13 Things to Do & Try in Tacoma This July

Staying home “far from the madding crowd” is good too. But just in case you feel like stepping out, come back to this list and take your pick.

This is just a tiny glimpse at all the things happening around Tacoma this month. We’ve included a few events, some new spots that opened up recently, and small businesses to keep an eye on so you’re ready to support them when their doors open—food festivals, Tacoma Pride, new coffee roasters, a way to lend a hand, delicious deliveries, and fix-it fairs too.

I’m pretty happy at home with a book on a blanket in the grass under the shade of the apple tree, but those times are maybe even sweeter with a bit of time away, time about town, time with community added to the mix. You might be more on the side of lots of social time with just a dash of reading under the apple tree. In that case, you might as well go ahead and try everything in the list below.

Follow the links for details and see if you can find something—even someone—new out there! 

1. Friday, July 1st: Hilltop Indoor Market

Mark your calendars for the first Friday of every month!

2. Friday-Sunday, July 1-3: The Taste Northwest

Tacoma throws its pride party in July! Hey, why not?

Visit the Washington State Fairgrounds for the first year of this festival with food, rides, and more.

3. Saturday, July 9: Tacoma Pride Festival

July 9th is just one day in the city’s month long Pride celebration. Windermere Abode is a sponsor - make sure to visit our booth!

Image from Oscar’s Enemies

4. Friday, July 15: Lincoln District Food Walk

Free to enter and explore with lots of food to try on the street and $5 specials from local restaurants.

5. Saturday, July 23: Oscar's Enemies

Join a group of friendly volunteers to for a Litter Pick-Up in the Dome District from 9-11 am.

6. Thursday, July 14th: Fix-it Nights

Image from Tacoma Tool Library

This is another one to put on the calendar on a regular basis. Keep Fix-it Nights with Tacoma Tool Library in mind every Thursday starting July 14th.

7. June 4-August 13: Summer Reading Challenge 2022: Oceans of Possibilities

Image from Memoranda Kitchen

Sign-up online or in-person and visit your favorite branch of the Tacoma Public Library to get started with your first stack of books for summer reading.

8. Wednesday-Saturday: Memoranda Kitchen

Our friends with the super-duper delicious sandwiches are now offering orders via DoorDash. Choose delivery or pick-up from their kitchen at 3812 S Wright St. (Or find them weekly at the Proctor and Lakewood farmers' markets, and very soon you’ll be able to order direct from their site—it’s all in the works!)

9. The Method: Skateboards & Coffee

Image from Downtown Tacoma Partnership at The Method.

Method offered a soft opening in June, but if you've ever opened a business you know it's a process, so follow them on Instagram to keep up with their official opening day and hours. Then head downtown to say hello.

10. La Paloma Tacoma: Plants - Art - Vintage - A Curated Space

Image from La Paloma Tacoma

This is another one that’s just had their soft opening, a couple of trial days to work out the kinks, but you can look for regular open hours coming soon! Keep your eye out for more details on Instagram, then come on over to 2613 N 21st St in the Three Bridges District and make yourself at home.

11. Open Daily: Visit Curran Coffee

The new coffee shop in the front cafe part of The Spar in Old Town is open! Our friend used to work in The Spar Cafe and we’d go down for Italian Sodas and lunch in the window. It’s fun to see this next phase of the space join the neighborhood (especially since we can see it from the Windermere Abode office).

12. Open Daily: Dusty's Hideaway Opened Dusty's Downtown

We all (or many of us) know and love Dusty’s Hideaway up on McKinley—the same street where you’ll find Top of Tacoma, Parable, and the East Tacoma Farmer’s Market—but now they have a new Dusty’s location at 112 S 9th St. Order some onion rings, some slushies, some tots—can’t go wrong.

Image from Civic Roasters

13. Civic Roasters Community-Minded Coffee

Civic Roasters is another new coffee spot to keep an eye on. With a community focus and a vision to provide training and employment to formerly incarcerated women, this is not your ordinary cafe. They're popping up at events around the city and working on crowdfunding for their brick and mortar spot. You can be part of their fundraising campaign, or support them by buying beans and saying hello when you see them around town.

KEEP IN TOUCH ABOUT TACOMA LIFE, COMMUNITY, EVENTS, HOMES, AND A BIT ABOUT US.

We had an impromptu Saturday afternoon date up at 7 Seas with lunch from Canteen Colvos (smash burger, sweet potato fries, and a lobster roll 🦞), coffee from Naomi Joe (sweet folks), and a wee bit of pinball. Gretchen couldn’t sleep that night
This year we’re back with a list of 10 ways to give love in December ❤️ Our guide includes 5 recommendations for local gift giving with holiday markets and some of our favorite small shops, and 5 suggestions for giving to unknown neighbors outs
On this closing day the biggest excitement came from a 7 year old who’s about to have his own room and who loves (fervently) the bathroom downstairs with orange walls. We’re excited for the whole family. Friendly neighbors came over to sa
I’m grateful Michael is willing to join me again, again, again and again on Orcas Island. We went last week so I could turn 41 in a place where my heart feels quiet, where deer tracks and bird tracks cross on the beach, where paths bordered by
When even the east glows at sunset What stills me in one window frame Where fabric flower feather and wax make the table a place How light of sky and light of candle and light of bulb need their own names Why home is also the distance seen beyond its
Featured
10 Ways to Give Local Love - 2024
10 Ways to Give Local Love - 2024

This year we’re back with a list of 10 ways to give love in December. You’ll find our guide for local gift giving with holiday markets and some of our favorite small shops included, and 5 suggestions for giving to unknown neighbors outside your circle of friends. All 10 ways of giving put love into the Tacoma community! Read on for the magic of a musical play given by kids, a list of local cafes for coffee lovers, a gift card drive to support clients at the YWCA, a nostalgic holiday movie marathon, a way to support health and care for folks who can’t afford insurance, a chance to transform $1 into 2 meals, and the best local spots to shop for little ones.

What's New, Tacoma? 17 New Businesses + 3 Coming Soon
What's New, Tacoma? 17 New Businesses + 3 Coming Soon

There’s change in the air across Tacoma, the return of things once lost, the reopening of places once closed, the transformation of one restaurant into another, the creation of brand new places to gather, shop, eat, and drink. We’ve been experiencing this change across the city and wanted to pull some of it together in one place. What follows is a list of 17 new, renewed, and returned businesses along with 3 coming soon. See if you can enjoy and support something new this month; if you do, we’d love to hear about it!

Tacoma Community: 15 Things to Do in October
Tacoma Community: 15 Things to Do in October

We’ve rounded-up and narrowed-down 15 ways to get out into community this October. Don your most intellectual scarf and hat combination for a literary night, dance and eat with the Greeks, step into a candlelit tour our 1855, get psyched up about cycling (and bicycle fashion), try forest bathing, don your most eccentric scarf and hat combination for the film festival, write letters for fun, tour art studios, hear from Latinas who experience being The Firsts in so many ways, take a local art walk, and celebrate Día de los Muertos. We’ve got some ways to volunteer in here too—lend a hand with Habitat for Humanity, pick up litter, or pull weeds and plant seeds at a favorite park to keep Tacoma green.

Get Out of Town: Puget Sound Day Trips
Get Out of Town: Puget Sound Day Trips

Once in a while, we all need to get out of town. This month we’re sharing about Port Townsend and Vashon Island, two places we go again and again when a change of scene is calling. They’re places where the beach is always near, where parking is easy, where woods and trails beckon us away from the sidewalks. Places where small, local bakeries, coffee roasters, independent bookstores, and one of a kind shops outnumber chains by far. We’ll share some of the ways we pass the time and how we fill our stomachs (never a problem). Don’t worry too much about planning; these destinations are so close to Tacoma, you can show up again and try what you missed. Wake up one morning and just decide to go!

Tacoma Outdoor Dining Guide
Tacoma Outdoor Dining Guide

Want to go out and really be out—out in the open air, beneath a colorful umbrella, on a shaded patio, beside a bustling sidewalk, seated on a deck overlooking the water, pulled up to a bar counter by the street? We’ve gathered over 60 of Tacoma’s outdoor dining spots by neighborhood to get you started. Take a look at our list of restaurants, cafes, and bars with outdoor seating, then get yourself away from the screen, out the door, and into the life of Tacoma’s summer. See you out there!

Out on the Town 2024: Tacoma Tuesdays
Out on the Town 2024: Tacoma Tuesdays

Tacoma, Tuesdays, Trivia, Tacos, Talent. It’s the truth, there’s stuff to do. We have 19 of those things listed right here (twenty would have sounded so good) and not all of them start with “t.” There’s ballet and book club, wine and film, story time and bingo. So dust off your dancing shoes, clean your spectacles, strap the baby in a stroller, study up on random facts, warm up your vocal chords, and work up an appetite; it’s Tuesday in Tacoma!

Tacoma Love: 5 Good Things—Vol. 4
Tacoma Love: 5 Good Things—Vol. 4

This is not an ultimate, all time, best of the best, win or go home, top 5 list. No, we aren’t really bringing that kind of energy to life. This is the 4th edition of 5 things we like in Tacoma from a list of way more things we like in Tacoma. Sound good? An annual rogue art treasure hunt, a tiny slip of sandy beach, an old place to watch new and cult classic films, a weekly opportunity for repairing your stuff, and a spot where the noodles and broth fill you up in a good way. Some of it’s free. All of it’s good. We’re not making any other claims (who needs all that best-stress anyway?).

Hi, I'm Michael Duggan, a licensed broker with Windermere Abode. I would love to help you through the home buying or selling process. Please contact me to set up a meeting and get things started.