Fresh ideas needed for having "a nice time"

June 14, 2023 11:45 AM

I'm looking for new activities where you go somewhere for a few hours or an evening, do some kind of activity while you're there, and you have a nice time. Then you go home and you're done. Ideal example: "Pay by the hour to play with puppies!". One-off or repeating is fine. A few small snowflakes inside.

Snowflakes:

1. Assume I won't have any friends willing to do the thing with me.

2. I can't be on my feet for more than about 15 minutes in a row. So walking-based activities like museums or hiking are a no-go, although I could walk a far-ish distance to get from the car to the activity.

3. I already have lots of do-at-home hobbies and interests that are fulfilling and challenging.

4. Bonus points if there is some social element involved, although I'm an awkward 53yo so the bar scene is out.

5. Needs to be doable in Los Angeles, near-ish to LAX.

Leaving my current interests vague to avoid influencing the answers.
TIA!

posted by bluesky78987 to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (19 answers total)

Best answer: Lots of board game shops have times when you can show up and play games with others. My favorite local board game cafe has special social gaming nights that are designed for people who want to meet each other and are built around some of the more approachable prestige board games.

Do you like music? Find a local university and get on their School of Music events email list. The trombone choir, or whatever, is likely to be pretty inexpensive and will definitely be a sit-down event. Go see something weird!

You say the bar scene is out, do you specifically not want to be around alcohol? Some bars have random performances and activities that are outside the norm. A beer bar near me is located next door to a children's art school. They sometimes have crossover events where you can go to the bar and do a artsy crafty thing. It's more drop-in than one of those wine and paint type events.
posted by juliapangolin at 12:01 PM on June 14, 2023

Best answer: If I were in LA this weekend I would do this. (Hang out with a plus-sized supermodel, get glammed up, have photoshoot. Sounds fun to me, but maybe not for everyone.)
posted by shadygrove at 12:26 PM on June 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Despite living far from LA, I've followed this pottery studio for years. Hand-building is usually more social than wheel-throwing.
posted by quadrilaterals at 12:46 PM on June 14, 2023

Best answer: My city has a cat cafe, where you can hang out with a bunch of cats. I googled that term with LA and found this. No idea if there's more adoption pressure at this one or really anything about it.
posted by FencingGal at 1:05 PM on June 14, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I've been hearing good things about the Creative Aging courses at The Walls in Beverly Hills. They're pitched at 55+ but I think 53 is certainly close enough!
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:07 PM on June 14, 2023

Best answer: Batting cages
posted by atlantica at 1:10 PM on June 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Go fishing - specifically, find what's called a "party boat" and get on that. "Party boat" just means that it operates open to the public (as opposed to a charter operation where you rent the whole boat). Most of these run half-day fishing trips and frequently include everything you need to have a good time (tackle, bait, usually a galley and bar if the boat's big enough). The deckhands will frequently even process your catch for you (for tips), so all you would need to supply is a cooler and a little ice. Boats will almost always have benches along the rails, or you could bring a folding stool if you need it. It's generally a good scene, folks like to make small talk, and everyone's always excited when anyone on the boat catches a fish.
posted by backseatpilot at 1:34 PM on June 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: My favorite non-hiking solo activity is whiling away a summer afternoon at my local minor league ballpark, alternating my attention between baseball, the book in my lap, and people watching.
posted by headnsouth at 1:35 PM on June 14, 2023 [8 favorites]

Best answer: One of those paint-and-drink kind of events, maybe? Those seem sociable with maybe less pressure than the bar scene (although as an awkward middle-aged person type, I enjoy the bar scene plenty, so I wouldn't count it out solely on the basis of age and awkwardness).
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:50 PM on June 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Sofar Sounds!

Live music performances hosted in random pop-up venues that happen multiple times a week in any big city around the world; these are a fantastic way to spend an evening. Here's how it works:

1) buy a ticket for a particular date (you'll know the general neighborhood and type of venue, but nothing else)

2) 36 hours before, you're emailed the address. Could be an art gallery, someone's living room, an event space, whatever.

3) The day of, you're emailed descriptions of the three artists that will be performing. Can be all types of music.

4) Go and enjoy something new!

Great, great fun if you like live music; the point behind the shows is that the audience is present and paying attention to the artists, rather than chatting amongst themselves or whatever. It's a really nice vibe.

Lots of established artists have done these shows when they were starting out, too; I think I heard that either 33 Grammy nominations this year or 33 nominated artists were Sofar alums. I know Billie Eilish is one.

Anyway, yeah, highly recommended.
posted by Gadarene at 1:53 PM on June 14, 2023 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Do you have a bicycle? Here are some events and groups. And here are some LA bicycling clubs. I'd particularly recommend the open streets events, where they close off a loop to cars and let you ride around with accompanying activities in local parks and neighborhoods.
posted by bluedaisy at 2:22 PM on June 14, 2023

Best answer: I go to plays. Community theater, small theaters, high school or college plays.
posted by gideonfrog at 2:42 PM on June 14, 2023 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Sit in a cafe or bar either next to a big window or on the sidewalk and read or draw while people watching/listening. Go to a talk at a museum. My local art museum has really interesting lectures about the current traveling exhibitions in their amphitheater a few times a month.
posted by Bunglegirl at 2:50 PM on June 14, 2023

Best answer: I'm sometimes in a similar boat so I'm watching this!

One of my own big go-to's is free movies and free music in summer - New York City is lousy with such events (I saw the blues artist Taj Mahal for free this Monday, in fact), and they're all over the city - the parks department has its own series, but so do all the various entertainment/production companies (HBO sponsors one series in one park, Paramount sponsors another series in another park, etc.). I'm also SERIOUSLY looking forward to a free screening of RRR in a month in a park near me.

I'm fuzzy on Los Angeles geography - but from the look of this calendar, you're fairly well covered as well.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:26 AM on June 15, 2023

Best answer: Whether this is a "nice time" depends on your interests, but public meetings are an options. I'm involved in efforts to improve walkability in my area, for example, and at least weekly there is some relevant event to contribute ideas to design firms hosting charrettes, see presentations on government plans, etc.
posted by metasarah at 5:50 AM on June 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Go to a restaurant that is ocean-side, get a table on the ocean-side and eat slowly, people, bird, and fish watching. Even better if there are boats docking and moving about.

Even better is pick a breakfast time and then a dinner time, and spot the differences.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:57 AM on June 15, 2023

Best answer: Planetariums often have programming that isn’t strictly about astronomy that take advantage of the projector and sound systems. In LA there’s way more than just the Griffith Observatory.
posted by Mizu at 8:25 AM on June 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

> Batting cages

If you usually bat right handed, i.e., standing on the left side of home plate, try batting left handed. Or if you usually bat left handed, try batting right handed.

I batted right handed for many years before first entering a batting cage. I was pretty good at hitting singles that dropped behind the infield players and well in front of the outfielders. On a whim, I tried batting left handed. Much to my surprise I hit a line drive that bounced off the far wall. I continued hitting left handed line drives until the machine pitched all the balls I'd paid for. Only explanation I have for that is believing I can track a ball better with my right eye than my left.
posted by Homer42 at 8:36 AM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If you are into knitting or crochet, a lot of independently owned yarn stores have open knit nights where you can bring a project/buy some yarn and hang out. Sometimes the store serves refreshments. Of course, you should work on something you bought from that store, but the events themselves are free
posted by GingerWhinger at 5:03 AM on June 16, 2023