Have you ever noticed that Valentine’s Day has the ability to make people really belligerent? It doesn’t matter if someone is an expert on first dates or if they’ve been together for a long time – Valentine’s Day can generate some strong, often negative opinions! While it’s obvious to more than just the cynics among us that this “holiday” was created to manipulate the money in our pockets, it’s still hard to avoid the romantic expectations of the day. Now, I’m as romantic as anyone, and I don’t think anyone is advocating throwing out romance entirely, but I do think most people resent being told they have to spend all kinds of money to be considered romantic. There are many people who boycott Valentine’s Day, and not necessarily because they can’t stand public displays of affection, but because they don’t equate hyper-consumerism with romance.
This year, on Valentine’s Day, you have three options, the way I see it. You can avoid the day altogether; You can call frantically and try to get a reservation at a fancy, run-of-the-mill, EXPENSIVE restaurant, or you can get a little creative. You can celebrate true romance without hurting your budget or derailing your long-term goals. We need to get over the thought that money equals love. That is a dangerous mentality, and more, it is simply not true!
However, as we all know, it can be difficult to be creative in Boston, as it is a very expensive city. Especially in winter, when it’s harder to find free or cheap outdoor events, it’s tempting to decide to take a break from dating and romance until spring. I argue that there are many creative solutions to this problem so that you can have fun and romantic dates all year long and not worry too much about your budget. We all deserve the chance to partake in the cheesiest day of the year without emptying our bank accounts or (worse) maxing out our credit cards!
I’ve collected several great ideas for fun, romantic, creative, and inexpensive ways to enjoy each other and our great city!
1. Ice skate and snuggle up with some hot chocolate
There are several wonderful options in the area for ice skating. You could go the more well-known traditional route and go skating at Frog Pond in Boston Common (which is a lot of fun!), but there are a couple of other great rinks in the area that are worth considering. The Charles Hotel in Harvard Square has a small rink outside its front doors. The best part about ice skating in Harvard Square is that you can head around the corner to LA Burdick’s Cafe afterwards for their acclaimed hot chocolate! Also, Kendall Square has a community skating rink. This Valentine’s Day, it might be fun to visit the Kendall Square rink as they offer a free ice skating show during the night. Whichever you choose, be sure to bundle up, you’re sure to have a great time with your date!
Info for this Valentine:
Frog Pond Skating, Boston Common: Open Thursdays from 10 am to 9 pm (Admission $4 per person, skate rental $8 per person and locker rental $1)
Charles Hotel Ice Skating, Harvard Square: Open Thursdays from 2 pm to 8 pm (skates $5, skating fee $5)
LA Burdick’s Harvard Square Cafe, 52D Brattle Street, Cambridge – Thursday 8am – 9pm
Kendall Square Community Skate, 300 Athenaeum St., Cambridge: Open Valentine’s Day 12:00-10:00 (admission $4 per person, skate rental $5 per person, locker rental $1)
2. Borrow a classic movie from the library and make your favorite meal together.
Sometimes there is nothing more romantic than a relaxing night at home together. First, be sure to turn off both cell phones, turn off computers, and make a promise to pay attention exclusively to each other at night. Decide on your favorite food and then go shopping together to get the ingredients. Go home and prepare it together. Light a couple of candles and enjoy your masterpiece! Then snuggle up on the couch and enjoy a classic romantic movie together. If you’re more into books than movies, this idea would be just as romantic with a classic novel or book of poetry.
3. Go roller skating!
Take a trip together to the time when there was nothing better than taking a walk around the skating rink with the person you liked! Enjoy good music together and a break at the snack bar. All your roller skating moves from yesteryear can be shown!
Info for this Valentine:
Chez Vous Roller Skating Rink, 11 Rhoades St. Dorchester, MA 02124 phone 617.825.6877 ($4 cheap skating on Thursdays includes skate rental)
Roller World, 425R Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906 781-231-1111 ($6 on Thursdays from 3-5:30; unclear if skate rental is included)
4. Visit a museum together
It’s a little known fact that there are some easy ways to visit some of our local cultural institutions for free. Spend Valentine’s Day enjoying local art, science exhibits, or spotting marine wildlife (after all, penguins are very romantic creatures, as we learned in March of the Penguins). Showing your cultural side could be very attractive to your date!
Some advices:
Most local public libraries let you borrow passes to the MFA, Science Museum, or Aquarium for free! I recommend calling your library as available passes will vary by location.
The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is FREE for everyone from 5-9pm every Thursday for Target Free Thursday Nights
5. Play with the animals at the MSPCA
If you and your date are animal lovers (it probably helps to ask them before you plan this!), I can recommend a great activity for you. The MSPCA-Angell Animal Care and Adoption Center is a wonderful facility full of dogs and cats who would love to play with you! This is especially a great activity if you both live in small city apartments and can’t keep pets of your own. During adoption hours, you can usually come in and visit all of the animals. What a fun way to give love on Valentine’s Day!
MSPCA Animal Care and Adoption Center, 350 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02130 (617) 522-5055 mspca.convio.net (Thursdays, open 2 pm to 7 pm)
6. Go on a downtown photo scavenger hunt together
When you meet up after work, create separate lists of fun or cheesy things that you and your date should capture on your cameras. Spend the night combing the town and taking turns finding items on each of your lists until you’ve completed both lists. Celebrate your achievements by taking the cameras home, printing the photos and creating an album of your memories with an inexpensive bottle of wine.
7. Fenway Park Tower
You’ve probably both been to Fenway Park plenty of times to enjoy a game, maybe you’ve even been together, but have either of you been “behind the scenes” at Fenway? If the Red Sox is the first love of you or your date, or both, this would be a great way to celebrate Valentine’s Day! Construction is underway during the winter months, so your tour will include the press box, State Street Pavilion box, Red Sox Hall of Fame plaques, and the oldest seats in history of the Major Leagues. Plus, pitchers and catchers report to spring training today, so you’ll be celebrating two “holidays” with this tour!
Information:
Tickets are $12 per person. Hours are 9 am to 3 pm Reservations are not accepted and walk-in sales are encouraged.
8. Enjoy a night at the theater!
There are inexpensive ways to enjoy more traditional dates in Boston. I haven’t found a better website than Goldstar.com for theater and event tickets. It’s free to sign up to the website and every week, the best deals will be emailed to you. Goldstar.com offers tickets to most local shows and events for half price or less. I have not seen better prices anywhere, and for such a variety of events. I have not personally ordered tickets on the site yet, but I hope to do so in the future. Well worth exploring if you’re interested in a theater date this Valentine’s Day!
http://www.goldstar.com
9. Surprise your date and take her out to lunch
You may have noticed that none of my recommendations include dining out at restaurants. The easiest way to avoid spending a lot of money during your date is to eat at home before the date and then spend time together focusing on non-food related activities. However, if you and your date really do enjoy a meal together, there are less expensive ways to do it. My first recommendation would be to surprise your date at work and invite them to lunch. Most of the time, restaurant lunch menus offer very similar rates to their dinners for half the cost. Also, neither of you will be tempted to order multiple alcoholic drinks (which can be very expensive) if you return to work after your date. Plus, there’s something very romantic about escaping your busy workplaces to steal some alone time, especially if you don’t see each other often during the day!
10. Go out to dinner
I know, I know. I just finished saying that dining out in Boston is the easiest way to spend a lot of money on your date! However, there are some creative ways to dine less expensive. Also, I’m sure there are still some of you who have made it to the bottom of this list and feel like you can’t get through Valentine’s Day without taking your date out for a nice dinner, so this last article, #10, is here! is for you! There are some things you can do. First, why not celebrate Valentine’s Day the next night? This year, this strategy is very convenient, since the night after Valentine’s Day is Friday. On Valentine’s Day, many of the downtown restaurants have an expensive, preset menu. The next day they are most often back to their usual menu, which is usually less expensive. Second, you and your date can decide ahead of time to eat your meal at the restaurant and then have drinks and dessert at home afterwards. A bottle of wine is much cheaper at the liquor store than at the restaurant. Finally, visit the website http://www.restaurant.com to purchase a discounted gift certificate to your favorite restaurant. The deals on the website are amazing. You can often get a $25 gift certificate for $10 or a $10 gift certificate for $3! Also, as a new customer to the site, you can usually find a coupon code online to get half off your first gift certificate. You can only use one certificate at a time, but the site is very convenient as you can pay online with a credit card and print the certificate from your printer before heading to the restaurant.
http://www.restaurante.com
With a little creativity, romance lives on in Boston and it doesn’t cost much!
I’m interested in hearing your creative ideas for cheap dates in Boston, especially during the winter months. Please share your favourites!