These aren’t too expensive (usually $10-15) to rent for an hour. If you find one that’s open late, you can enjoy a sunset talking and floating around the lake.

Lots of places have christmas lights in December. If you don’t want to drive around and look at them, consider paying to go to a zoo and see the lights. They’re often very well done, and have extra goodies like apple cider, music and entertainment!

Drive ins are often old and run down but that’s a lot of the fun! Make sure you bring a truck or a big SUV (cars just aren’t as fun) and a lot of pillow/blankets. You can buy pizza or food and drinks elsewhere and bring it in to avoid using the snackbar (expensive, too). These are the cheapest movies around!

Again they don’t happen all of the time, but when they come you don’t want to miss them. Air force bases put on the best shows, and often times there are planes parked on the ground that you can walk around and look in. A good chance to get up close!

There are all kinds of races — pick one that you will both like. I went to a 1/4 mile racetrack nearby once. It was a little pricy, but one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen (as someone who didn’t grow up around those kinds of things).

Only in places like Arizona, but spring training baseball games happen for about a month in March and are cheap and fun sporting events!

Obviously this is for halloween time, but carving a pumpkin can be great fun. Definitely invest in a “pumpkin carving kit” at a local grocery store because they are cheap and have lots of tools that make it MUCH easier than using your kitchen knife. You can also look on the internet for jack-o-lantern patterns that will make you a pro that can win any design contest!

Planetariums range in coolness. Some have sweet star and laser shows, others are just boring unless you’re really an astronomer. I suggest looking in to it though — Most colleges/universities have some sort of planetarium and reasonable prices.

Home made ice cream is actually really simple to make. You can make some recipes without an ice cream machine — I remember my sister and I roll a can back and forth to mix it up and freeze it. Check out this site for great ice cream recipes.

I had an “ah-hah” moment when I realized I don’t know the state I’ve lived in for 10 years. There are LOADS of cool places that are less than a day trip away where you can go, have a picnic, take a camera and get to know your date the whole time