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Dating shouldn’t be a tired, old routine; it should be filled with new and fun experiences! There are lots of amazing, romantic first date ideas that will surprise your date and make them eager to see you again – and none of them involve dinner in the evening.
If you want to go on a date that is both romantic and memorable, try one of these. Here are 10 alternative date ideas...
Take a Cooking Class
A cooking class is a great way to have fun together while getting your hands dirty. It doesn’t have to be expensive; there are often discount deals on sites like Groupon.
Go Wine Tasting with Mutual Friends
If you and your date are both lovers of wine, try a DIY wine tasting date. Everyone there can bring their own favorite type of wine, and you could even bring a bag of Babybel cheeses and chocolates. This is often more frugal than actual wine tasting classes. You can find public wine tastings online at Eventbrite or at organic grocery store venues.
Go for a Coffee-Walk
Coffee shops can get loud and busy, so take your date to the streets once you have bought your drinks. You can enjoy the weather together and point out your favorite architectural buildings in the neighborhood.
Visit a Food Festival
A food festival is the perfect date for two foodies. I personally love a good Food Truck festival. If you're local to the Tampa Florida area, try finding the one in Lakeland. You can walk around together and try different plates and drinks, in addition it gives you the chance to bond over your mutual love of food! Also conversating about all the surrounding truck graphics is fun as well.
Visit a Bar with Board Games
Bars aren’t just for drinking any more – many bars now offer board games as well as the standard pool table. Play chess, darts, shuffle-board, connect four, jenga, trivial pursuit and many more for a fun date that challenges your mind and creates some friendly competition.
Go to a Gig
If you are both music lovers, going to a gig is a memorable and fun first date. You don’t have to beat the timer for expensive tickets. Check your local pubs, First Fridays, and downtown venues for performances from local musicians – you could discover someone you both love in your own neighborhood!
Get Weekend Brunch
Brunch is a relaxed alternative to dinner, giving you the chance to get to know someone new with less pressure. You don’t need to dress up and you have the rest of the day to enjoy if the date is a success.
Watch the Sunset
A beautiful sunset makes everything more enjoyable and romantic, so it is the perfect date setting. Bring along some snacks and some wine and get to know each other as the sun fades away.
Visit a Local Museum
The museum is a surprisingly good first date (and one of my favorites); the exhibits alway change regularly, the entry is normally free, and there is usually an eccentric cafe where you can get a drink and a snack afterwards. It gives you something to talk about, so it is perfect for shy or awkward people who struggle to know what to say.
Go to a Quiz Night or Escape Room
A quiz night is a non-preparatory date in a public place, so it is ideal for anyone who feels a little apprehensive about what to plan. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the answers, so long as you have fun together laughing at the answers.
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Yep, it’s that time of year. I’ve finished my last handful of candy corn, and started looking for my winter coat. Checking the calendar…here comes the trifecta of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve. The season where singleness is felt more deeply than any other time of the year.
Yippee. Right?
If you are single, whether by choice or not, it can be a tender time. For some of us, we want to hibernate, with a ton of snacks and hang a sign that reads, “See ya in the Spring.” Others, go through the motions and “doing our duty” showing up at all the family/friend functions with our smiles anchored on our faces. Meanwhile our hearts ache with longing and loneliness.
As a first-time bride at 45, I went through many, many …. Um, way too many of these seasons putting my game face on but in reality, my heart yearned to feel loved, to feel chosen, to feel valued. Singleness at the holidays can be tricky business. The very worse thing any single can do at this time of year is to deny those feelings of loneliness and longing. If you have them, own them. But let’s make this year the year they don’t own us.
Is it possible for a single to be thankful, truly thankful during the Thanksgiving season? I’m here to tell you the answer is, “Yes.”
The key to unlock the door of contentment and even joy at Thanksgiving is a two-part solution. I’m going to recommend two things to do during this season and you’ll find them right in Thanksgiving.
Confused?
*Thanks* start a “thankful for” journal. Grab a $1.00 notebook from Walmart or spend a little and get a beautiful journal. Begin with writing down people, places, things, experiences you are thankful for in your life. THIS WORKS. You’ll begin to move the focus from what you don’t have onto what you do have. You may not think so, but you have a beautiful life. Journal it.
*Giving* Find ways to give to others. Whether that’s paying for someone’s coffee at Starbucks, feeding the homeless at a center, stopping in at the widow’s house down the street with coffee cake, or writing to our military. There are so many ways for you to give to others, by your time, talent or treasure. It’s amazing what will happen when you do this!
That spells Thanksgiving. Gobble, Gobble, Daters.
Written by an Anonymous Volunteer.
