Summer is full of relaxation and fun. It’s a time when you can sit back on your patio, drink some iced tea, and watch the sun disappear from the horizon. It’s a time full of backyard barbecues and spending the hot days in the sun at the beach. Summer is the smell of freshly cut grass, the smell of sunscreen, the drips of ice cream, and peeling sunburns. With the hot temperatures (s/o to Reno, where temperatures reach into the hundreds), come new romances. Summer flings are fun, and here’s a list of 7 summer dates that would be perfect for a new summer relationship.
1. Go to a bonfire
Whether it’s up in the mountains (cough* Moss for all my Reno people cough*) or on the beach, a bonfire is the perfect way to bond. Rather than going to the movies, bonfires are a great way to release some of that first date pressure in a very casual way. There’s something so enchanting about watching wood burn, ironically.
2. Go to a concert
Concerts themselves are a blast in general, but going with your summer fling? Even better. Summer concerts are great, be it at Lake Tahoe or in Santa Monica. Every Thursday night, starting in July, the Santa Monica Pier hosts Twilight Concerts, where artists come to play their music. You can find yourself on the pier with the crowd or on the beach down below while you sit on a blanket and eat cheese and bread while listening to the music. Summer concerts are great because they have such a relaxed and fun atmosphere.
3. Go out for dessert
Instead of going out to dinner and ordering dessert, thus adding extra guilt to both the check and your diet, go out for only dessert instead. By doing this, you can splurge on a fancier dessert and not feel so bad (or full) about it. What better way to flirt with your date than over a hot bowl of chocolate fondue?
4. Pick fruit
While this sounds very odd, let me explain. I’ve always thought it would be fun to take a date to an orchard (be it apples, peaches, or even oranges) and pick some fruit. Think of all of the games of hide and seek or tag you could play in between all the trees! And then, you get to pick the fruit yourselves—there’s something so refreshing about being in nature and harvesting the foods you are about to put into your body. Not to mention freshly picked fruit is way more tasty and juicy than fruit from the grocery store.
5. Paint pottery
Go to a place where you can pick a piece of pottery (a coffee mug, a tea pot, a plate/platter) and paint it however you want. There are many of these businesses around (in Reno it’s Clay Canvas). This is a perfect summer date because it allows you to create something beautiful alongside your someone beautiful. It’s a great way to be creative and have a good conversation. Plus, if the date doesn’t end up being that great, you have a really cute mug/tea pot/plate to use.
6. Go to an art museum
This sounds pretty basic and not very exciting, unless you love art, but there is a way to make this a pretty rad date (and it works, I’ve tried it). So, you go to a museum, preferably in some artsy clothes and you walk around the paintings and discuss them with your date in the most ridiculous way possible, using an accent. This sounds so dorky, but that’s the point. You walk up to each artwork and comment, in a crazy accent, what you think the artist was trying to portray. Trust me, it’s hysterical.
7. Go sailing
There’s nothing that resembles the Bachelorette quite like taking your date sailing. Although you won’t have the camera crews telling you what to talk about and gesturing for you to feed your date chocolate covered strawberries (because let’s face it, “reality” tv isn’t real at all), your date will still be a blast, especially at sunset.
So whether you choose to stay in and share some ice cream over a movie or whether you choose to go sailing, your summer is sure to be as sweet as watermelon.
