Fun First Dates in Tdot

January 11, 2009 12:52 PM

I'd like to make a shortlist of fun first date locations to take girls out to on weekdays in Toronto, ON. Preferrably light-hearted, casual ones that are somehow interactive, like karaoke or the zoo as opposed to dinner or movies. Any ideas?

They don't have to be weekday events, however that is a big plus. Reasonably economical is also a big plus as my budget is studious and likely theirs is as well.
I'm open to any themes and tastes. Think of the last really fun time you went on in hogtown!

posted by Count to sports, hobbies, & recreation (16 comments total)

the ROM and AGO are interesting, and will definitely give you a lot to talk about.

shopping in Kensington Market.

people-watching (with coffee or tea) at Dundas Square (Yonge/Dundas).
posted by gursky at 1:21 PM on January 11

What about the Science Center? I don't know how late it's open though.
posted by hazyspring at 1:35 PM on January 11

Blue Jays games (on Tuesday it's only $2 per person).
posted by Midnight Rambler at 1:44 PM on January 11

-On Friday evenings, you can drop in for pottery making at the Gardiner.

-The racetrack?

-In the spring, you can go to Riverdale Farm.

-Take a walk through a cemetery (the Necropolis is rather picturesque).
posted by greatgefilte at 1:48 PM on January 11

Allen Gardens greenhouse is free and nice on a winter day.
posted by bonobothegreat at 1:53 PM on January 11

Also, somewhat off-topic, but do you know what I think would really be neat? They should have a genome discovery centre for adults, or something like that, where you could come in and do little experiments, like making DNA art or checking your blood type or something like that, and have a drink while you're waiting for the results.

Okay, maybe it's just me who thinks it would be neat...
posted by greatgefilte at 1:55 PM on January 11

AGO - Free on Wednesdays evenings 6 - 8:30
ROM - Half price Fridays 4:30 - 9pm
Theatre tickets - half price tickets for day of, or select student tickets for 19 - 29 yr old $5!
Bowling
Skating at Harbourfront or City Hall
posted by typewriter at 2:00 PM on January 11

walking tours of the city? (Y'know, when it's warmer) here can be found walking maps, and here are some guided tours
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:16 PM on January 11

More:
Bata Shoe Museum - it's all shoes! Pay-What-You-Can Thursday nights
Free Opera concerts - Canadian Opera Company
Look at stars at the observatory. Free!
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art - MOCCA - Free!

Also forgot to mention above that most theatres have a Pay-What-You-Can date (usually Sunday afternoons, or Monday nights.) Check Now Magazine or Eye Weekly for listings for theatre, film, concerts, readings, events, you name it.
posted by typewriter at 2:26 PM on January 11

Toronto Craft Alert lists crafty happenings - classes, events, exhibits etc.
posted by peagood at 2:33 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]

Awesome, thanks!
posted by Count at 5:10 PM on January 11

I've been to TO exactly once, but if I ever get to go back I'll be spending a large amount of my time down Queen street. I think that a date spent wandering through all of the weird and wonderful shops and seeing all of the awesome things in them would be a date long remembered.
posted by phredgreen at 7:19 PM on January 11

A picnic in High Park or Edwards Gardens, Frisbee golf and biking on the Toronto islands, screen cartoon shorts (like the logdrivers waltz) at the NFB...
posted by kaudio at 9:31 PM on January 11

Look at weird stuff in jars of formaldehyde at the U of T Medical Sciences Building (College & Beverley). It's free and fascinating: there are human bones, a head in a jar, and a uterine teratoma- ie, a tumour with HAIR & TEETH. It's full of students making notes and young artists sketching things. I've spent some very pleasant afternoons in there.

Korean Barbecue. Perfect carnivorous first date- you cook your own food at the table. All-you-can-eat for about $15 each at Queen & John or Yonge & Bloor. Your table will have a hubcap-shaped propane grill in the centre, and you'll get little plastic dishes of raw beef, short ribs, pork, chicken, fish, squid. You use tongs to grill stuff, then eat the pieces of meat with chopsticks, accompanied by rice and banchan (little dishes of various pickled vegetables & tofu). The meat is not spicy at all, some of the banchan dishes are. So good, total protein coma.

See a play on a Sunday afternoon. Check out Now Magazine for listings and recommendations. You're looking for performances marked as "PWYC", which means Pay What You Can. Mostly those would be on Sunday afternoons around 2pm. When they say PWYC, it would be ideal to pay $20 and standard to pay $10, but you can absolutely get away with paying $5. Less than that might seem a little too cheap unless you're dressed like a broke student, in which case it's fine.

Catch-23 is really fun- it's an improv contest, Monday nights at 9pm at Bloor & Ossington for like $5.

Second City has a free half-hour improv set every night after the show. The start time of the improv set is around 10 pm, I think. You have to pay to see the show but they'll let you in free for the improv set. Basically the same 6 performers who just did the scripted show come back onstage, sometimes joined by special guests like awesome improvisers from out of town or TV personalities, and they take suggestions from the audience and do a whole other show. I find the improv sets are usually better than the show itself, so this is a good value. Just call a couple hours ahead to find out the start time.

Feed ducks in High Park. Walk through the park at night. You can climb the fence and walk through the High Park petting zoo at night too, that's kind of weirdly exhilarating (not in the animal enclosures, you maniac, just on the pedestrian path).

Late at night in the summer, you can hop the fence into the swimming pool at Christie Pits.

Go ice skating.

Infiltrate.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 12:18 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]

re: the anatomy museum at U of T. Technically it's off-limits to the public, but if you say you emailed your anatomy prof and asked to see it, you should be fine. ;) It's a little hard to find, though. Good luck finding it, though!
posted by greatgefilte at 8:56 PM on January 12

Oops, one extra though-phrase at the end there..
posted by greatgefilte at 9:01 PM on January 12