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A few months back I found myself faced with a peculiar situation. I had decided to cut back on my drinking and, if possible, just cut it out altogether. I held on for a little while opting for juice mixes instead of hard liquor, but eventually I veered off course and went back to drinking whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Back in September I went on a 30-day fast that once again crossed drinking off my list of daily activities and I found myself faced with the issue of trying to find something to do that didn’t involve alcohol. For the most part, I stayed focused and avoided putting myself in situations where I was faced with temptations. But things got hard when I tried to go on a date or had to go to an event.

See, as an adult, most dates/outings involve some sort of alcoholic consumption. Sure you can go to the movies, a play, ice skating, play chess in the park, walk on the boardwalk etc., but when that’s over, there’s that old faithful time killer and get-to-know-you past-time of drinking. But if you don’t (or aren’t trying to) drink then I’ve found that there are less evening options to kill time-especially during the colder months when outside activities are fewer and farther apart.

I’ve found plenty of daytime activities for good dates that don’t involve drinking, but the evenings have proven to be killer in this regard. Of course I’ve been out with a lady friend and made it through dinner without a drop of liquor. And when a date is going well (NAKED FACT: I’ve pretty much never had a bad date) the usual thing for adults to do is to find a bar or lounge to chat over drinks. However, when I was on my self-induced liquor purge, ordering cranberry juice or pineapple-orange juice mixes at a bar all night wasn’t my idea of a good time-it also made the female feel awkward if she was the only one drinking liquor. On occasion, I’d suggest an activity like going to a pool hall as a time-killing activity where we could enjoy each other’s company but not every girl is up for the game. So unless we can find a quiet tea house (NAKED FACT: I don’t drink hot beverages-long story) or some comparable place to sit and chat, either we wound up tossing back juice shots at the bar or calling it an early night. 

Although my alcohol purge is over, I still found it hard to find evening activities, so I’ll pose the question to y’all: What else is there to do besides drink for a pair of consenting adults out for a night on the town when the weather sucks? What do you guys and gals do after dinner or a movie on a first date? Or, what kind of dates do you go on that’s different from the norm in the wintertime?

Cheers.

This story is filed under: Lifestyle