Date Night During Covid19 For Seniors

 

This week, my wife came to me and said that we needed to go on a date for the weekend.

“Great!” says I. “Where?”

That’s the big question. With everywhere closed down or highly restricted, it might seem hard to find any entertainment.

What’s an active senior to do?

It took me a little head scratching, but I think I’ve come up with a few ideas. I floated a few of them by her, and she even approved.

So if you’re wanting to take your sweetheart out for the evening, but are struggling to find anything to do, hopefully I can spark some ideas.

A Night Out On The Town?

Options for our virus wary world

I’ll admit, it wasn’t easy finding something to do. The usual suspects are either shut down till further notice, like my favorite Edison Street Events, where you can usually catch a silent movie with a live organist, or live music at Sundance.

And if a place isn’t shut down, I know it makes my wife very nervous, especially when there are too many people there. Even still, there are options available.

Here’s my short list:

1. Take a bike ride along the Jordan River Parkway.

This is the one that my wife decided to do. She liked the idea of being out in the fresh air, covering some ground and enjoying the scenery. Plus, with as much as we’ve been indoors lately, the idea of stretching our legs sounded too tempting to pass on.

If you happen to be living in our 55+ community, located in Saratoga Springs: The Villas At Legacy Farms, then you’re already living at the trailhead to the Jordan River Parkway. You could easily bike up to Thanksgiving point and spend some time walking around their beautiful grounds. I say easily, assuming that you like biking.

If you don’t live close to the Jordan River parkway, I happen to know that our other subdivisions in Herriman: Midas Creek Villas, or our Vineyard Subdivision: The Villas At Waters Edge, also have walking/biking/horse trails near each of those.

If you don’t live near any of those active adult communities, well, maybe you should.

1. Go painting in the park.

When’s the last time that you took an easel outside and tried to capture the beauty around us. Camera phones make snapping a picture almost too easy. But there is something about painting that is both therapeutic and amazing.

If you’ve never done it before, no problems. Nobody’s going to judge you too harshly. Chances are, most of them know they wouldn’t even dare try. So go ahead, grab some brushes and paints, and find a shady spot somewhere to practice your masterpiece. Since you live in Utah, you’re lucky enough to have something interesting to paint, no matter where you go.

If you have no clue what you’re doing, look up a few Bob Ross paintings to get some basics down. They can be a fun, stay at home date all in themselves. Just make sure you have your remote control handy, so that you can pause the show long enough to catch up. And don’t be discouraged if your first dozen paintings turn out to be—less than perfect. You’ll be surprised how quickly and addicting this painting thing can get.

1. Go Bullfrog hunting.
   1. A few weeks ago, I saw the articles out about bullfrogs in Utah. I didn’t even know that Utah had bullfrogs. But now that I know, I want to find them.
   2. The last time that I ate frog legs was probably 15 years ago. Surprisingly, you can order them in from Walmart’s frozen food department. I happened to chance by them there once, when they actually had them in stock. They’re surprisingly big, like chicken legs, and if you overlooked the different bone structure, you might even think that’s what you were eating.
   3. So while anyone can go out fishing for a date night, maybe you can learn how to go bullfrogging, and come home to cook up a culinary delight that will both surprise and delight your friends or family.

There’s plenty more

I’m not going to go into depth on all the possible date activities out there. But needless to say, there are options, even though you might need to be a little more creative at this time.

For instance, if you’re feeling like just watching a movie, but don’t want to see the current re-runs in the big theaters, give some of the more specialty theaters a try. For example, Thanksgiving point’s museum theater is showing educational films in 3-d, or is it 4-d now? Anyhow, you can go on their website and reserve a ticket. I doubt these theaters get the same crowds that the bigger theaters attract.

There’s also bowling. I know the owner of Oympus Hill Bowling Alley, and he’s mentioned that they are open, and following restriction guidelines. But even then, they barely fill their bowling alley. So you could easily keep a social distance from people, and enjoy a night of stretching for a strike.

If you’re lucky enough to live in one of our fantastic senior communities, then you also have a clubhouse that is close. It usually offers billiards, a built-in theater, and a swimming pool. You could even grab a few friends together and play games, making it a fun group date.

There is plenty of fun to be had out there, even though the whole world is telling us to keep out. With a little creativity, and a sense of adventure, we can have a fun and safe time going on dates with our sweethearts.

Good luck!