---

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Support local Black-owned businesses. For the last days of Black History Month (and every day after that), make a point of shopping from Black-owned brands and businesses based right here in Portland. An incomplete list of spots to hit up might include Cole and Dayna Reed's Greenhaus Gallery, which, in addition to displaying work by local artists on its walls, also sells things like woodcarvings, textiles, and vintage goods. If your home is a veritable greenhouse and you'd like to keep it that way, find new leafy friends and other gorgeous home accessories at EcoVibe Home, whose Northeast-native owner, Len Allen, runs the shop (along with the temporarily closed EcoVibe Apparel) with his wife, Dre. Speaking of plants, teen brother-sister duo Jaylen and Kyla Palmer make raised garden beds under the moniker J&K Partners, which they run via Facebook (send them a message to place an order). For a plethora of goods from Black makers in one parcel, check out With Love, From PDX, which curates gift baskets with themed products from nearly 100 local vendors. If you're in the market for some new reading material, stop by Broadway Books after checking out their list of books about the Black experience currently on its shelves, like Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham's Black Futures and Ijeoma Oluo's Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America. 

Other notable weekend events:

4 The Culture Black History Month Market Past Event Like List
As a fundraiser for some much-needed updates, the Billy Webb Elks Lodge will host a pop-up market highlighting local Black artists and artisans.
Billy Webb Elks Lodge, North Portland (Sat)

FOOD & DRINK

Visit new food cart pods. If you're feeling indecisive or can't seem to agree with your quarantine mates on what you're craving, visiting a food cart pod with a veritable smorgasbord of cuisines is the perfect solution. The recently opened CORE Like List (Collective Oregon Eateries) pod in Northeast Portland boasts Hainanese chicken from Jas Kitchen Like List , seafood boils from the Drip'n Crab Like List , Puerto Rican-Philadelphian fusion fare from Papi Sal's Like List , and more. Plus, the new taphouse Corner14 Like List , which had its grand opening in Oregon City last week, features over a dozen food carts to choose from. Options include The Freckled Peach (sweet and savory waffles), Veggie Bowl (customizable grain bowls), Original Salmon Tacos (salmon tacos, bowls, and quesadillas), Maw Maw's Cajun Kitchen (po' boys and other Cajun favorites), Krua Corner 14 (Thai cuisine), Shawarma Express (Mediterranean wraps and plates), Prometheus Pizza (sourdough pizza), Adelina's Mexican Food (Mexican staples), From Russia With Love (piroshkis and other Russian fare), and Walter French's (smashburgers, hoagies, and melts).

Get a seafood boil. Roll up your sleeves, tie on a plastic bib, and prepare to get a little messy: Two new food carts serving seafood boils have come to town. Kracked Crab Like List in the Happy Valley Food Station offers boils like the "Popular Loner" (a single crab cluster), the "Leglicious" (two clusters), "Shrimp Mania" (20 shrimp), the "Full Catch" (two clusters and 15 shrimp), the "Larry" (a lobster tail), and the "Whole Pot" (two clusters, a dozen shrimp, and a lobster tail), plus "drips" in flavors like cool ranch, lemon pepper, garlic parmesan, honey garlic, and ragin' Cajun, while the aforementioned Drip'n Crab Like List at the CORE pod sells Southern seafood boils, pasta, and sweets from the dessert business Guy's Pies. You can also head to Portland's OG seafood boil favorite My Brother's Crawfish Like List , currently open for takeout or limited indoor dining.

Try some takeout specials and to-go cocktails. In this week's edition of her column Takeout Club, Suzette Smith explores brunch options from Navarre Like List and My Vice Food & Spirits Like List . Meanwhile, Cocktail To-Go Club writer Janey Wong tries out car-themed drinks from Shifters Like List and boozy boba at Buddy's Lounge Like List .

Other notable weekend events:

Girl Scout Cookie & Wine Pairing Past Event Like List
If you've never unfurled on the couch after a long day with a box of Thin Mints and a big ol' glass of Cabernet, you're missing out, friend. Redeem yourself with Hip Chicks Do Wine's package of four Girl Scout cookies paired with four wines of their choosing, which you can pick up at the shop or have delivered to your door.
Hip Chicks Do Wine, Southeast (Friday-Sunday)

Indigenize Resolution Past Event Like List
Küchenhaus Chef Ramon Shiloh will celebrate Native American cuisine with the help of his Indigenize Resolution team, a group that "takes a humanitarian approach to looking at the cultural centrality of food in Native communities as a way to help strengthen us spiritually and emotionally after a tumultuous year of environmental, political, and racial divides." Fifteen percent of ticket sales from this pickup dinner (which includes five courses) will be donated to the Na'ah Illahee Fund, an indigenous women-led organization dedicated to the ongoing regeneration of indigenous communities. 
Küchenhaus, Southeast (Sunday)

MUSEUMS & DAY TRIPS

Visit the newly opened Pittock Mansion. The forested hills of Northwest Portland are no stranger to towering abodes and troublingly steep driveways, but the Pittock Mansion takes the cake as the most well-known, partly because its original owners founded the Rose Festival and The Oregonian, but also because its view of the city below is *chef's kiss* unbeatable. As of this week, the nonprofit-funded museum has thrown open all its windows and lined its halls with one-way paths to ensure COVID-safe visits for those who purchase a timed ticket online. Instead of driving there in your car, make a day of it by starting your journey at the Hoyt Arboretum Like List , which boasts 12 miles of hiking trails (be sure to seek out the currently blooming camellia flowers near the Vietnam War memorial and in the Winter Garden), and make your way to the mansion by foot via the newly built Barbara Walker Crossing, which carries the Wildwood Trail across West Burnside to connect Forest Park and Washington Park. 

Take a day trip to Oregon's capital. Salem is less than an hour south of Portland, making it an easy getaway for anyone who loves a good park and garden, a solid biking trail, and a day at a museum. If the latter applies to you, you'll be glad to know that the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, located on the Willamette University campus, is back open for in-person visits as of this week (advanced tickets required), boasting three new exhibits: Forgotten Stories: Northwest Public Art in the 1930s, Gold of the Caliphs: Medieval Islamic Coins, and the Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts Biennial. If you prefer to hang outdoors, we recommend picking up a copy of Portland couple Eden Dawn and Ashod Simonian's new Portland Book of Dates Like List and turning to page 96, where they recommend getting on your bike (or procuring some roller skates) and exploring Minto Brown Island Park, cruising over the Peter Courtney Minto Island Bridge to Riverfront Park to check out the old paper mill’s acid storage ball turned Eco-Earth Globe art project, and stopping by Archive Coffee & Bar before hitting the road. 

OTHER PICKS & HAPPENINGS

Watch the Golden Globe nominees at home or at select theaters. Buckle in for another COVID-era award show: the Golden Globes Past Event Like List  are streaming on NBC this Sunday. Though they're not without their share of controversy (see: Music Remind Like List , Emily in Paris), many of the nominees are worth watching and are currently streamable. We've rounded up our favorites in our latest weekend watch list Like List , which includes some (like The Mauritanian Remind Like List , Minari, and Judas and the Black Messiah Past Event Like List ) that are also playing at Living Room Theaters Like List and Century 16 Cedar Hills and Eastport.

Order locally made puzzles. For Mike Bennett, an artist known for his handpainted cardboard cutouts (like his lifesize masterpiece of Bernie Sanders), jigsaw puzzles—which are mini cardboard cutouts that make up a larger cardboard cutout—are a wise new venture. His new A to Zoo puzzle, a 500-piecer made up of sweet dinos, planets, cryptids, and "even regular animals," is finally available to preorder. If you order now, you'll get your puzzle in two to three weeks (and shipping is free). Another Portland-themed puzzle (made by artist Evie Coates, who, to be clear, does not live in Portland) is this beauty from True South Puzzle, which "provides a map of the nooks and crannies of Portland's unique history, style, and tourist destinations." Powell's Like List (which, by the way, is reopening its Purple and Red Rooms for browsing as of Friday!) also sells this At Home with Books puzzle if you miss the library. 

Other notable weekend events:

Chinese New Year at Lan Su Garden Past Event Like List
While their nighttime Lantern Viewings Past Event Like List  are sold out, you can still celebrate the Chinese New Year at Lan Su Gardens by enjoying festival decorations, contact-free audio tours, mobile scavenger hunts, educational displays, and more.
Lan Su Chinese Garden, Northwest (Friday-Sunday)

Frozen: A Sing-a-Long Cinema Experience! Past Event Like List
Procure your favorite car snacks and head to Oaks Park for a weekend of drive-in screenings of Disney's Frozen. Closed captioning will be provided for sing-along purposes, so don't be shy about belting "Let It Go" at the top of your lungs.
Oaks Park, Southeast (Friday-Saturday)

House of Vintage Annual Sale Past Event Like List
The vintage haven's only sale of the year offers 25% off items priced over $10 in every dealer space. Get yourself a new sweater!
House of Vintage, Southeast (Friday)

Ishimoto Yasuhiro: Architecture + Nature + Culture Past Event Like List
Head to the Pavillion Gallery to see Ishimoto Yasuhiro's collection of photographs of Kyoto's Katsura Imperial Villa, an architectural treasure.
Portland Japanese Garden, Southwest (Friday-Sunday)

KING Past Event Like List
Reunite with your favorite Portland drag kings, like Baba Jan, Princesex Hex, Mack Stachio, Johnny Angel, and newcomer Jack Awful, at this IRL show in the heated outdoors. 
The Big Legrowlski, Northwest (Saturday)

RCR Winter Skate Pop-Up Past Event Like List
Rose City Rollers' open-air skating rig at Lloyd Center will be up and running every weekend this winter. As usual, the Skatemobile will be on site if you need to rent gear.
Lloyd Center Mall, Southeast (Saturday-Sunday)

Shelley Turley: Sound of Silence Past Event Like List
Shelley Turley's paintings explore themes of displacement, longing, mourning, and spiritual reflection. Her latest collection is inspired by cookbooks, soap operas, pop music, advertisements, and pagan rituals of the 1960s and '70s.
HOLDING Contemporary, Northwest (Friday-Saturday)