What is the key to a successful marriage (or relationship)? Date night. It’s even more crucial once you have kids. Having fun with your spouse and going out (or staying in) strengthens your bond. Part of the (many) reasons I knew Billy was the one for me is because we have a blast together. Our days are filled with laughter and we can make anything fun.
Occasionally I look up ideas for date nights or just fun things to do depending on what city we’re in or nearby cities (thankfully Kentucky and Ohio are quick drives). I was browsing Pinterest one day and saw an idea for a penny date.
I sent the idea to Billy and he immediately came back saying we should try the penny date sometime. It would be a little difficult in Chicago since we don’t drive up there unless we have to. So navigating a day that he would be here, we would have time and would be kid free pushed this date back quite a bit. That’s pretty rare. But it finally happened recently! We went back and forth on what to do that day because we were a little stir crazy and the weather was nice. As we were getting up for the day and he was headed to turn the shower on he popped his head back in the room and mentioned the penny date idea. We got dressed for a date, not knowing what to actually expect. I filled up my gas tank, we discussed rules and Billy picked a number.
Rules are kind of up to the participants. We decided that every red light we hit would count as a stop, or if for some reason we would hit a stop sign that made you turn left or right. We would flip the coin prior to hitting a stop light so we could know what way to turn. If the light was green or had turned green before we got in a turn lane we continued.
We reached a point that we just stayed in the same area and I wondered if we’d end back at home. Billy picked 13 and we were still close to home at turn 6. Then we started heading towards Wanamaker, soon into New Palestine and near 74 – the interstate you take to Cincinnati. Would this be an out of state date? We ended up on a local road by turn 11. Unsure of what we would find, I noticed the exit for Hoosier Park Racing & Casino in Shelbyville. I joked that if this date location is a bust we would just go there. Stop 12 would put the casino in view so we both laughed. Turn 13? The casino parking lot! So this is our date.
We did a lap around the outer edges of the casino. It was around 3 PM and we were both hungry for lunch. Inside the casino is a brew pub, Sidewalk Cafe and a buffet. I asked Billy what he wanted and after a quick laugh over what we just got ourselves into, we decided to make the most of this silly date and hit up the buffet. We loaded up our plates, I went back for more of the surprisingly delicious vegetable lo mien. The dessert bar was amazing and we sampled quite a few things. I tried what I thought was cheesecake and it was awful. I made the worst face and Billy just laughed at me until I made him try it too.
After lunch we waddled out of the buffet and walked around to find a good slot machine. We found a ridiculous machine with cows and UFOs and there were two empty seats. Billy pulled out his wallet and we both put a $20 in the machine. Billy was down to $1 on the voucher and got a little luck. It was blown quickly and we walked away without any winnings at all. We are not lucky when it comes to gambling. At all. But that slot was silly, incredibly loud and a lot of fun.
Was this date a success even though we lost money? YES! Will we do it again? YES! Should you try it? Are you noticing a theme? YES! I imagine you won’t always get optimal results but that’s why I advise everyone to have fun and don’t take things too seriously. (I think that’s actually our motto together.)