Getting out into the chilly city can help these winter months feel lighter. And the cold is a good reminder of all the people who don’t have a reliable place to sleep at night or spend the day. Did you know our public libraries work hard to provide access to safe warm places for everyone? On cold days you can even find a hot beverage station in the library to help folks warm up.
Tacoma High 5 is our way to nudge you toward what we love about Tacoma, toward 5 things that bring balance to our life in the city. It’s a short list with a commitment to the local—it embraces the season, invites delight, encourages a spirit of exploration and some generosity as well. This February, we’re continuing with our 5 usual categories:
Community Event
Sweet Treat
Exploration & Adventure
Local Love
Volunteering & Sharing
This list is about choosing to participate in the place we call home, and it’s about small things that make one day distinct from another so that it becomes part of the story of summer, the kind of time about which you say, “Hey, remember when…” And it’s nothing huge like, “Remember when we broke up on Friday night then got engaged on Saturday morning” or “Remember when we adopted 6 foster dogs in 1 week?” Nope. It’s more like those small remember-whens, the remember-whens you have about a day when you just stepped outside your routine and lived in the present (that place we tend so rarely to inhabit).
Maybe we’ll see you out there this month! But if we don’t see you, we hope you’re doing okay, and that someone else saw you instead and gave you a friendly wave and a big hello.
1. Community Event - Lincoln District Lunar New Year Festival & Tacoma Monkeyshines
Image from Monkeyshines Tacoma
The 35th Annual Lincoln District Lunar New Year Festival
Sunday, February 2nd
11 am - 4 pm
The Lincoln District is getting ready to celebrate with you!
🥟 Eat at local restaurants, or enjoy street food from a variety of stands.
🐉 Experience the Lion Dancers as they fill the street with color, percussion, firecrackers, and a spirit of celebration.
🛍️ Shop at small businesses (you might notice some new ones!) and visit the pop-up market.
🅿️ Park in the Lincoln High lot or surrounding streets. 38th St will be closed to vehicles for the festivities.
💛 See what you can see, feel what you might feel.
Monkeshines
The Monkeyshines Facebook page notes, Ms. Monkey and her helpers have been "creating community through mischief since 2003"! Along with celebrating in Lincoln District, join hundreds of others in the annual Tacoma hunt for Monkeyshines across the city.
As you can read on the Tacoma Glassblowing Studio site, the treasure hunt began with the hiding of 200 glass floats. The festive gift of handblown glass ornaments and medallions stashed all over the city—in tree branches and ditches, in waterfront parks and neighborhood hedges—has grown so much that now over 2,000 pieces wait to be discovered throughout the Lunar New Year season.
Even if you aren’t lucky enough to find one, you can still support the artists behind the magic! Because the truth is, even magic takes quite a bit of work. Each year Tacoma Glassblowing Studio creates a candle cup embossed with the symbol of the year—this time a golden snake emblem on a vivid green glass cup—the sale of which funds the production of the thousands of glass gifts hidden throughout the city and helps ensure artists are paid a fair wage. It’s a way to say “thanks” to Ms. Monkey and all the volunteers for over 20 years of monkeyshines!
You never know where you might find one, but as Chinese New Year approaches, you’ll know folks are searching when you notice all ages of people looking intently at their surroundings. Maybe you’ll be a lucky seeker this Year of the Snake!
Three Hearts is going for it with their dessert and pastry counter and so did my friends and I.
2. Sweet Treat - The Pink Grapefruit bar at Three Hearts
It’s pink! It’s sweet and tart. The crust doubles as a shortbread cookie. I predict at least as much happiness as you see on my face if you treat yourself to this dessert. If sweets aren’t for you, never fear. Three Hearts stocks their bakery counter with an array of savory goods like stuffed brioche too. Love a sweet but can’t eat gluten? That’s okay because Three Hearts has you covered with some nice gluten free bites too. Might as well just go, is what I’m saying.
Want some info on that photo? Nearest to farthest: passion fruit coconut layer cake (yes!), pink grapefruit bar (absolutely), orange cardamom morning roll (order that Americano too!).
Lace-up, leash-up and head-out on the Water Flume Line Trail in South Tacoma.
3. Exploration & Adventure - Visit two Local Places you’ve never Been
If you’ve been out hunting for Monkeyshines (see entry #1 of this Tacoma High 5 list) you’re probably covered in the exploration and adventure department. But the thing is, there’s still the rest of February. So how about trying something new?
Meet your skateboarding uncle/cousin/date at Method for coffee downtown.
Wander the paths at Titlow and end up by the secret sandy beach for excellent bridge views.
Poke around the shelves and cubbies and baskets and rooms full of yarn galore at Fibers, Etc on Hood St.
Never walked up the stairs at the UW Tacoma campus? Explore that.
Visit Johnson Candy Co in Hilltop and choose an assortment of chocolates for you, for your love, for your Grandma, for any sweetie in your life.
Get some salt air along the Thea Foss Waterway.
Heard over to the other end of the Ruston Way Waterfront near the Point Defiance Marina to seek out the colorful, skillfully crafted, and wonderfully imagined sidewalk murals created by Tacoma students from SAMI.
Already done all of those things and none of it’s new? Sounds like you’re living the life!
Okay, this is the original spot because as I’m writing this the new La Paloma isn’t open yet. But seeing this you can trust it’s going to be good.
4. Local Love - Support La Paloma Tacoma at their new Spot!
La Paloma Tacoma
re-locating to: 3001 6th Ave
6th Ave District
If you’ve been in Tacoma for a while, you’ve probably visited La Paloma Tacoma in their original shop in a charming brick space at the end of one of the Three Bridges District bridges—or you’ve been meaning to go. Now is the time. Well, as soon as they’re all settled in their new location right off of 6th Ave is the time. Make sure to follow them on Instagram so you’ll know they’re open. Or, roll by 3001 6th Avenue on the daily, whatever you prefer. The plan is to open up on Saturday, February 1st.
Moving your retail location/family business/community gathering spot at any time is a whole heckofa lot of work. Receiving word that the building is for sale and you need to vacate at the holidays is the absolute pits. Mother-daughter duo Molly and Amalia are making it happen (if you’d like to help, visit their GoFundMe page).
Images from AIDNW
5. Volunteering & Sharing - AIDNW
AIDNW is Advocacy for Immigrants in Detention Northwest. It’s an organization, an effort, a community that we always feel good about highlighting and supporting.
Officially open since 2009, AIDNW’s vision is to be “A welcoming community that affirms the dignity of all immigrants.”
Their mission, simply stated, is “AIDNW supports immigrants in detention and welcomes them on their release.” But if you’ve ever belonged to a group with a mission, you know getting the work done isn’t always simple, and always takes a lot of help!
That’s where we all come in.
You could volunteer in the Welcome Center assisting and greeting asylum seekers and immigrants as they’re released from the NW ICE Processing Center in the Port of Tacoma.
You could write to or visit a detainee to help them feel less isolated.
You could be a host home.
You sort donations, plan events, help with fundraising, provide transportation, or just sign up for the newsletter to stay informed.
You could donate funds, donate books in various languages, donate approved craft supplies.
Keep in touch about Tacoma life, community, events, homes, and a bit about us.
