Your Best First Date

Okay, I’ve got a date tomorrow night, and it’s been a while. We might hit the movies, for the new romantic comedy. We might go to a planetarium show, and telescope viewing. Or…

I don’t know. I’m nervous, and I haven’t done this in a while. So, Dopers, I ask you… what’s the best first date you’ve had, or heard of? What’s a good place to take someone?

My best first date was an outdoor festival. It wasn’t like Mardi Gras, more like a spring festival where the kids did karate demonstrations or cultural dance routines, an outdoor symphony, bands, a well done one act play and local artisans with their work on display. Plenty of time to visit and become better acquainted. Watching the kids demonstrate new found skills had us talking about childhood lesson’s and embarrassments. The bands and symphony had us talking about music. A really wide range of things to talk about without much effort since the festival has so much going it seemed to ease the discomfort of those nervous lulls in the conversation. You can dress nice and yet fairly casual and be comfortable.

I doubt it was very expensive and yet it was a great date.

Good Luck, I’d love to hear how it goes. Even if you can’t find an outdoor festival on such short notice! :slight_smile:

To tell the truth, I’m still waiting for any “first date”. Can’t help ya there, big guy.

I am with SPOOFE, as soon as I have a date, I will be able to answer the question.

I could tell you about my best first date, but the guy later turned out to be a psycho, so that kind of put a damper on the memory.

Good luck, anyway.

My best first date was with a guy named Ernesto. He was literally tall, dark and handsome, and picked me up in his Mustang.
We went to a little restaurant called ‘Checkers’ in Brooklyn, a place I had always thought to be perfect for first dates. Their menu was mainly wine and cheese, and they served the cheeses on these big wooden platters with sliced apples and grapes. The atmosphere of the place was great too… low lights, candles on all the tables and soft music. We sat and talked for hours.
After that, we went to a comedy club and had a few more drinks. The comedian was very funny, and we laughed a lot.
He took me home, and we sat in the car and made out for a bit. It was our first date and I wanted to impress him, so it didn’t go any further. He walked me to the door, and gave me a sweet goodnight kiss.

Ironically, our second date was also they worst date I have ever been on, and it also turned out to be our last date.
Oh well. :slight_smile:

Rose

About the romantic comedy! You do want to make a good impression with this (presumed) woman, yes? Then show a bit of originality, and skip going to see a movie! The exceptions are of course, special showings of things, say on an IMAX or something like that.

The planetarium sounds like a great idea. Brush up just a little bit on astronomy, not so much that you sound arrogantly informed on the subject, but enought to answer basic questions. Don’t forget a blanket or two for the telescope viewing, and you can score bonus points with a thermos of hot chocolate. Be gallant, it always impresses!

Well, the best first date I had lasted three days, and the lobsters were the low point. 'Nuff said, I think.

However, if you’re looking for advice, I strongly advocate the use of lobsters. Great to go out for them, but even better to cook them yourself. Makes a girl THINK you know how to cook, despite the fact that the little buggers are childishly simple to prepare.

(prepare for complete guy-oriented response)

Best first date? Easy. Met her at a party, went back to her place. Left about 2 hours later.

If only ALL my dates could be so direct and to-the-point without all the “filler time”! We both got what we wanted, and continued seeing each other a while after that.

Called the lady and asked her out for pizza, picked up the pizza and then I picked up her and took them both to my place where I had the lights low and soft jazz playing on the radio. We had a pizza picnic on the floor by candle light.

We talked, we laughed, we ate ice cream with chocolate sauce and she stayed the night.

Almost 20 years later, we still listen to soft jazz, eat pizza by candle light, talk, laugh and eat ice cream with chocolate sauce.

Yep, that was my best first date.

That’s sweet.

My first date with the woman who is now my wife was terrible, which is why I say never go to a movie on the first date. You don’t get to know each other. (The best first date of my life was also to a movie, but the girl and I had known each other for years and we were just looking for an excuse to pass the “friends” stage – we made out like mad! Unless you’re at that stage with the person in question, avoid the theatre.)

–Cliffy

My best ever first date was about five weeks ago. I’d met her at a gathering of people from the chat room we frequent (the Australia-Brisbane dyke room in gay.com, if anyone cares).

We spent most of the night chatting and she gave me her number. I rang her the next morning and suggested she and her son come to the beach with me.

We drove down the coast and sat on the beach talking, joking, laughing… chatting about everything, as her son played in the sand. The weather was warm and balmy, with a slight sea breeze, the skies were blue and clear… It was without doubt the best date I’ve ever had. We’ve seen each other often since, and things seem to be going really well :slight_smile:

Max

Apparently, the planetarium combined with Thai food and browsing bookstores, and a walk in the park, works really, really well. Just thought you’d like to know. Really well.

Happy sigh.

That’s great! I’m glad it worked out wonderful!

I’d say it was my first date with my wife. I had already effectively moved in with her and realized we never had gone out on a ‘real’ date. We went to an Italian restaurant she likes. I was real nervous and paranoid I was being judged, probably because we smoked a joint on the way over. Not my best date ever, but my best first date.

This is going to sound stupid but I swear by it myself. Try taking her bowling especialy if you’re nervous. The excitement of playing the game helps ease the tension and also give you lots to talk about if the conversation starts to drag, which can be awkward on a first date.

Then there is of course my real reason for taking them bowling, which is checking out the goods while they are on the approach.:smiley:

Way to go Mr. Visible. May they all be so pleasant!

Hey, glad I could help out. :smiley:

I’ve only had one first date, so it’s my best by default. Still, even if I have hundreds more in my lifetime, I’m pretty sure this one will turn out to be the best of them all.

I picked her up at her place, and we went and sat at the new coffee shop in town. We sat and talked and drank coffee for hours. After that, we sat down by the lake, holding hands and staring at the stars and rippling water. When we started getting cold, we drove back to her place and popped in a taped episode of MST3K and lay together on her bed watching it. We only watched about half of it though. :smiley:

Fourth of July, 1989, Washington DC Mall.

Bands, lots of crazy people to look at, booths and exhibits, convenience store vendors who never asked for ID to purchase alcohol…(I was only 20 then)

Fireworks!

We made out on the lawn afterwards and I missed my favorite band (the Butthole Surfers…did I say I was young?) and I didn’t even care.

Ended up staying with her for 3.5 years.