I can't speak for others, but I love surprises. When a man takes the initiative and makes all the plans for a date, how could I not be impressed? If such a date turns out to be a success, even better as it demonstrates he's listened to you and is making an effort to please and impress you.
The US Shopping Date
For most men, what's worse than having to spend an entire day shopping with a woman? Going shopping with 4 women! Mr. Grizzly and I had a disagreement and the following day he called me bright and early to apologize. To make it up to me he suggested I ask a girl friend or two to go shopping in the States, he'd drive. As if I'd say no! Well, I asked three friends and they all accepted. Not sure he knew what he was getting himself into, but he scored major brownie points for simply offering to take us shopping.
Never in a million years would I have expected all the effort and attention to detail he put into it. Me and my girl friends were blown away. Their husbands laughed. One said, "Great who does this guy think he is? How can I ever top that? Talk about setting expectations and making me look bad." The other one said, "Good, I can have a day to myself. This guy is crazy, driving 4 women to go shopping? What was he thinking? Hey, better him than me!"
Some of the things he did:
- made chocolate covered strawberries and popcorn to have as snacks.
- packed a cooler with drinks, he even remembered what everyone liked
- printed maps of the Destiny USA Mall so we could devise our plan of attack during the drive and not waste time
- made us name tags with his name and cell number in case we got lost and security had to call him to come get us
- brought a swear jar. At the end of the trip he drew a name!
- prepared a scavenger hunt to make the drive more enjoyable
At the mall in Syracuse he went his own way then took a nap in the van. No doubt he needed a break from us! Lol The rest of the time he gave us his opinion on clothes we tried on, helped us pick out shoes and carried our bags. It was hilarious. He didn't complain once. Not too many guys would do that, he had the patience of a Saint. We all had a blast.
It was a long day, but it seemed like the time just flew by. We left Ottawa at 6:00 am and headed to Ogdensburg, then Syracuse followed by the outlets in Watertown and finally the Bass Pro Shop. Along the way we stopped at different places to pick up packages, groceries and stuff other friends had asked us to get. It was an awesome day and extremely productive. We finally rolled into bed around 2:30 am. The entire trip was filled with practical jokes, trivia, music and laughter. Definitely a top 5 date in my books. Even when in a group, you can have a great date!
The All Day Surprise Date
Mr. Navy and I had gone out a couple of times. He asked me if he could book me for an entire day the following weekend because he wanted to plan a date. I said yes.
The details were a surprise. All he said was that I should wear running shoes and comfortable clothes. I was to meet him at his place in the morning and we'd head out from there. He was very considerate and asked if I was ok driving for about an hour out of town with him, if not he'd make other plans. I was fine with it.
We drove out to Rigaud and went hiking in an old slate quarry. This was the place where one of my animal or should I say bug and snake stories took place. He got to witness first hand how much I dislike snakes and spiders. I think he was quite amused and would have gladly administered first aid if I would have fallen flat on my face on the rocks while running to escape the aforementioned critters.
When we reached the top we took in some rays. It was a beautiful sunny day. I even got a calf massage, it felt great! I brought some chocolate walnut cookies so we had a snack and enjoyed the view. Then we hiked back down and went to a Pataterie in a quaint little town for lunch. Afterwards we drove to Hudson. This is where he grew up. We stopped at the marina where he stored his boat. He thought it would be nice to have a drink on the patio overlooking the water. Unfortunately there was a wedding going on and it was closed to the public, so instead we went to the neighbourhood pub for a drink.
Later we took a nice scenic drive through Hudson. He showed me some of the main attractions and places where he used to hang out when he was growing up. We talked about work, our families, the kids...a bit of everything. Eventually we made it back to his place. I had dinner plans with the kids, so I had to head home. I thanked him for a great day. Another top 5 date for sure!
It was great experiences like these that kept me from giving up on finding "the one". Online dating is hard, but when you meet nice people and have fun it makes all the difference in the world. I wish there were more good stories. Oh well, all the bad experiences will make me appreciate the good ones all the more!
Dateless in Ottawa
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