Date Night Ideas in Atlanta

Setup.Historic Oakland Cemetery, a short walk from King Memorial MARTA station, which beats paying for parking. The grounds are free and open from dawn to dusk all year; check hours before you go. Load the cemetery's free digital guide on one phone and pack water and a picnic that needs no grill.

1. Start just inside the gates, where Jasper Newton Smith's life size statue sits on top of his own mausoleum. The story goes that he refused to pay until the sculptor chiseled off the cravat.
2. Walk into the original six acres: find the rose marked Marsh family plot where Margaret Mitchell rests, and the 1856 gas lamp nearby that still carries scars from the 1864 shelling of Atlanta.
3. Look for Bobby Jones's grave, usually dotted with golf balls and planted with the eighteen flowering plants that give the holes at Augusta National their names.
4. Climb the hill to the Gothic Revival Austell Mausoleum, then walk slowly through the African American section, a record of the segregation era, and Potter's Field, where many of the wooden markers have long since disappeared.
5. Find a spot facing the skyline, unpack the picnic, and head out before the grounds close at dusk.

Talk about:Plenty of this city's street names are on headstones here. If a street were named after one of us, what would it be remembered for?

Setup.Fernbank Museum of Natural History on Clifton Road in Druid Hills. It runs on the second Friday of each month with a new science theme each time, so check the calendar and buy tickets online ahead, since box office tickets cost more. It is 21 and over, so bring ID. Parking runs short, and the museum itself suggests a rideshare or taxi.

1. Meet in the atrium under the Argentinosaurus and the Giganotosaurus. Take the obligatory photo, then get a drink and a small plate.
2. Pick one of the month's science demos and actually do it together, even if it is the goofy one.
3. Catch whichever giant screen film is playing and sit dead center.
4. Finish outside in WildWoods, walking the trails behind the museum in the dark.

Talk about:If we could bring back one extinct animal just for the two of us, what would it be and where would we keep it?

Setup.Atlanta History Center on West Paces Ferry Road in Buckhead. General admission covers the Cyclorama, and parking on site is free. The historic houses open later than the rest of the campus, so start with the painting. Check hours and ticket prices before you go, and give yourselves most of a morning or afternoon.

1. Start with the Cyclorama. You pass through a tunnel under the diorama and ride an escalator up to a viewing platform, and the painting surrounds you on every side.
2. Time your arrival for the short film projected onto the painting itself; it runs on a set schedule through the day.
3. Read how the painting, first made for Northern audiences, was slightly modified after it moved to Atlanta and advertised as 'the only Confederate victory ever painted', which the battle never was. Talk about why people wanted that version.
4. Walk over to the Swan House, designed by Philip T. Shutze, and stand at the top of the water cascade running down the hill behind it.
5. Finish in the Quarry Garden, 25 feet down, with its quiet waterfalls and the largest collection of Georgia native plants in one place.

Talk about:What family story do you suspect got repainted a little every time someone told it?

Setup.Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. The park does not rent gear itself, but its authorized outfitters rent tubes, and every rental comes with a life jacket. There is a small daily pass per vehicle, card only, bought through the QR codes in the lot or online. Wear rubber soled shoes, sunscreen and quick drying clothes, and pack drinking water in a dry bag.

1. The morning of, check the dam release schedules and the BacteriAlert water quality page. If either looks bad, swap to a riverside walk instead.
2. Launch at Powers Island and settle in for the float down toward Paces Mill.
3. Keep close to each other through the shoals, where the current picks up around submerged rocks and tree snags.
4. Plan to be off the water well before dark; the park does not allow boating at night.

Talk about:What was the best summer of your life so far, and what exactly made it that good?

Setup.Arabia Mountain sits in a DeKalb County nature preserve near Lithonia, inside the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area. Park at the Nature Center lot on Klondike Road or at one of the other trailheads on the PATH trail system; the main lots fill fast on weekends. Bring grippy shoes, water and a layer for the top, and check hours before you go.

1. Follow the trail up onto the open rock and look down: the bands of minerals folded and twisted while the rock was cooling, soft as taffy, more than 400 million years ago.
2. Find the shallow solution pools worn into the rock. In winter the diamorpha growing in them turns red. Walk around them, never through them.
3. Look for the quarry remains, the ledges and drill holes left from when this stone, sold as Tidal Grey, went into the Brooklyn Bridge and the U.S. Naval Academy.
4. Settle a bet while you sit near the top: the summit most visitors call Arabia Mountain is often actually Bradley Mountain, its neighbor just to the south.
5. Head down while there is still plenty of light.

Talk about:What is something in your life that looked barren until you got close enough to see what was growing there?

Setup.Center for Puppetry Arts, the bright green building at Spring Street and 18th Street in Midtown, with its entrance off 18th Street behind the building. One museum ticket covers every gallery, and parking in the small rear lot is free while spaces last. Check hours and the show calendar before you go.

1. Before you walk into the Jim Henson Collection, each of you writes down three characters you are hoping to find.
2. Compare lists as you go. The collection spans Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth and the Skeksis of The Dark Crystal.
3. Move into the Global Collection of puppetry traditions from around the world and each pick the one piece you would secretly take home.
4. Check the special exhibition, which changes through the year.
5. If an Adult Series show is running, book it for an evening; each show lists its age guidance, and adult show tickets include museum admission.

Talk about:Which Muppet were you as a kid, and which one am I now?

Setup.A beach with a surf school. Reef-safe sunscreen, swimwear, a change of clothes.

1. Group lesson on land first, listen carefully.
2. Whitewater only, do not chase real waves first time.
3. Lunch at the beach café afterwards.

Setup.A drive-in cinema. A blanket for after sunset, snacks pre-packed.

1. Arrive 30 minutes early for a good spot.
2. Tune the radio to the listed FM frequency.
3. Recline seats for sightlines.
4. Coffee on the way home, drive-ins end late.

Setup.A state, county, or regional fair. Comfortable shoes, sunscreen, cash for the booths.

1. Walk the agricultural building first.
2. One ride, two deep-fried foods.
3. Watch one of the live performances, cover band, pig race, anything.
4. Eat dinner from a different stall on the way out.

Setup.An indoor skydiving facility. Closed-toe shoes, comfortable clothes.

1. Watch the safety video twice, listen.
2. First flight is the hard one.
3. Second flight, you actually look around.

Setup.Two late-night noodle places. Walking distance apart.

1. One small bowl at the first place.
2. Walk to the second. Order a different style.
3. Tip well, both are working unsociable hours.

Setup.A small brewery, cidery, or distillery with tastings. Many do a flight under $15.

1. Order the standard flight, not your usual style.
2. Score on smell, taste, finish.
3. Ask one staff member how they got into brewing.
4. Leave with one bottle from the flight.

Setup.A pair of indie record shops. A budget, one record each, no more.

1. Each picks one record for the other based on cover and sleeve only.
2. Reveal at the till of the second shop.
3. Buy them. Walk home.
4. Listen to both end-to-end that evening, in order.

Setup.A wine region within driving distance. Designated driver or a tour shuttle. Light lunch booked at one cellar door.

1. Visit three vineyards. Buy one bottle from each.
2. Long lunch at the middle cellar door.
3. Walk between the buildings of the vineyard, slowly.
4. Drive home before sunset.

Setup.Two laptops, one shared doc. A bottle of wine or a pot of coffee.

1. Each pitches three destinations, pick one in 10 minutes.
2. Build the itinerary together: dates, flights, three neighbourhoods, three meals you cannot miss.
3. Add a "splurge" line and a "shoestring" line, both versions exist.
4. Set a savings target. Save the doc as a real plan, not a fantasy.

Setup.A trail under 2 hours from home with at least 200m of elevation. Water, snacks, layers, sturdy shoes.

1. Leave early. Most people start late, beat them.
2. Climb at conversation pace. If you cannot talk, slow down.
3. At the top, sit for at least 20 minutes before turning back.
4. Reward stop on the way home, coffee, ice cream, anything.

Setup.A ballet performance. Upper-tier seats are usually under $40.

1. Eat lightly before.
2. Read the programme during the overture.
3. Stay for the curtain calls.

Setup.A poetry book or 5 printed poems. Most public domain poetry is free online.

1. Take turns reading one poem each, slowly.
2. After each one, sit with it for 30 seconds, no rushing to the next.
3. Each picks a favourite line and writes it on a card.
4. Put the card somewhere neither of you would normally look.