Are you tired of the same ol’ dinner and movie to woo your loved one? Now that the weather is nicer—you two lovebirds need to get outdoors. Grab your picnic basket, bikes and sunscreen for a little fun in the sun and fresh air. Be you an adrenaline junkie or patio lounging beer connoisseur—our staff has great outdoor date ideas.
Valerie Rasmussen, Editorial Contributor Bike & Brew. Spring isn’t only for tulips and blossoming trees. It’s also the time when droves of cyclists gleefully clip into their pedals and take to the road. A favorite outdoor date of mine is a ride up Emigration Canyon or around Park City. And then following it with a cold beer on the outdoor patios of either East Liberty Tap House or Silver Star Cafe. Morgan Valley offers another outside getaway and we follow that ride up with a cold brew at the Shooting Star Saloon, Utah’s oldest continuously-operating saloon.
Danielle Holmes, Director of Advertising My absolute favorite outdoor date is golfing! There’s nothing better than a sunset evening on the course. Pack a cooler full of your favorite drinks and bring a speaker to listen to your favorite music in the cart. Not a golfer, or a good one at that? No worries- warm up at the driving range before you hit the course, and there are plenty of golf formats you can play to make it easier on yourself. Your date night is sure to be on-par!
Mary Brown Malouf, Executive Editor Play balls! Generally, I am not a fan of ballgames. I don’t like to watch’em and I dislike playing them. There is one exception. Bocce, related to British bowls and French petanque, is about as simple a ball game as humans ever invented except for “Fetch” which involves too much dog slobber to appeal to me. You throw out a small ball, then everyone takes turns throwing their ball as close to the small ball (called a jack or a bollino.) The ancient Romans played a version of bocce and it’s still played all over Italy and wherever people like to play ball while holding a glass of wine. Liberty Park has regulation bocce courts (near the horseshoe pits) and a perfect Utah Sunday is spent in the park, picnicking and playing bocce. Note: Don’t worry about getting too good at it. There is no Olympic bocce play. You can pick up a set of bocce balls at most sporting goods stores. Scheels usually stocks them.
Glen Warchol, Managing EditorTake a soak in the parks. In Japan, they call it “forest bathing,” pursuing good health by immersing yourself in the nature. Now, the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and the Park Service is calling on Americans to turn to their National Parks for Park Rx Day, April 23, “to improve their physical health and emotional well-being by connecting with family and friends over a walk.” After saber rattling in North Korea and Syria, we all need to unwind. So find a park, it’s also National Park Week or national monument and take a bath—with the exception, of course, of Pioneer Park.
Christie Marcy, Associate Editor “Maybe it’s my contrary nature showing, but I am a self-described indoor enthusiast. Camping? No thank you, I actually have a bed and a toilet at my house. Hiking? Maybe if the shoes were more stylish I’d consider it. Cycling? Trust me, those padded shorts would do me no favors. But, of course there are always exceptions. In fact, there are three things I’ll gladly do outside: baseball games, outdoor concerts and drinking on patios. Since the Bees are out of town and it’s not quite Red Butte season, this weekend I’ll opt to get my Vitamin D on a patio of my choosing—possibly hand-picked from this list of great patios in Salt Lake—but most likely I’ll end up at Campfire Lounge in Sugarhouse. What can I say? I’m a sucker for spicy tots. And the best part is that I can drink as much as I want to and I can stay out as late as I’d like, because I definitely will not be hiking in the morning.”
