I have a confession to make. I use to despise the term “date night” when used by married couples. It’s because I felt that “date night” was a difficult effort squeezed in between their booked and busy individual lives. I’ve even heard of couples scheduling it weeks, and even months, in advance to ensure their other obligations would have to consider another option. This to me, seemed to much like a sacrifice for somebody you claimed to love. So, I avoided that term.
But then, DATE NIGHT became our thing.
Terence and I starting dating/courting during the pandemic. So, the first year or so was very limited for us to get to know each other outside of his home or my home. When “outside” reopened we jumped all the way in. Going on dates became our thing. From our very first date at Chili’s (it was the only restaurant opened–lol), to our quaint date at the Harborview Hotel on Martha’s Vineyard, to our Hawaiian-themed date while on a cruise……WE LOVE DATE NIGHT AND DAY!!
Last year, we went on a dating adventure of 50 dates in a year. There was a method to it. In an effort to get to know Charlotte, each week our priority was to visit a restaurant that we’ve never experienced, so we could not revisit that restaurant again that year, or if we did we could not count it. We even took it a step further…..we rated each venue:
1. Environment/setting
2. Menu/food
3. Wine Selection
4. Service
5. Conversation
That is experience was sooooo much fun. We discovered restaurants that are 5 minutes from our home. Some we dressed up and others we were casual. We learned a lot about each other and our city. The downfall is that we got attached to restaurants that we were eager to revisit (and we did—lol), which didn’t count. In 2024, we had 34 unique date night experiences.
These days……..WE LOVE date night. It’s a necessity for us. It’s a part of our rest and it helps us reconnect.
What’s your dream date experience?
