Not long after my husband and I moved to Wichita, we decided it would be fun to explore the city’s coffee shops. Living for most of our marriage in small towns, our options for places to eat or get a cup of great coffee were very limited. Still, through our forty years of marriage we’ve tried to always make time for dates with each other. But since Ken started his new business, our budget has seriously curtailed typical dinner-and-a-movie dates. So it made sense to turn our coffee shop explorations—a fraction of the price of a “real” date—into our weekly date “night”…except it was a date morning.
Best decision we ever made! Not only was it fun and challenging to scout out a new coffee shop for each week, it was also a great way to get to know our new town. And coffee dates were a relaxing time for conversation, goal-setting, and planning our days. However, by the end of the year, we had just about exhausted Wichita’s offerings. Still, we weren’t about to end what had become our favorite time of the week! So we declared 2015 the year of the Donut Date. Granted, we’re finding that some of the donut shops on our list are one and the same as the coffee shops we visited last year. But this year, our focus is on the yummy pastries, and we’re just drinking black coffee (and chocolate milk for Ken—who, ironically, can’t stand coffee!)
We changed our Friday dates to Thursdays after we discovered that’s when garage sales start in Wichita. So our early donut run is followed by a treasure hunt (garage sales should start this week, and I can hardly express how that gets my adrenaline pumping!) Those meandering drives following the SALE signs are another great opportunity to explore the neighborhoods of this city we love more every day.
What is your favorite thing to explore where you live?
And what is your favorite morning pastry-and-drink combo?
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What a great idea, Deborah. We also love a good, cheap date. We moved to a new town nearly a year ago and we love to explore new bicycle trails–weather permitting.
I bet bicycling is a great way to get to know your neighborhood, too. And in a way that BURNS calories, not adds them. Maybe we’ll start biking TO our donut dates. 😉
This sounds like so much fun! Sadly, my husband and I never get to go out on dates by ourselves. We have a toddler (and one on-the-way!), and we don’t live near any family or people (yet) with whom we trust to leave our son.
But I do love iced coffee, and I wouldn’t care what kind of pastry went with it! I definitely have a sweet tooth, and while it is rare we go purchase things like donuts, I certainly wouldn’t refuse if one was put in front of me! We also live in a rural area, so there simply are not many coffee shops to visit around here. Boo!
Courtney, I remember those days of toddlers. And our 4 kids were spread out over 14 years, so we had a LOT of toddler years! Thankfully, the older 3 could babysit by the time our “baby” came along, so that helped the dating “problem.” We traded babysitting with friends and siblings and managed to keep up a decent dating life, and the older the kids got, the easier it was to find time for just the two of us. But it’s definitely a challenge during those toddler years. Don’t give up. If nothing else, it’s something to look forward to when the empty nest years finally arrive!
Thank you for a great idea. We are moving back to VA but it looks a lot different than when we left 30 years ago!!! I am going to ask my sweetie to pick a burger joint or maybe a park to walk since he won’t touch coffee or donuts . . . even though he is getting back into law enforcement. ; ) He’s one of the in shape cops! I just love this blog! Thank you.
You’ll love how these kind of dates help you learn where things are in your new (or much-changed) town, Chris. And Ken and I have talked about what next year’s date explorations should be, and burger joints and pizza parlors are on the list of possibilities!
What a neat idea, Deb! I’m so glad you and Ken have discovered such a fun way to stay connected so well through your marriage. You’re really an inspiration for a single girl like me. Hearing about creative dates like this makes me yearn for the day when I’ll have my special someone to brainstorm similar ideas with. Enjoy your donuts!
Blessings,
Andrea
I’m praying that day comes soon for you, Andrea! And I always say yearning for something only makes you appreciate it all the more when God finally says “yes!” 🙂
Deb, you are absolutely right. Longing makes the heart grow fonder. I’m reading through Eric and Leslie Ludy’s When God Writes Your Love Story. So insightful! Some things I’m seeing in that book my mom has told me dozens of times. Other things are fresh news to me. And through each page, God is tugging on my heart, drawing me closer to His design for my life. And I’m learning to treasure those moments of nearness to my God more than anything else in the world. Life is so much sweeter when I do.
Thank you so much for your prayers, Deb! I’ve got so many people praying for me, I’m almost certain God will see the collection of us as the persistent widow in that one parable of Jesus’s. Love her story.
Blessings,
Andrea
Amen! I need to remember those lessons of treasuring God’s nearness more than the things I long for!
Oh how I have loved seeing your pictures of your Friday (now Thursday) dates!
I’m excited to see what comes after the donut dates… there ARE a few “dessert/chocolate” places in town. 🙂 Or bookstores! I LOVE a good bookstore!
I’m afraid bookstores would be a short year, Heather. We just learned yesterday that Perfect Peace is closing their Eastside store. 🙁 So sorry to hear that. Now dessert/chocolate got my attention! 🙂
You and Ken are such a cute couple. 🙂
Love the donut-date idea, and I always enjoy seeing the photos you post on Facebook!
Although we don’t have a good donut shop close by, we have pretty much everything else less than 5 minutes from our driveway. When we built this house the area was still fairly rural. Now we’ve got big shopping centers and major restaurants super close – – we’re really spoiled. 😉 But I’m still holding out for a good donut place to be built, LOL.
Your neighborhood sounds a lot like ours, Patti Jo. In many ways we feel like we still live in our just-outside-of-town house in the country, and yet we are only 4 minutes from the nearest Starbucks, Chipotle, pizza place, grocery store, post office, etc. etc. It’s the best of all worlds. But I DO hope you get a donut shop soon! 🙂
What gorgeous pictures as well as a cool idea. I really enjoyed them along with your comments. Thank you for sharing. May God bless you and make His face shine upon you and give you His peace.
Thanks for stopping by the blog, Faith. So glad you enjoyed this post. Have a wonderful weekend!