essendoubleop

I find the best things to do on a first date involve sufficient eye contact, conversation opportunities, a distracting (but not overwhelmingly so) activity, and an opportunity to repeat it another time.
What are some of the best (realistic) activities for a first date?

Get these classics out of the way quick:
Coffee
Dinner
Movie

Go for a walk in the park with each other's dogs (shifting the focus to a pet can help break tension)
Play tennis (you don't have to be superfit to play)
Go for a jog together (at a pace where you can keep conversation)
Go clothes shopping together (money, in both senses of the term)
Studying together while listening to music (conversation opportunity for musical interests)

genuinegirly

Flying a kite
Learning to surf
Going to an acoustic concert or poetry reading at a coffee shop
Watching a game on TV

__________________
"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq

"violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy

Seaver

I always enjoyed playing shooting a few rounds of pool. Easy going, can enjoy a few drinks, and always great conversations and opportunities to flirt.

Usually my old standby is grab a light sushi lunch. It really doesn't cost too much, $25 for two people and great food. Also, sushi places are usually pretty quiet at lunch so good conversation flow as well.

__________________
"Smite the rocks with the rod of knowledge, and fountains of unstinted wealth will gush forth." - Ashbel Smith as he laid the first cornerstone of the University of Texas

Hektore

I think anything you enjoy doing that you can involve another person in could make a good first date. If it excites you, then it will excite her and if it doesn't at least you're going to have a better time wishing the date would end.

For me a short hike, rock climbing, kayaking would be good bets if I were still dating. I have a geologist friend who has taken a girl fossil hunting on a first date, big hit. Another of my friends has taken girls out fishing and gotten second dates from it.

You can also a new twist to something like coffee, say a game of checkers, so that you have that distraction.

PS: Movies are not a place for conversation, in my theatre expect to get shushed. I would hit up a local sports game instead, depending on the time of year I could find some club rugby, AHL hockey, Minor league baseball or anything at any of the nearby colleges. Roughly the same timespan and you aren't disturbing other people by carrying on a conversation.

__________________
The advantage law is the best law in rugby, because it lets you ignore all the others for the good of the game.

snowy

Hah, I was going to suggest pool or foosball (also available at some bars). Personally, I prefer foosball, but that may be because I have a foosball table and more opportunity to play. You don't always need 4 people to play a game on some tables; 2 can be sufficient.

Community events are also a good call, especially since we're getting to summer--street fairs, concerts in the park, festivals, whatever. Also, going to a small, cheap show at a bar or pub--grabbing a drink first, feeling each other out a bit, going to the show, deciding to take off halfway through the show for another, quieter bar--all part of a fun night.

Also, my first real date with my soon-to-be-husband was the two of us sitting at the bar in a local pub, watching Fox's Sunday night cartoons on the TV behind the bar. We discovered our mutual love of cartoons that night

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

World's King

Oral, Anal, Reverse Cowgirl...

__________________
heavy is the head that wears the crown

CinnamonGirl

You don't do anal on the first date. Jeez.


I'm not a fan of movies on the first date. Sure, you have something to talk about after, but for a solid two hours, you're sitting in the dark quietly.

I like fun first dates, with ample talking opportunities. Amusement park, baseball game, trivia night, music festival... all would be awesome first dates.

__________________
"...for though she was ordinary, she possessed health, wit, courage, charm, and cheerfulness. But because she was not beautiful, no one ever seemed to notice these other qualities, which is so often the way of the world."


"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Plan9

Is this why you go through girls like germaphobes go through underwear?

...

The best first date activities are ones that you're comfortable with (home field advantage) and allow you to assess your date as far as what you want in a potential partner. For most people talking is a good way to figure out if the person is on the same wavelength and or has life issues. Food is a good choice but often unnecessarily complicates things. I read somewhere recently the women prefer a coffee date over a dinner date... less pressure.

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

genuinegirly

Mid-afternoon coffee dates are always fun. If it goes well, it'll run into dinnertime and then you can make it a dinner-date as well.

Tt and I went to a symphony concert on our first date. By intermission we had plenty to discuss, and just little enough time to avoid any uncomfortable silence.

__________________
"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq

"violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy

Jeon

One of the "first dates" I took an Ex on we went to West Edmonton Mall, shopped, ate and went to the Gun range... It was lots of fun, with lots of opportunity to talk and learn about each other without being too intimate and forcing us to act like a couple. It was also original enough that it earned points for originality. ^_^

Leto

My best first date was to a skating party. the arena had been set up to be licenced for beer on 1 quarter (plywood on the ice, tables & chairs & servers) and the rest was for skating. Physical activity, with music and drinks. You get to hold hands almost immediately.

* although, upon reflection, the reverse cowgirl sounds mighty attractive...

__________________
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr

http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Leto_Atreides_I

levite

I used to be all about the museum on a first date. You can talk there, and the art or other exhibits are almost always good conversation starters. You can tell a whole lot about someone by what kind of art they like, what kind of cultural objects they respond to, how they view natural history or technology or what have you.

I also am a big believer in starting off with an Asian cuisine for the first dinner out. Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, whatever. But see what the other person likes, and is familiar with. This way you can tell: do they read? Are they travelled? Do they have friends from other cultures? Do they like mild or spicy foods? Are they adventurous or cautious?

__________________
Dull sublunary lovers love,
Whose soul is sense, cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
That thing which elemented it.

(From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)