Since the summer offers warmer weather, more daylight, and more expendable free time, it really should be considered the official dating season. It’s the perfect time to try some fun outdoor date ideas! And if you were reading this on Cosmo‘s or Seventeen‘s website, the following dates would be cute/sexy and “special.” However, you’re reading this blog as written by a quirky weird girl, with only quirky weird dating stories from the quirky weird scene. Here are a few inspired ideas as described by a select sampling of Los Angeles locals.

1) “My boyfriend took me to this neighborhood petting zoo for a date. I wasn’t really into it cause of the smell, but it actually turned out to be really adorable. Seeing him play with all the animals was totally cute! I also enjoyed getting to feed the little baby goats and rabbits. After, we went for ice cream, but we weren’t allowed to eat it inside because we smelled so bad”. -A.L

Don’t have a local petting zoo? Maybe try calling up the animal shelter and volunteering to walk some of their dogs in the park. Or go to an aquarium and pet slimy things.

2.) “Me and my boyfriend packed a picnic lunch and bought an all day bus pass. We got on the first bus that came by and for the next two hours just moved from bus to bus seeing the city and eating our lunch. Sounds weird, but it was fun to check out all the new places.”-S.L

This is cute if you live in a smaller city where you don’t have to pack mace in order to take public transit.

3.) “I was casually dating my best friend from college, and we used to go out at night and walk around taking photos of ourselves doing whatever. We would just hang out in alleyways or find graffiti and take snapshots. It was kinda kooky”. -P.M

Digital camera wars: assuming you each have your own camera (or cell phone) go out and take photos of your evening travels. Then you can relive them all later when you inevitably post them on facebook.

4.) “I went on a date where the guy and I grabbed take out from some place and then we went and ate on the train tracks nearby. It was weird, but exhilarating? I guess deep down I just appreciated the originality? It was a date I had never been on before, that’s for sure!” -K.H

That’s sort of this lesson in all this, yeah? Just coming up with cheap original date ideas really speaks volumes for whomever is planning said date. A willingness to put yourself out there and try new things is always bold, and attractive.

5.) “I know it’s not original by any means, but I love beach dates! I was dating this one guy and all he ever did was take me to the movies! Annoying! So I finally dragged him to the beach and he invited some of his buddies along and they cooked some bbq for everyone. It was so relaxing and fun to meet his friends”.-A.B

Actually this dating idea seems pretty normal. Not close to any body of water? Try to find a park or scenic area to invite friends over for a cook out. Meeting other people that are important to your boyfriend, date, etc is always entertaining to say the least. Plus you both can show off your teamwork skills by preparing a nice spread for everyone. People love to eat, and more importantly people love to mooch off of others.

Kara Lindsey is a recent graduate from the University of Texas at Austin. She received her BS in Radio-Television-Film.

Tags: dating ideas summer