I dunno - I’m not sure if it’s creepy, but it’s certainly not going to wow her with your amazing date skills.
Maybe on a third or fourth date, but on a first date it just seems like the guy was too lame to plan anything else. Or anything at all really.
It’s only creepy if he keeps duct tape and rope in the trunk.
Or shovels and lime.
It won’t work out well if the girl turns out to be an environmental activist and not keen on pointless driving. 
Nyah, they both agreed this plan, so it msut be all right for them, I suppose.
It sounds pretty weird to me. I could see some point if there was some ancient stone circle or similar that they wanted to visit by night, and I could see the point in a moonlight picnic by a river or loch, and I could see the point if there were some nocturnal animals that they both wanted to see, but driving around with no reason sounds odd.
Also, wouldn’t the whole date go a bit better with some sort of vague focus? As in “go to the cinema or theatre and then perhaps drive around a bit, taking the long way home”, or "let’s have dinner, then perhaps drive around, perhaps have an evening walk in the woods … "?
However, since the girl has happily agreed with this plan, either she’s terribly keen on driving around aimlessly or she’s agreeing to it because she’s terribly keen on the friend of friend. So, odd though it sounds, it could be a fun date for them both. 
It might be alright if they drive around, stop for something to eat, etc; OR it might seem like he’s looking for good place to to dig a shallow grave. Tough call.
That’s very weird and potentially very creepy. No way I would agree to this plan with someone I hadn’t met in person.
Not once you’re out of high school. Charlotte is a big city, and there are lots of places for young singles to go–coffee houses, restaurants, museums, parks, ball games, etc. The fact that they couldn’t come up with something else to do does not speak well for their imaginations…or makes it creepy.
This is a guy she’s chatted with online but has never met face to face? I think I’d recommend meeting him in a public place. Not trying to say that “all men are rapists until proven innocent” or whatever… but it just seems prudent. (Also because she can get a sense of how he interacts with other people as well as how he interacts with her.)
Odd not creepy- neither is going to get hungry or thirsty at any point in the evening and want a burger? Ditto less odd if one lives in Hollywood for example and the other just moved there and the one is going to show the other the sites.
I dunno if I’d classify it as creepy, but it’s not exactly winning him bonus points either.
He couldn’t come up with anything more interesting? C’mon, now. NC can’t possibly be that boring, can it? No movies? No coffee shops? No interesting little dessert places? Pretty streets or parks to take a walk in?
Eeesh. Kids these days.
Anyone who had suggested a date like that back when I was in mid-20s would have automatically gone in to the “no” pile. (since I’m just edging up to 30 now, it’s not like those days are all that far behind me, either)
Mmmmmmm. Cherry limeade.
Yup. I’m just waiting for when they start decorating drinks with shovels instead of umbrellas. Where does that fall on the “classy” meter?
Not creepy and potentially fun if they make several spontaneous stops at coffee places, pizza places, or ice cream places. A nighttime walk in the woods, alone? Not until the third date at least. He can build a lot of comfort by taking her to public places early and often.
For a first face-to-face meeting, no-freakin’ way!!! Is the woman in this situation extremely naive? Has she read “Meeting People on the Internet 101”?
I’m old enough not to feel bad about being alarmist. But even from a non-alarmist standpoint, what if the date is just bad? Body odor, halitosis, nasal congestion? For a first meeting, plan something brief where she can get out of it easily.
I did go on a first (blind, double, and last) date like this once in high school. It was horrible and the highlight, such as it was, was a stop at White Castle.
A brief meeting for coffee, dinner alone or with a group of friends, a movie, a museum, even a mall, all have much more potential upside than this does.
Pretty much my thoughts.
I’m going out with a guy next week that I’ve only talked with online so far (MSN and Facebook… but this came about by the conspiracy of friends as he was out of country until last night) and… we’re going to dinner.
Not that aimlessly driving around isn’t interesting (I do it with my friends sometimes) but it’s low down on my list for a first date. I like to have a potential escape route if things go badly.
Excellent point. And let’s remember the flip side – she might be a psycho or Amway nutter herself. FOAF should have an escape route for himself as well.
Do you have a friend call midway through to give you an “out,” too?
Actually I have read that a car can be very inductive for conversation. I think it is because of the non-face to face quality, a person may open up more. Plus the soft glow of the dash board lights are usually kind of flattering and you can always go ‘hey look at that’, when the conversation dies down or goes down the wrong road.
I’d be weirded out if someone planned more than a day in advance that we go out and drive around for a while, and if I didn’t know them all that well, that would be extra weird. That’s the kind of thing I could see being fine on the spur of the moment, when two friends realize they are both bored out of their minds but have no definite entertainment ideas. But on a first date? I’d have to wonder whether the guy was so socially inept that he couldn’t see how this idea might look to others.
But I could see this as a non-creepy idea if both people are relatively new to the area and want to do some exploring with one another.
I wouldn’t call it creepy so much as boring. I hate being in the car for very long.
When my guy picked me up for our first date (we’d met online), there was a roll of duct tape on the floor on the passenger side. I told him that was silly, he’s supposed to keep it on his side, hidden, till it’s time to dump my body.
We had a great first date. We’re weird.