Boy Meets Girl: Valentine's Day: It's a Way to Give Your Loved One Creative Moments

By BRYANT MATERA and KAT DICKINSON

Valentine’s Day is less than three days away. In this day and age, dinner and a movie simply doesn’t cut it. A lot of date ideas, especially ones for Valentine’s Day, have become clichéd and require zero thought, relying on formulaic and impersonal tradition so much that it becomes more of an afterthought or chore than an honest labor of love.

Everybody is looking for something intimate, memorable, thoughtful and original. If you’re still struggling with ideas of where to take that special someone, we’ve got a few surefire tips that will help out in a pinch. And don’t forget to use our tips from last week’s column to make your Valentine’s Day, or any day, extra special!

BAM: A picnic is always a sweet idea. Maybe blindfold your partner and take him/her to the place where you first met, or some other place that’s significant to both of you. Or take a brisk walk through a park with some mugs of hot cocoa. It’s more intimate and thoughtful than a lot of other ideas, and it also doesn’t require reservations or a ton of cash.

KED: If you’re looking for a place that overlooks the historic city of Fredericksburg, go check out Chatham Manor. Just across the river, Chatham is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Its lawn overlooks the river and downtown, and provides not only a great place for a picnic, but a nice place to just exist quietly with that special someone of yours!

BAM: Cook up a quiet dinner in your dorm. It may not be as private, but romance is something you can create no matter where you are, not something that necessarily just exists on its own. Whoever is the worse cook of the two of you should jump in and help anyway. The whole collaborative aspect of cooking a meal together seems to draw couples closer, and you feel like you’ve accomplished something as a team.

Kat, for instance, is an amazing cook, but I hate letting her do things all on her own, so I insist on helping whenever and wherever I can. Luckily I’m good at following directions, so I can streamline the process by getting a lot of the mindless preparatory things out of the way and saving her tons of time. Remember that relationships should be a partnership, so there’s no reason why you should be sitting back when you could be up helping him or her in any way you possibly can, especially on a day where you’re supposed to be appreciating your significant other.

KED: That’s exactly what this day is—a day for appreciation. So why not appreciate the one you care for by taking them to a free concert to connect through your passion for music? This Sunday in Dodd will be a performance by the Core ensemble called “Tres Vidas”, for free at 3 p.m.! The theater department is also putting on a show entitled “Almost, Maine” this weekend in Studio 115. Why not go support the arts together? Even the art gallery in duPont is open this weekend for visitors!

BAM: If you’ve been together for a while, go back to the scene of your first date. It’s a cute little gesture that lets them know you remember and care.

KED: If you’re looking for more of a party atmosphere to take your date to, check out Sammy T’s Valentine’s Day Celebration. Going on from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., there’ll be dancing, DJs, art and dinner specials. It’s free to get in, and it’s just down Caroline Street! Don’t forget about our own Drag Show on campus on Saturday, though! Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door, and it’s sponsored by PRISM in the Great Hall.

We hope you’ve been enjoying the snow and cozying up with the people you love! Have a great Valentine’s Day, and we’ll see you here next week.