Arboretum picnics, terrible boat rides: Seattleites share the best and worst dates they’ve been on

Editor’s Note: Welcome to Seattle Dating Scene, featuring readers’ thoughts and stories about what it’s like to date in Seattle.

For our next feature, follow this prompt: Tell us about a time you brought your significant other home for the holidays. How did you prepare them to meet your family? How did it go?

By Thursday, Nov. 26, please email your submissions to: dating@seattletimes.com or submit them via Instagram direct message to @dating_in_seattle, and they may be printed in a future edition of The Mix.

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Best Date/Worst Date

We asked readers to submit stories about the best, worst and weirdest dates they’ve been on. Here’s what they said.

(Answers have been edited for spelling and clarity.)

INTERESTING: “One summer evening in 1962, after my junior year of high school, a classmate called me to see if I would be interested in going on a blind double-date with her and her boyfriend. I had known her since grade school, and although we didn’t hang out a lot, I thought, ‘OK, I’ll go for it.’ They arrived, he seemed nice.

I was told that we were going to a dance in Bremerton, so we would take the ferry. Seemed a little far, and I had about $1 in my purse.

As the ferry departed the dock, my blind date pulled out a beer, and offered me one. I told him that I didn’t drink. He told me that if I wasn’t going to be fun I should get out now!

Well, I got out, went upstairs and sat, all alone on that big ferry. I thought and worried that I didn’t have enough money to get home. Tears started running down my face.

All of a sudden this gentleman comes up to me and asks what was wrong. I told him I just had a very bad blind date, and didn’t know if I could pay the ferry fare back or get home. He told me that blind dates are bad, that’s how he met his wife, trying to make me laugh.

That gentleman was actually the captain of the ferry. He asked me to come with him up to the bridge, and I sailed back to Seattle sitting with the captain and crew from the bridge.

This kind gentleman asked where I lived, as he knew I was worried about getting home. I told him Queen Anne, and he told me he lived in Ballard. He would give me a ride. Now, that concerned me too, but I had to have trust. I held on to the passenger door all the way home. What an awful date, but I met a great and caring human being along the way.”

— Kathy

BEST: “We took a walk around the arboretum searching for some fall foliage. I showed her the old stone bridge that goes over Lake Washington Boulevard. I surprised her with a charcuterie-style picnic. Then we did a show and tell of things that we brought from home that are important to us, which we had planned. She showed me her daily journal, and I showed her some crafts that my friends and I had made for each other in the past. I also brought my journal and flipped through some pages. She was impressed that I write in cursive and that I keep a journal. It’s a super easy date to pull off as long as the weather cooperates. Plus we were able to social distance from each other and other people.”

— Andrew

WORST: “He asked me to wear a swimsuit for our second date for a surprise adventure (uh oh, I thought). That morning, he drove me to his friend’s large, old rickety yacht — we were heading to Seafair.

I then found myself stuck at sea for several hours, in a boat filled with dozens of half-naked strangers, feeling incredibly motion sick. I felt like I was on an episode of ‘MTV Spring Break’ from hell. The highlight of my date was getting in the water, holding on to a floating noodle, and feeling some relief from the motion sickness, while drunk dancing partygoers passed me by. The only food on the boat was Tostitos and some Costco veggie trays, so I was also starving and dreaming of pad see ew during the last several hours of the date. That Thai takeout I scarfed down by myself at the end of the night — it had never tasted so good.”

— Anonymous

WEIRD: “It was the first date and we were just sitting at the bar, when he shows me his hands — which I did not ask to see — and says, ‘They look like this from choking people.’ I was super weirded out. So was the bartender. I had met the guy on Hinge, and we texted a lot before meeting and kind of hit it off, but as soon as I met him in person I didn’t feel it. And the choking comment solidified that. Fast-forward a year later, he texts me out of nowhere. I didn’t even have his number saved anymore so I was like, ‘Who’s this?’ And he basically rehashes the date and berates me, calling me a snob for telling him I was then and I am still not interested in him. He literally texted me ‘#snoblife’ …”

— Jordyn

FUN: “Well … it was during the pandemic, so we had what I call a ‘qualifier date’ via Zoom to see if it was worth the risk. We liked each other enough that we wanted to meet in person, but still be safe and distanced. We met near the foot ferry and were so caught up in talking that we got all the way to the lighthouse before realizing the sun was going to set and we had to turn around. As we passed back through Alki, it started to sprinkle, but there were cracks in the clouds so the Olympics looked like they were ablaze right next to the moody spring clouds. By the time we made it back over to our cars, the sun was down and skyline was in full bloom. I didn’t realize that we had meandered and talked and laughed for almost four hours until I got back into my car. High quality date. Would recommend!”

— Alyssa

Here’s the monthly “Seattle Dating Scene” lineup:

• First week: “Dating Question of the Month” — Readers respond to a dating-related question we’ve posed.
• Second week: “Happy Anniversary, Tell Us Your Story” — Have an anniversary coming up this month? In under 500 words, tell us how you met your significant other, and send in your story and a photo.
• Third week: “Best Date/Worst Date” — In under 250 words, tell us an anecdote from the best or worst date you’ve been on.
• Fourth week: “Ask Marina” — Marina Resto, who runs the lively @Dating_in_Seattle Instagram account, answers reader questions about dating — or finds a special guest to answer the ones she can’t!