The Best Dates are in the City

So my boyfriend and I recently acquired his 21 year old son who moved back from Sweden. We’ve been showing him everything! He’s loving it so far but we noticed we don’t have so much alone time anymore. In response, we created ‘Date Night”. One night a week we’re going to go out and do some activity. Our first venture was so fabulous I decided to blog about it.

Date No. 1: Belle Isle
Now I’ve been going to Belle Isle regularly ever since I moved to Indian Village 18 years ago. I rollerblade and bike it regularly…by myself. The other night we decided to take the motorcycle over there. The sun was just setting and the sky changed from orange to blue-gray and there were some purple clouds hanging around. The green of the grass made me notice how well manicured the lawns were. People were everywhere enjoying the island.

We first cruised around the western tip which boasts the Scott Fountain designed by Cass Gilbert. It so lovely at dusk. Then we headed east past the Casino with it grounds where Cricket is played, past the deep-water fish habitat and Flynn Pavilion which is a great party rental location. When we got to the south pier, he asked if I wanted to stop! I was so excited. I hadn’t been on a pier in a while and quickly said yes. We walked just about all the way out to the end where another couple was watching the sunset but we left them their privacy. As we headed back in after taking in the views, a couple was fishing. As we said hello, the line pulled and we waited to see how good that first catch was. It came up empty but we wished them good luck for the rest of their evening.

We jumped back on the bike and worked our way past the Coast Guard, the driving range, the beach, waterslide and numerous picnic shelters with barbecues going. It was so exciting to see the island taken advantage of. There is a little traffic most summer nights now and the police do kick you off about 10PM but that keeps the island from getting trashed overnight.

Try Belle Isle on your next date night. Or on a date day – you could also take in the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, ride the giant slide (it’s more painful as an adult- but still fun) and soak up the Botanical Gardens. Sundays you can play kick-ball with pick-up teams on the baseball fields. The city is sponsoring movie nights in the band shell, too.

Its so worth it. Go.