It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut in your dating life. Pretty soon it begins to feel like you’re on an endless series of rerun dates that blur together and barely differentiate. The issue isn’t your partner (or partners), it’s that you’re not mixing things up. Ditch the boring dinner date and bring back that “excited about your date” feeling.
Brewery Tour
Even if you don’t live in a hub of microbreweries you’re bound to find a brewery close enough to make a day of it. My first brewery tour was at a Sierra Nevada brewery. They took us all around the machinery, explained how the beer is made and told the story of how the brewery started out using converted farm equipment bought from the brewery’s first neighbors. My partner and I were inspired to take up home brewing. As we tasted the samples of the breweries selection, we planned a home setup that never happened. Despite not becoming the new microbrewery on the market, it was still one of our favorite dates.
Hike to a Picnic
Find a lookout spot in your area with a beautiful view; pack a picnic dinner with wine (pickup dinner from your date’s favorite restaurant for a personal touch), a blanket and some candles. Take your date on a leisurely hike to the lookout spot and lay down the blanket, set out your meal and light your candles. Now your normal dinner date has an incredible view, and the person you’re taking out is feeling special for what you’ve planned. To make it even sweeter have a surprise dessert waiting in your bag for when the meal is over.
Wine Tasting Class
There are some pretty amazing wineries out there, and they don’t all require a trip to Napa’s vineyards. Find a local wine house with a wine tasting class and take your date on an adventure for their taste buds and their mind. Discover the accuracy of your palates and learn how to decipher the bouquet of flavors in a bottle of wine. Even if you don’t leave feeling like Jr. sommeliers, you’ll both know a bit more about each other’s preferences (something you can surprise them with on your next date).
Café Date
Instead of the typical dinner take your partner to a local café. Look for one that has an open mic night, a bunch of board games, or some other type of activity. Break out a deck of cards and get a little competitive with each other. Nothing like friendly competition to get your hearts pumping and your minds moving. Or if you prefer a bit more movement slow dance to the raspy melodies of a solid open mic performer. Either way you’ll find the café has the perfect mix of entertainment and space for the two of you to get closer.
Bar Hopping
Now, this might sound more like the type of activity you do to get your date, but it can be a lot of fun. The secret to making bar hopping a good date night is picking a street with several nice style bars and restaurants that neither of you have been to. Only get a drink at each bar and a snack if they have something you’ve never seen before. You two can discuss which bar had the best drinks, food, and bartenders as you go along. You may even find a new favorite spot to overuse.
Make Dinner Together
This doesn’t have to be a cheap option for when you want to spend a night in (in fact you can make it quite fancy if you’d like). What’s great about making dinner together is you’re working together as a team to accomplish a task. It builds intimacy as you learn each other’s kitchen quirks and culinary preferences. You can even get close as one of you shows the other the proper way to knead the dough. The best part is at the end of it you both get to enjoy what you made together.
Now I’ve told you mine, you tell me yours. What are some not so typical date ideas that you love?