Give me your best weekend-away-with-friends ideas!
April 24, 2014 1:21 AM Subscribe
I'm going away for the long weekend with 6 friends (we are 4 girls and 3 guys, from mid-twenties to early thirties). We've got a sweet house booked in a nearby country town and we plan on doing a bit of wandering around town, but mostly holing up in the house in front of the open fire, drinking wine, playing board games and enjoying each other's company.
I'm looking for awesome ideas of fun stuff to bring and/or do. Drinking games, non-drinking games, things we can cook or bake, challenges for the weekend, that sort of thing. I'm thinking pancakes, I'm thinking blanket fort... anything that works with 7 people and is fun, throw it at me!
Open fire? Roast marshmallows and make s'mores! During the winter - my mom would do "indoor picnics" where we spread a blanket on the living room floor,it a fire, made s'mores and drank hot cocoa from a thermos and pretended it was like a picnic with a basket and everything. It was always super fun - had some liquor to the cocoa or drink mulled wine and you have a comfy party.
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 4:50 AM on April 24, 2014
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 4:50 AM on April 24, 2014
We did cottage weekends as a big group a few times. Watched terrible movies, went skidooing (okay, cottaging in the dead of Canadian winter), set up a fire and sausages, and most importantly, played D&D. That is just our rather nerdy friend group, but board games and barbecue are great fun whenever we have a chance.
posted by aggyface at 5:31 AM on April 24, 2014
posted by aggyface at 5:31 AM on April 24, 2014
Had a weekend like this with a group of my friends a few weeks ago. We played Cards Against Humanity, which is great to do while drinking. We made friendship bracelets (throwback!). We had a taco night. Also, pot cookies (if you're into that). If you have wifi and someone brings a laptop, you can search any song with the word 'karaoke' and find YouTube videos to have a karaoke night.
posted by greta simone at 5:35 AM on April 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by greta simone at 5:35 AM on April 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Assuming the weather cooperates, you can always do a few things outside like croquet, or bocce.
posted by gudrun at 5:50 AM on April 24, 2014
posted by gudrun at 5:50 AM on April 24, 2014
A scavenger hunt. Make a list of things people have to find over the weekend. Apparently, it is fun. But make a note that nothing should be removed from the actual venue.
posted by Kerasia at 5:52 AM on April 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Kerasia at 5:52 AM on April 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Chocolate fondue! Have on hand things that you would not normally dip in chocolate like grapes and crackers. It's fun to try different combinations.
Have a goose egg un-hunt (totally making this up). Bring a large egg (craft store) and announce that the holder of the egg on the last day buys dinner for everyone. And then hide it in someone's room. That person must find it, without even knowing that they were the one chosen, and hide it in someone else's room, etc. This is great for a mildly competitive group.
posted by myselfasme at 6:15 AM on April 24, 2014
Have a goose egg un-hunt (totally making this up). Bring a large egg (craft store) and announce that the holder of the egg on the last day buys dinner for everyone. And then hide it in someone's room. That person must find it, without even knowing that they were the one chosen, and hide it in someone else's room, etc. This is great for a mildly competitive group.
posted by myselfasme at 6:15 AM on April 24, 2014
If it were me I would make a baked French toast for the morning we woke up there. You could make it Friday during then day and then you let it soak in overnight. The next morning you pop it in the oven for about 50 minutes and nobody needs to cook. That and some fancy sausages on the stove and you have a yummy breakfast for one morning.
Pancakes are a nice idea but it means someone is standing at the stove. People normally wake up at different times, so I would have all the makings for bagel sandwiches for the other morning. They are easy to make one at a time as each person gets up. A great fruit salad is also awesome to have. Mangoes, kiwis and raspberries.
You could bring champagne and OJ for mimosas and/or fixings for bloody marys.
After lots of drinking and game playing people may want some zoning out time in the afternoon with some good movies. Bring popcorn and a couple GREAT DVD's.
Bring stuff for s'mores.
I'd probably make a batch of peanut butter cookies and lemon bread cupcakes. It's nice to have something home made on the counter for everyone.
For games we like the "classics"; trivia pursuit, charades and pictionary.
posted by beccaj at 7:17 AM on April 24, 2014
Pancakes are a nice idea but it means someone is standing at the stove. People normally wake up at different times, so I would have all the makings for bagel sandwiches for the other morning. They are easy to make one at a time as each person gets up. A great fruit salad is also awesome to have. Mangoes, kiwis and raspberries.
You could bring champagne and OJ for mimosas and/or fixings for bloody marys.
After lots of drinking and game playing people may want some zoning out time in the afternoon with some good movies. Bring popcorn and a couple GREAT DVD's.
Bring stuff for s'mores.
I'd probably make a batch of peanut butter cookies and lemon bread cupcakes. It's nice to have something home made on the counter for everyone.
For games we like the "classics"; trivia pursuit, charades and pictionary.
posted by beccaj at 7:17 AM on April 24, 2014
On the food end, maybe get the fixings for cookies? They'll make the whole place smell good. You could even get pre-made dough. If the weather is nice, you could also get the fixings for one or two fancy cocktails -- mojitos come immediately to mind.
On the activities front, some suggestions:
--My number one suggestion is telephone pictionary. So simple, so fun.
--If folks are on the creative end, maybe 1000 blank white cards or mafia.
--If you care to make a small purchase, I'd recommend party games like taboo, balderdash, or pictionary for that size group
--There's also great card games, and I'd recommend oh hell (this is also called a lot of other things) or the classics like bullshit or rummy.
--You could also bring a frisbee or a soccer ball if that's your thing.
You could pretty much do any of those activities either boozy or not. Have fun!
posted by likeatoaster at 7:35 AM on April 24, 2014
On the activities front, some suggestions:
--My number one suggestion is telephone pictionary. So simple, so fun.
--If folks are on the creative end, maybe 1000 blank white cards or mafia.
--If you care to make a small purchase, I'd recommend party games like taboo, balderdash, or pictionary for that size group
--There's also great card games, and I'd recommend oh hell (this is also called a lot of other things) or the classics like bullshit or rummy.
--You could also bring a frisbee or a soccer ball if that's your thing.
You could pretty much do any of those activities either boozy or not. Have fun!
posted by likeatoaster at 7:35 AM on April 24, 2014
Ok, I'll just give you what my packing list would be for a trip like that (I'm partly thinking of camping trips).
Marshmallows. Bubble mix (bubbles shine beautifully by firelight). Cushions & blankets for lying outside and looking at stars. Fireworks. Rainbow glasses. Solar powered fairy lights to drape outside. Silly treat-y snacks, like fruit and chocolate dip, to be pulled out at random intervals - late night snacks, or for enjoying in the middle of a four hour walk. Massage tool (portable). Ambient music. Actual instruments if anyone can play. A songbook if people can sing. Fire/light toys like poi, staff, hoops. Kites. Paper and drawing implements. Awesome people.
Pancakes are great, especially a couple pans going at once, and a selection of savory or sweet toppings.
posted by Elysum at 7:41 AM on April 24, 2014
Marshmallows. Bubble mix (bubbles shine beautifully by firelight). Cushions & blankets for lying outside and looking at stars. Fireworks. Rainbow glasses. Solar powered fairy lights to drape outside. Silly treat-y snacks, like fruit and chocolate dip, to be pulled out at random intervals - late night snacks, or for enjoying in the middle of a four hour walk. Massage tool (portable). Ambient music. Actual instruments if anyone can play. A songbook if people can sing. Fire/light toys like poi, staff, hoops. Kites. Paper and drawing implements. Awesome people.
Pancakes are great, especially a couple pans going at once, and a selection of savory or sweet toppings.
posted by Elysum at 7:41 AM on April 24, 2014
Too much food, especially too much sugar, can lead to crankiness and stultification. Mix in a walk or 2, and maybe a dance competition. Classic comedy is great - Life of Brian or any Monty Python, Ghost Busters, or classic action or horror - Terminator is excellent for drinking games. Indoor fire is cozy; outdoor fire is awesome. Find or bring firewood, long forks (I got mine at Goodwill) and cook marinated steak, kielbasa, white and/or sweet potato chunks (1/2 cook them 1st) over the fire. Find some great ghost stories, tell them around the fire. I'd make chex mix for the car ride. Assign specific people to plan and prepare specific meals and snacks for variety.
posted by theora55 at 9:10 AM on April 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 9:10 AM on April 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
We do marathons of goofy TV. MST3K and such.
We play Risk and D&D sometimes.
Perhaps each person can be assigned a cassarole to pre-make and bring for easy dinners.
Lasagna
Enchiladas
Etc.
You may have a barbeque or a fire, for roasted weenies and chips.
We like to dip things into things, so hummus, cheese dips, chips and onion dip. Veggies, NOM!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:13 AM on April 24, 2014
We play Risk and D&D sometimes.
Perhaps each person can be assigned a cassarole to pre-make and bring for easy dinners.
Lasagna
Enchiladas
Etc.
You may have a barbeque or a fire, for roasted weenies and chips.
We like to dip things into things, so hummus, cheese dips, chips and onion dip. Veggies, NOM!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:13 AM on April 24, 2014
« Older What is the equivalent of Magento on Windows .NET... | Song that goes something like AABBCCDD (literally)... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
(my favorite was cinnamon grahams)
posted by sciencegeek at 3:27 AM on April 24, 2014