Before you judge, let me just tell you—a planetarium is cooler than you think. Taking your date to one is a great way to experience the universe.
One of the local community colleges where I live happens to have an amazing planetarium. Each first Friday of the month they have “Astronomy Nights,” where they open up their planetarium to the public and have really cool free shows every half hour. The shows rotate each month and are listed on their calendar.
My favorite show they have there is “Tour the Universe with Pink Floyd.” Basically, it’s a universe exploration show set to some of Pink Floyd’s classic songs.
They also usually have telescopes set up outside pointed at the moon or a planet. How cool is that?
This activity is an awesome date idea, especially if your date likes astronomy. Check your local colleges to see if they have something similar. Or just search “nearest planetarium to me” in Google and you will find if there are any in your area.
You can also visit the nearest Observatory to you. Each will usually have a website with their calendar or events posted.
One of the parks near me, Riparian Preserve in Gilbert, has a small Observatory with a giant telescope inside. Friday and Saturday nights, as long as the weather is nice, it is open to the public and free. It makes for a great date idea, walking around the park and then taking a look through the telescope in the Observatory.
Not only is this planetarium/observatory date super interesting, but it also gets bonus points for being cheap. For example, the one near me is free.
What you need for this planetarium date:
You really just need to find out where to go. It is probably a good idea to get there early for tickets; I know they tend to go really fast at the one I mentioned near me. Nowadays most things can be reserved online, just check and see if that option is available for the place you are going.
My experience with this date:
I have gone on dates to the first Friday planetarium shows a few times, and they were always a success.
On one particular occasion, I went with a girl named Tiffany. Right after I picked her up, I wrote the names of a few restaurants on pieces of paper and put them in a bowl for her to draw out.
She wound up picking Mimi’s Café, which is a great place to eat. Afterward, we headed over to the planetarium. We talked and talked the entire time in both the ticket line and in our seats as we waited for the show to start.
I was giddy with anticipation, and not only because of Tiffany; I just love astronomy shows!
Finally, we were let in and found some great seats. The lights dimmed and our universe tour began. I don’t think my smile ever left my face during the 25-minute presentation.
I glanced at Tiffany a few times during the show and it was obvious she was having just as good of a time as I was. Although we wound up not being a match for each other, it was still a lot of fun, and visiting the planetarium is still one of my favorite creative date ideas!
Check out this video I made for this creative date idea:
You can buy a copy of the book 101 Creative Dates: ideas, tips, and personal experiences from the life of a hopeless romantic here or visit the shop.
Here are some other date ideas that you might be interested in: