Date Idea

[Cat]

I would say to be careful about doing mainly “religious” or “church”-type activities. Anyone can look good and pure and holy while doing religious stuff! What you need is practice doing SECULAR things–these are the activities that bring out the “real” person, good or otherwise.

And I agree with those who say that a girl likes to know what to expect. In fact, if she’s still living with her parents, they may demand an itinerary from you, and “hanging out” is probably not going to impress them. (They may even say, "Only if you hang out in our house while we’re home.)

I suggest ice skating! Perfect for a hot summer day!!

Or bowling, although some people (like me) have trouble with my wrist hurting. But you and your friend are young and hopefully this won’t be a problem.

I agree with the poster above who suggested concerts. Our city has so many free concerts in the summer, with almost any kind of music you want, and usually they’re outside, not in a dark bar (which at 19, you may not be allowed to enter in many states). In fact, even our parish scheduled two concerts on the lawn this summer (big band type music)!!

Look for festivals and fairs. The county fairs should be coming up soon–just be careful not spend too much! It’s really easy to spend a lot of money at a county fair! Spend most of your time looking at the animals or the 4H exhibits–these are free!

My husband and I went to a free “art fair” last weekend in a nearby small town. Lots of fun, and the ice cream booth was awesome! (We didn’t buy any art–too expensive for us.) But in the summer, a lot of cities have arts fairs.

And almost every small town has some kind of “festival.” Around us, we can attend Milk Days, Cheese Days, Pumpkin Days, Cherry Days, etc. etc. etc. So much fun!

We have a weekly “City Market” in our city, with all kinds of booths with crafts, jewelry, fresh produce (yummy!), and food. This is followed by a free “Family Movie” in a downtown park. These events are attended by thousands in the area, and they’re free and fun.

Just look around. Get the local newspaper and study it.

Also look for baseball and softball games. These are lots of fun, even if you’re not really a fan. They usually do other “family-friendly” activities during the game, like children’s ball throws, and stuff like that.

There are other sports, too. In fact, we just finished a figure skating competition in our city–free admission for spectators, and lots of adorable little kids skating to fun music.

One more thing–look in your area for Habitat for Humanity work days, or local work days (we just finished a “share fest” where people in the city worked to spruce up the public schools). It’s really neat to work with a friend on some charitable project, and to know that you’re both helping others. Even if it’s just “Pick Up Litter days.” it’s still a great experience for couples.

Have fun! Be good!

 

[sweetpetunia]

It’s tough to beat mini golf for a first date.

I have to concur with this one! I’m trying to think back to my husband and I’s first dates, and can add: bowling alleys, museums, historical sites, science centres, roller-skating rinks, amusement parks, and picnics/walks in the park/lake/harbor. We also rented pedal boats, and then there was this one time we rented some crazy pedal-powered bikes that look something like this: americanspeedster.com/sk21.JPG It was really fun, even though they look so goofy.

 

[chevalier]

Aaron, I’m a fan of parks and café outside tables. You get enough natural isolation to talk, but not enough awkward shared solitude to cause some kind of pressure on the dynamics of your relationship (which should not be your conversation subject of choice, either). Also, day time and even morning time instead of moody evenings is a good ally if you want to keep being able to act like a reasonable person instead of getting swayed by atmosphere (which is a real risk when you’re like 18-20 years old). It helps to have something constructive to do, and to have constructive or even simply normal conversation subjects that involve anything but ‘us’ (or flirting). That way you can actually talk and get to know the real person instead of moving too forward based on the atmosphere and being forced to make decisions early.

 

[Meemai]

I have always been a devout Catholic and want to know something, whenever a guy mentioned going to church or praying on a first date it was nothing but a BIG disappointment. All I could think was ‘what a stick in the mud’.

There reason are 2 reasons I am always upfront about my religious beliefs with a man
1-) to not waste his time if he thinks religion is for the birds
2-) to let him no I will not be having pre-marital sex, which sadly most men don’t get nowadays

Trust me, I have NEVER told a man about my religious beliefs in the hopes of being taken to church on a date. I still like having fun !

Also, I am so devout that I actually wanted to save going to church for my husband. I have gone to church with men, but honestly, I don’t like it. I am there to really open my heart to Jesus and I don’t want a man there.

As for women liking a man with a plan and not asking her what she wants to do. I would rephrase that to ‘women like to know ahead of time what will be happening so let her know a few days ahead of time what you will be doing. It is considerate to ask her if there is anything she wants to do but only if she says ‘I don’t know’ do you then bring up your plan’

And trust me, if you show up at her door saying ‘Guess what we are doing tonight’ chances are she will say ‘You should have let me know before, I am not dressed for it’. Trust me, something as innocent (to a man) as shooting pool will have a woman thinking ‘I should have worn a turtle neck instead of a V neck’ and make her not enjoy herself. (women worry when they have to bend over to take a shot how revealing they are being) Not to mention if there is walking involved and she is wearing heels, guess who will be carrying her all night

If it is nice, why not just get a couple of badminton rackets or roller blades or a basketball and go to a park with a net

Angie

I totally aggree, do something nice. But really? Going to pray together on a first date… I don’t want to be disrespectful but I can’t imagine it being any fun nor improving the date quality. You want to do something fun and see if there’s a click there’s enough times to go praying together.

A date just isins’t the place for that. In my opinion at least.

As for things to do. Play cards in the park playing cards can be fun. You can also just walk with her trough a park which is free… Or you can take her to a zoo which is a bit more expensive but well they have to feed the animals and pay for the large slab of land that a zoo has.

But I probably would keep it cheap on a first date.

 

[Aggies08]

What exactly will you be praying about? I would find that a bit…odd… unless it’s to attend a function (rosary meeting, mass, etc, or someone in the family is sick and you want to pray for them, etc). Do any churches offer evening masses? We have some here that do, but I know it isn’t common.

Ideas for the future: picnics (buy or bring food) on a blanket near some ducks to feed later, frisbee/dog if she’s the type, ice skating, roller skating, LAN parties, board games, theater events, live music (often free in summer), bowling, mini or full golf, attend sporting events, arcades, painting or cooking classes (some are one night only, some are couple’s courses), etc. Museums and zoos often have free hours or days- we used to take advantage of that all the time! Tuesdays after 6pm was a common time LOL.