Today in the West End: A Fine Time for a Rickey, Adopt a Dog While Enjoying Art, Best Buddies Challenge and a Visit to Hensley Field

The weekend is almost here, West Enders. Here's a few ideas for how to spend your Friday and a few suggestions for into the weekend. If you've got any other events to suggest, please share them in the comments section.

If you’ve never been to Joseph Hensley Park a.k.a. Hensley Field, now is a great time to check it out. With plans under discussion for the 22-acre site to host a massive sports complex, stop by and ponder what you’d like to see there. It currently houses softball and soccer fields as well as restrooms, parking, a park shelter and picnic area. It's located at 4200 Eisenhower Ave.

Adopt a dog at the Dog Days Adoption event hosted by the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria at the Athenaeum in Old Town Alexandria at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The event coincides with photographer Kathleen Ewing’s Dog Days Dog Show, an exhibit of more than 50 contemporary and vintage photographs celebrating dogs and their people.

“Can’t Hardly Wait” is part of the Outdoor Film Festival hosted by the Rosslyn BID. The PG-13 film, made in 1998, is a teenage comedy about high school graduates each with a different agenda on graduation night. The film will be screened on Friday at dusk, Gateway Park in Rosslyn. Parking is available for $3 after 6 p.m. in the Atlantic Parking Garage on Moore Street next to the Continental.

Run (or walk) with track and field Olympian Carl Lewis while helping an athlete with intellectual disabilities at the Best Buddies Challenge in Washington, DC. The event takes place Oct. 19, but registration just opened. If running isn’t your thing, participants can choose to bike with pro cyclist George Hincapie either 100, 62 or 20 miles.  Event organizers say the 5K walking portion is suitable for young children.

Sup on popular pre-Prohibition cocktail the Rickey at a local bartender competition. Cheer on your favorite mixologist, including staff from Old Town Alexandria’s PX, competing to make the best Rickey cocktail, which includes gin, bourbon or rye whiskey, lime juice and soda water. The event will be held at the Jack Rose Dining Saloon on Sunday, Aug. 4, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., 2007 18th St., NW in Washington, DC. Tickets may be purchased at the door for $35, cash only. Admission includes unlimited Rickey cocktails and appetizers.