Saturdays are Julie's and my day of fun. We start the day by me picking her up at Jed's work and then hit the Bellevue 24 for our Turbo Kick-Boxing class (where we made friends with a super nice girl named Cynthia) followed by our Pilates Pulse class (where we have an amazing looking instructor who has had five girls).
After food and shower we go on our adventure. This can range from running errands, going grocery shopping (always a favorite) or picking something random out.
A recent adventure took us to the
Bellevue Botanical Gardens . Here we saw a variety of plants and were able to immerse ourselves in nature without having to leave the city. There were a few trails around the park and explored different categories such as the Japanese Gardens and the Rock Garden. Along the way we noticed a sign for volunteers. This would be a great place to come and volunteer and integrate it into our Saturday Adventures. I love gardening and there are so many opportunities within the gardens. Many events take place throughout the year in the gardens so I look forward to seeing what else we can explore there.
As Julie and I were not able to spend last Saturday together (I was in Palm Springs) nor this Saturday together (she will be in Boston) I have been planning some really good adventures for us, especially as spring will officially begin in 8 days.
As another incentive to browse and create adventures, many of my girlfriends have been asking me recently about good places to take a date. This is something I enjoy doing. I love thinking of fun and creative things to do.
Here I have a list of fun date and Saturday Adventure ideas:
- Bellevue Botanical Gardens
This is a great place to take a picnic or a stroll with a friend, family or significant other. Throughout the seasons there are different plants blooming and growing so everytime you go there is something new to see.
Many people live in a city or an area for a large amont of time never actually get to explore it. Book a hotel room downtown and spend the weekend doing what tourists do. Take pictures, learn the history and study the architexture of your hometown.
While board games are one of my favorite pastimes, this time, take the game public. Board game bars are a new trend that hasn't quite become super trendy (ie not too crowded). Yelp is another great website to help you find highly ranked board game bars.
While you reminisce memories of your childhood birthday parties, it time to start some new memories. The Watson Adventure Scavenger Hunts has created a company that hosts scanvenger hunts. Many corporate companies are using this as team building and there are a variety of hunts that take place throughout your area. You can go on a public hunt with people you do not know (yet!) or book a private hunt for you and your friends, loved ones, etc.
Without sounding too mushy, a quiet picnic in a park, on the beach, in your backyard is a fun and comfortable way to spend a warm afternoon. You can choose a spot (there are lots overlooking the lakes) and watch the UW crew team row by yelling at the beginning canoe-ers to get out of the way and challenging the million dollar yatchts to create a wake. I have also learned that a park in Amsterdam has just legalized sex in the park, along with other green items.
While some may not be interested in the great outdoors, camping is always an experience wherever you go. You can camp in a far away mountain, a the base of a lake or just in your backyard (something my sisters and I did when we were young...of course Dad would always turn on the sprinklers at 5am...). Spending time with your friends or significant other helps creative memories, even if you do run inside the house to go the bathroom.
There are many places to plays games. Become a kid again and go play laser tag, purchase tokens, accumulate as many tickets as possible and win that slightly deformed teddy bear. These games can be played at fairs (local are usually the best, then you get to take in the real red-neck flavor) or find a place like Gameworks where they specialize in cheap beer and games.
The Woodland Park Zoo is a great place for a Saturday Adventure or a relaxing date. The zoo manages the largests live animal collection in Washington state, with approximately 1,100 specimens. It also provides a home for 35 endangered and 5 threatened animals. The zoo also has botanical gardens of 7,000 tress and more than 50,000 shrubs and herbs.
Now I am aware that I have not mentioned fun restaurants or food-affliated dates. While there are many great places from that department to choose from, I will have to do some more research to post some of my favorites.
More to come later, but for now, ta-ta!
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