Perhaps the single best thing you can do to improve your marriage and keep it healthy is to carve out regular time to have fun, one-on-one, with your spouse. I’ve seen many marriages on the brink of divorce for no other reason than the relationship was time-starved. Without regular time alone together, engaging in fun relational connection, spouses lose track of one another – the romantic feelings fade and they forget why they fell in love in the first place. So, what’s the antidote? Go on a date! Here are some ideas to get the creative juices flowing.
- Go golfing
- Play at Dave & Busters or The Main Event
- Economics Club of Indianapolis speaker series
- Horseback riding/ trail rides
- Music concerts
- Cirque du Soleil shows
- Broadway shows
- Beef & Boards dinner theatre
- Murder mystery dinner theatre
- Escape room experience
- Go to an amusement park
- Seasonal festivals and street fairs
- City Market
- Beer/wine brewing class
- Cooking class
- Shoot pool
- Art class
- Hiking
- Bicycling
- Mountain biking
- Go bowling
- Play Frisbee golf
- Go to the driving range
- Try TopGolf
- Check out the animals and training classes at Petsmart or Petco
- Check out a bar or restaurant with live music (The Jazz Kitchen, Slippery Noodle Inn, etc…)
- Go roller-skating
- Ballroom dance lessons
- Couples massages
- Couples spa treatments
- Visit a comedy club
- Go out for a leisurely brunch
- Take an adult education class together
- Grill out in a local park and put up a hammock
- Go out for an extravagant dessert
- Go to trivia night at a local bar
- Tour a winery, brewery, or distillery and do a tasting
- Take a boat ride (rent or borrow one if need be)
- Go to a coffee shop and play board games or cards
- Attend fundraising parties, galas, or events for charity
- Go kayaking/ canoeing/ paddle-boarding
- Stay at a State Park inn or cabin
- Go camping
- Check out the roller derby
- Go on an amateur photo shoot
- Go to the firing range
- Attend a sporting event (pro, college, high school)
- Tailgate before an event
- Go to a movie
- Go to an arts movie
- Go to a drive-in theatre
- Plan a weekend trip to a nearby big city (Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, etc…)
- Duckpin bowling
- Go-karting
- Go shopping at an adult novelties store, then try-out what you bought
- Walk the canal
- Visit a flea market
- Stay at a bed & breakfast in a fun place
- Pottery painting
- Attend an art and drink event (Wine & Canvas, Masterpiece & Mimosa, Painting with a Twist, Acrylics & Wine, Paint It with Pinot, Indy Paint & Sip)
- Visit a local museum (State, IMA, Eiteljorg, etc…)
- Tour a model home or attend a real estate open house
- Test drive a car
- Go to a hookah/ shisha bar
- Visit an ethnic restaurant that’s new to you
- Carve out time to visit a dining destination (like Bonge’s Tavern, Joseph Decuis, etc…)
- Plan a picnic
- Wander a bookstore or library
- Spend an evening in front of the fireplace with drinks and appetizers
- Volunteer or do a service project together
- Attend the symphony
- Attend the opera
- Take a class at a craft supply store or your local DIY store (ie, cake-decorating or build-your-own firepit)
- Attend a film festival
- Play mini golf
- Go to the zoo
- Friday night swing dancing at Fountain Square Theatre, and a free lesson beforehand
- Relax at a wine bar
- Take a yoga class
- Live theatre (IRT, Theatre on the Square, Phoenix Theatre)
- Go antiquing
- Visit a tearoom
- Play at an indoor trampoline park
- Go rock climbing (indoor or outdoor)
- Go fishing
- Geocaching
- Play laser tag
- Make plans to fulfill your bucket lists
- Watch funny YouTube videos together
- Watch all 100 of AMC’s Greatest Movies of All Time together
- Go truck-bed stargazing and sleep out under the stars
- Check out the new IKEA store
- Do a walking tour
- Check out local garage sales/ estate sales
- Fly kites
- Do a jigsaw puzzle together
- Do karaoke
- Perform random acts of kindness for strangers
- Do a zip-line experience
- Go spelunking
- Binge-watch a TV show you both like
- Spend the night in a nice hotel, enjoy the amenities, and order room service
- Watch You-Tube video tutorials on topics in which you’re both interested
- Get tattoos or piercings together
- Plan your dream vacation
- Make prank phone calls
- Read the same book together and discuss it
- Go to a casino
- Meet up in a bar and pretend you’re meeting for the first time
- Make a time capsule for your kids or grandkids
- Have a water balloon fight
- Plan a surprise day for each other
- Create scavenger hunts for one another
- Watch the sunset or sunrise together, from a scenic spot
- Bungee jumping
- Sky diving
- Bingo
- Batting cages
- Hot air balloon ride
- Horse-drawn carriage ride downtown
- Skeet shooting
- Take a pole-dancing class together
- Play tennis
- Browse a gourmet grocery store and bring home a wine and cheese tasting for two
- Enjoy a leisurely fondue dinner (either at home or at The Melting Pot)
- Play “Would you rather?”
- Country western line dancing
- Ask each other conversation-starter questions
In the fall
Visit an apple orchard, pumpkin patch, corn maze, haunted attraction, or a renaissance fair
In the winter
Ski (downhill or cross-country), ice skate, snow shoe, go sledding
In the summer
Attend the state or county fairs, Symphony on the Prairie, a free community concert or movie night, a farmer’s market, a traveling carnival
