date ideas

Henry and I value time together… without children. We love our children dearly, but we love each other too. And it’s hard to focus on each other amidst the chaos of three little ones third grade and under. To solve this we’ve developed the habit of having a date night. When we’re in a groove, it’s once a week.  It’s easy to get stuck in the same rut so I’ve come up with a list of dates to jump start our creativity.

These dates fit the following criteria:
1) They’re out of the house, away from the children… sleeping or otherwise.
2) They’re relatively inexpensive, some are even free.
3) They’re doable at night since we typically leave when our kids are close to going to bed.

Without further ado and in no particular order, here are 52 date ideas:

1. Try your hand at bowling
2. Have an evening summer picnic
3. Try volunteering: Log on to www.volunteermatch.org to find volunteer opportunities in your neck of the woods. Anything from working with animals, to kids, to the elderly. It’s always a bonding experience to serve together.
4. Have your own night at the museum: Pittsburgh’s Museum of Natural History and Museum of Art is open until 8 pm on Thursdays. The Andy Warhol Museum is open until 10 pm on Fridays.
5. Look at the stars at a Planetarium.
6. Compete with each other at the batting cages
7. Take a Hot Yoga or similar class together.
8. See a local theater production: By local, I mean community theater or even high school plays. Our area high school plays are so well known for their quality that they sell out within a few days.
9. Attend a high school sports game: Henry and I have been known to watch local high schools playing even when we don’t know the players. It’s fun to watch a game as long as the competition is high. I remember early in our marriage catching a softball game at Sidwell Friends School and more recently a football game at North Allegheny Senior High. It’s hard to beat the fall sports that happen in the evening… the cool crisp air and the bright lights increase the electric mood of the crowds.
10. Visit your city’s botanical gardens
11. Take a hike: literally, not figuratively.
12. See a free movie in the park: In DC it is called Screen on the Green, in Pittsburgh it’s Movie in the Park. This typically happens on a Friday or Saturday night and is usually a black and white or classic family film.
13. Test drive fancy cars!
14. Take a dance class.
15. Go to a wine bar or a wine tasting
16. Attend a lecture at the library/local college
17. Visit the animals at the zoo
18. Visit the fish at the aquarium
19. Hit the local music scene: many bars have live music. Search your city’s calendar of events to find out where your favorite variety is playing. Henry and I follow around a local group called “The John Galt Theory” here in Pittsburgh. Now that it’s cold again, we’ll find out where they’re playing next!
20. Find a local summer concert: One of the Pittsburgh parks has FREE Saturday evening jazz concerts. We love to take antipasto-type snacks and a bottle of wine to enjoy while listening to great music. (Make sure you take bug spray!)
21. Do a scavenger hunt: Put a scavenger hunt together for your significant other… you can complete it together or be waiting for them at the end.
22. Browse the bookstore, pick a book for each other then read sections aloud in the local coffee shop.
23. Play billiards, darts, ping-pong, etc at a Pool Hall
24. Take a drive. You never know where you’ll end up.
25. Go window shopping: Pick out clothes for each other that you wouldn’t normally wear. Accompany each other to the fitting room. (usually the women have to go to the men’s side, not that we’ve ever done this!)
26. Visit an art gallery – Pittsburgh has something called “Gallery Crawl” that happens once a quarter sponsored by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. It’s basically a series of art galleries only open in the evening and only for a set number of days. The rest of the time the store fronts are completely empty!! The awesome thing is it’s free and lasts until 9 pm.
27. Bundle up and go ice skating
28. Better yet, find a huge hill and go sledding
29. No snow? Try mini-golf instead
30. Do a different kind of driving at the driving range
31. Start Planning: I know this sounds crazy, but some of the best bonding Henry and I have done is when we’ve sat for an hour or two and planned something out… whether it’s hosting a fun event for our friends or the timeline of the current year’s vacation schedule. Putting our heads together and thinking of fun future activities can be really exciting. (more ideas: dream house, bucket list, take a world map. mark out where you’ve been and where you want to go, charitable/missions projects)
32. To feed on that idea, go to a bookstore and browse travel books on a dream vacation. Take paper and pencil and jot down notes like the cost of being there and the best times to go. It’s like Google except in paper form. You might realize how fun it is to do research live (remember researching papers at the library? Does anyone do that anymore?)
33. Become artist for the night and draw portraits of one another…. for some this might be more suitable for a night-in!
34. Become photographers for the the night by doing a photo scavenger hunt of your favorite places: take your camera and drive to your favorite places in your city. Ask someone to take a picture of you both. Print the pictures and make a scrapbook or turn it into a cheap flipbook from online photo shops such as Snapfish or Shutterfly.
35. Another spin on this activity is to do a photoshoot of each other. When’s the last time you dressed up and took pictures of each other? Use your timer to get a few of you together. Frame your favorite prints for your home or office.
36. See your city in a different light: Around the holidays you can do evening walking tours such as Ghost Tours (these are sometimes year-round depending on your city) and Holiday Open Houses. We have two in Pittsburgh that are fabulous: one centered around Halloween and the other around Christmas, both in historic areas of town. Or drive around neighborhoods to take in the holiday lights.
37. Enjoy dessert at a local dive. The most extensive dessert menu we’ve seen in Pittsburgh is at Gullifty’s. You can also get great milkshakes and chocolate confections at The Milkshake Factory in the Southside.
38. Go Go-Cart Racing
39. Play laser-tag (can be done as a group date too)
40. Indoor rock-climbing: Retail stores like REI offer small indoor rock climbing experiences for a small fee. Other places, like The Climbing Wall, in Pittsburgh, are full-on indoor rock climbing centers.
41. Go night skiing
42. Play twilight golf or frisbee golf
43. Visit a pet store – tell each other stories about childhood pets. Henry once had a hamster that he carried home from the store in his pocket. He was on a bike. I’ll let you figure out the rest.
44. Perform as Sonny and Cher at a karaoke bar. If you’re not that adventurous, laugh with the people who are singing.
45. Take in a show at a Comedy Club
46. Look up the top 10 things to do in your area. Pick one. For us it’s riding the incline to Mt. Washington. On a nice night, taking the incline up the mountain, walking around the lookout and then catching dinner or dessert at one of the restaurants within walking distance is a fun, relaxing date.
47. Go to an IMAX movie.
48. Make dinner different: Dress up as one of your favorite movie characters. Head out to dinner and act like that character all night long. See who can stay “in character” the longest. Another spin:  meet at a restaurant and act like it’s your first date, or you’re meeting each other for the first time.
49. Go kayaking in the summer when the sun stays up until almost 9 pm. Take a picnic dinner or grab a sandwich at a deli.
50. Go people watching at the mall, along a busy pedestrian walkway, or Walmart.
51. Have a game night out – take your favorite board game or card game and play at a local park or cafe.
52. Go to a sports bar to watch a game(s) on the big screen. Make a dinner of appetizers and dessert from the menu.