Dating in Boulder
October 8, 2011 1:04 PM Subscribe
Fun Date Ideas in Boulder, Colorado?
Both this girl and I that I met online are in College, we don't go to CU but live near Boulder. What are some fun, cheap and awesome date ideas in Boulder or Denver?
Both this girl and I that I met online are in College, we don't go to CU but live near Boulder. What are some fun, cheap and awesome date ideas in Boulder or Denver?
probably not that relevant, but anyway:
"Cheap dates I've been on:
1) Drive-in movie theater with home-cooked picnic.
2) A walk in the park to a quiet pavilion, featuring hot cocoa and a Powerpoint presentation detailing exactly why and to what degree I liked this girl.
3) Drive out to the airport, park in a secluded area and make up stories about the planes taking off. Also, hang out in the arrivals area and watching families reunite.
4) Art crawl followed by coffee
5) Volunteer at a soup kitchen then wrap up with a bottle of wine and Netflix
6) Watch the local university's events calendar for interesting special lectures or events
7) Check out a knot-tying handbook from the library and learn a few new knots. (Might be a little creepy for a first date...)
8) Midnight hike to a remote hilltop for moonlit slow dancing (Thank you iPod and portable speakers)
9) Photography word jumble. Hit the town and take pictures of letters to form words and sentences for a collage.
10) Hide and seek in a mall/large hotel (best with a group)
11) Greyhound track on dollar margarita night. Come on, you little ponies!
12) Bike ride through the bayou during alligator mating season
13) Check out a projector from the university, make stadium seating with straw bales, project movie onto the side of the house
14) Put love seat in bed of pickup truck, drive to the top of a parking garage with a view of downtown, play movie on laptop
15) Bottle of wine and finger painting--first on paper, then on bodies, then...
16) New recipe dates to Whole Foods
17) Dog park followed by ice cream.
18) Ice cream followed by bookstore.
19) Ice cream followed by whatever. I love ice cream.
20) $5 Thrift Store Challenge. Find the best tux/prom dress you can at the thrift store for $5 or less. Get dolled up. Go out for dinner at Cracker Barrel or some other wildly inappropriate place. Tell everyone it's your anniversary.
21) Grab a cooler of beer, head to the river, and go fishing/skinny dip
22) Go to the grocery store and make a scene. Pretend you are in a ridiculous soap opera and accuse your significant other of taking advantage of your amnesia to sleep with your brother. Really go over the top dramatic--tears, lamentations, WHYYYYYYY?!!?! Bonus points for throwing a costume-jewelry wedding ring or something.
23) Plant an herb garden
24) Carve bell pepper jack-o-lanterns and watched scary movies for Halloween in May
25) Grab a guitar and mandolin and make sweet music on the porch until the wee hours
26) Go to the library, pick out some books, sit next to each other on the couch and read until you fall asleep
27) Drive to a small town at least an hour away in order to eat lunch at a locally owned restaurant. Pick up a trashy romance novel and read it to each other while driving, complete with voices.
28) Borrow my cousin's horses to give her riding lessons.
29) Teach her how to shoot a .22
30) Bonfire out in the country, roasting marshmallows and hot dogs, drinking beer.
31) Build a couch cushion fort, roast marshmallows over the stove top, and have a Futurama marathon inside the fort.
32) Appear as extras in movies/music videos. Search Craigslist for gigs."
courtesy of xenophone
posted by usertm at 3:54 PM on October 8, 2011 [6 favorites]
"Cheap dates I've been on:
1) Drive-in movie theater with home-cooked picnic.
2) A walk in the park to a quiet pavilion, featuring hot cocoa and a Powerpoint presentation detailing exactly why and to what degree I liked this girl.
3) Drive out to the airport, park in a secluded area and make up stories about the planes taking off. Also, hang out in the arrivals area and watching families reunite.
4) Art crawl followed by coffee
5) Volunteer at a soup kitchen then wrap up with a bottle of wine and Netflix
6) Watch the local university's events calendar for interesting special lectures or events
7) Check out a knot-tying handbook from the library and learn a few new knots. (Might be a little creepy for a first date...)
8) Midnight hike to a remote hilltop for moonlit slow dancing (Thank you iPod and portable speakers)
9) Photography word jumble. Hit the town and take pictures of letters to form words and sentences for a collage.
10) Hide and seek in a mall/large hotel (best with a group)
11) Greyhound track on dollar margarita night. Come on, you little ponies!
12) Bike ride through the bayou during alligator mating season
13) Check out a projector from the university, make stadium seating with straw bales, project movie onto the side of the house
14) Put love seat in bed of pickup truck, drive to the top of a parking garage with a view of downtown, play movie on laptop
15) Bottle of wine and finger painting--first on paper, then on bodies, then...
16) New recipe dates to Whole Foods
17) Dog park followed by ice cream.
18) Ice cream followed by bookstore.
19) Ice cream followed by whatever. I love ice cream.
20) $5 Thrift Store Challenge. Find the best tux/prom dress you can at the thrift store for $5 or less. Get dolled up. Go out for dinner at Cracker Barrel or some other wildly inappropriate place. Tell everyone it's your anniversary.
21) Grab a cooler of beer, head to the river, and go fishing/skinny dip
22) Go to the grocery store and make a scene. Pretend you are in a ridiculous soap opera and accuse your significant other of taking advantage of your amnesia to sleep with your brother. Really go over the top dramatic--tears, lamentations, WHYYYYYYY?!!?! Bonus points for throwing a costume-jewelry wedding ring or something.
23) Plant an herb garden
24) Carve bell pepper jack-o-lanterns and watched scary movies for Halloween in May
25) Grab a guitar and mandolin and make sweet music on the porch until the wee hours
26) Go to the library, pick out some books, sit next to each other on the couch and read until you fall asleep
27) Drive to a small town at least an hour away in order to eat lunch at a locally owned restaurant. Pick up a trashy romance novel and read it to each other while driving, complete with voices.
28) Borrow my cousin's horses to give her riding lessons.
29) Teach her how to shoot a .22
30) Bonfire out in the country, roasting marshmallows and hot dogs, drinking beer.
31) Build a couch cushion fort, roast marshmallows over the stove top, and have a Futurama marathon inside the fort.
32) Appear as extras in movies/music videos. Search Craigslist for gigs."
courtesy of xenophone
posted by usertm at 3:54 PM on October 8, 2011 [6 favorites]
Celestial seasonings tour followed by lung at the dushanbe teahouse downtown ?
posted by egeanin at 6:02 PM on October 8, 2011
posted by egeanin at 6:02 PM on October 8, 2011
A walk along boulder creek path
A hike in the foothills
A walk on Pearl St.
Mountain biking at the Valmont bike park
Concert at the Fox Theater or Boulder Theater
See an independent film at the IFS Film series on campus
I second going to the Dushanbe Teahouse - it's worth seeing even if you just go for tea
See some music at the Laughing Goat coffee shop
posted by crunchtopmuffin at 8:29 PM on October 8, 2011
A hike in the foothills
A walk on Pearl St.
Mountain biking at the Valmont bike park
Concert at the Fox Theater or Boulder Theater
See an independent film at the IFS Film series on campus
I second going to the Dushanbe Teahouse - it's worth seeing even if you just go for tea
See some music at the Laughing Goat coffee shop
posted by crunchtopmuffin at 8:29 PM on October 8, 2011
In Boulder, specifically:
posted by brennen at 8:47 PM on October 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
- Ride bikes.
- Walk or ride up the creek path to Settler's Park (optionally with a discreet substance of your choice), sit on rocks and look at Boulder.
- Find a park and throw a frisbee.
- Go to the Mountain Sun on Sunday night for a band. If you show up at the right time (they start pretty late), you don't have to spend too much on beer, and most of the music I've caught there has been a lot of fun. Warning: Dancing hippies.
- If you do the Laughing Goat, avoid the poetry (Monday nights) and have a backup plan if you have to ditch on the band. It can be kind of hit and miss.
- Hike up to a Flatiron.
- Drive to Lyons. Have food and/or beer at Oskar Blues before or after a trip to Lyons Classic Pinball, which is just a few doors down and is awesome.
- Drive up Flagstaff and do a day hike. There are some nice easy hour-or-so loops with great views.
- Catch a bus to downtown Denver. It's fast, pretty cheap, and makes for kind of a mild adventure minus the hassle of parking. Hit the art museum on a free day or keep an eye out for some kind of interesting public event. Go to a show. There's quite a bit going on down there.
posted by brennen at 8:47 PM on October 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
Great suggestions so far. I'm adding a vote for the Dushanbe Teahouse -- it's a wonderful date place.
Boulder is full of fun stuff to do that doesn't cost money. Walk down Pearl and stop in at the kite shop and whatever other shops strike your fancy (the various art galleries are also great fun, and there's a fantastic candy shop if you like sweets), grab a bite to eat from the street vendors or at Mustard's Last Stand, and talk a walk down Boulder Creek Path.
The Flatirons have lots of nice trails. Chautauqua Park is a nice place to hang out, grab a small lunch, and then go for a relaxed hike.
If you're up for a little drive, you could go to Lyons and check out the main street shops. Oskar Blues has fantastic beer and good pub food; the Barking Dog Cafe ("Come. Sit. Stay.") has great coffee, and Lyons has lots of little festivals if you go on a weekend.
There's always loads going on at CU -- check out their events calendar and go to a lecture or a music thing, whatever strikes your fancy.
posted by Spinneret at 8:47 PM on October 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
Boulder is full of fun stuff to do that doesn't cost money. Walk down Pearl and stop in at the kite shop and whatever other shops strike your fancy (the various art galleries are also great fun, and there's a fantastic candy shop if you like sweets), grab a bite to eat from the street vendors or at Mustard's Last Stand, and talk a walk down Boulder Creek Path.
The Flatirons have lots of nice trails. Chautauqua Park is a nice place to hang out, grab a small lunch, and then go for a relaxed hike.
If you're up for a little drive, you could go to Lyons and check out the main street shops. Oskar Blues has fantastic beer and good pub food; the Barking Dog Cafe ("Come. Sit. Stay.") has great coffee, and Lyons has lots of little festivals if you go on a weekend.
There's always loads going on at CU -- check out their events calendar and go to a lecture or a music thing, whatever strikes your fancy.
posted by Spinneret at 8:47 PM on October 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
Apparently I am having typing problems. Take a walk. And brennen. Oof.
posted by Spinneret at 8:53 PM on October 8, 2011
posted by Spinneret at 8:53 PM on October 8, 2011
Do you and your new friend enjoy craft beer? There are tons of local breweries that offer beer samplers and a few others that offer tours.
posted by mmascolino at 11:10 AM on October 9, 2011
posted by mmascolino at 11:10 AM on October 9, 2011
Since everyone has given great answers for Boulder, here's a couple for Denver:
There are free days at various museums and gardens thanks to a local SCFD tax. Here is the schedule for 2011. My fave is the always free first Saturday of the month at the Denver Art Museum and various days at the Botanic Gardens, which is free tomorrow. If you are the funky sort- ok with sex shops and the occasional gentleman down on his luck- walking around Broadway between 1st Avenue & Alameda offers interesting shops, awesome ice cream, bars & restaurants, and the Mayan theater which shows independent films. First (crowded) and third (less) Fridays is Art Walk along the Santa Fe Art District and is free. Picnic in wash park or civic center park. 16th Street is more touristy-not my thing-but out of towners sometimes like it. Check the westword for what else is going on in town. Enjoy and best of luck!
posted by Kitty Cornered at 9:00 PM on October 9, 2011
There are free days at various museums and gardens thanks to a local SCFD tax. Here is the schedule for 2011. My fave is the always free first Saturday of the month at the Denver Art Museum and various days at the Botanic Gardens, which is free tomorrow. If you are the funky sort- ok with sex shops and the occasional gentleman down on his luck- walking around Broadway between 1st Avenue & Alameda offers interesting shops, awesome ice cream, bars & restaurants, and the Mayan theater which shows independent films. First (crowded) and third (less) Fridays is Art Walk along the Santa Fe Art District and is free. Picnic in wash park or civic center park. 16th Street is more touristy-not my thing-but out of towners sometimes like it. Check the westword for what else is going on in town. Enjoy and best of luck!
posted by Kitty Cornered at 9:00 PM on October 9, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Saminal at 2:25 PM on October 8, 2011