Date Night Ideas in Miami

Setup.A car, lots of water, sunscreen, hats, bug spray and an early start. The Everglades National Park entrance fee is charged per vehicle and covers a week at every park entrance; the tram or bike rental is extra, so book the tram ahead in winter.

1. Drive out along Tamiami Trail (US 41) and aim to arrive early, before the lot fills.
2. Pick your pace: bike the 15 mile paved loop at your own speed, or take the guided tram if one of you would rather be driven.
3. Stop at the observation tower halfway round, walk up the ramp together and take in the river of grass in every direction.
4. Before you leave, stroll the short Bobcat Boardwalk, then head back toward the city for a late lunch.

Talk about:What is a place we have lived near for ages and never actually gone to?

Setup.Book the Institute's Stiltsville guided tour ahead; it leaves from Dinner Key Marina in Coconut Grove. Bring water, reef safe sunscreen, hats and a light jacket for the wind on the water.

1. Get to Dinner Key Marina early enough to park and settle in before boarding; downtown traffic can be slow.
2. Ride out across Biscayne Bay while the guide tells the story: one shack in 1933, 27 buildings at the 1960 peak, then the hurricanes that took most of them.
3. Circle the houses on their pilings. Each of you picks the one you would have claimed and argues for it.
4. Back on land, walk the bayfront at Dinner Key, where Miami City Hall sits in the old Pan Am airport terminal, and let the day wind down slowly.

Talk about:If we had a tiny house in the middle of the bay for one weekend, what would we do out there?

Setup.A blanket, a picnic from home and a light layer. The concerts run as a season rather than year round, so check the New World Symphony's WALLCAST page for the next date.

1. Get to SoundScape Park by the New World Center on 17th Street in Miami Beach early and claim a patch of lawn with a straight view of the wall.
2. Unpack the picnic before the orchestra tunes up and eat while the screen shows the hall filling.
3. Once the music starts, lie back and watch the players up close on the wall.
4. Stay for the final applause, then take a slow lap around the Gehry building before heading home.

Talk about:If this wall could play one piece of music about us, what would you choose?

Setup.An umbrella and comfortable shoes. Florida residents get in free, so carry an ID. The museum is closed early in the week, so check hours before you go.

1. Start at The Wolfsonian on Washington Avenue. Each of you finds one object you would take home and one that unsettles you.
2. Swap picks on a slow lap of whatever exhibitions are up, and argue about which one is trying harder to sell you something.
3. If the sky has cleared, walk east to Ocean Drive, where the district's hotels face the lifeguard stands of Lummus Park.
4. Spot the streamlined curves and nautical details of the Streamline and Nautical Moderne styles, and pick the building you would live in.
5. End at the Art Deco Welcome Center on Ocean Drive, run by the Miami Design Preservation League, which keeps a small Art Deco museum inside.

Talk about:Which object in there would you have fallen for if you had lived in 1930?

Setup.Check the monastery's posted monthly schedule before you go; it is a working Episcopal church and often closes for church activities and private events. Admission is charged, and it is a place of worship, so dress respectfully.

1. Arrive with no plan beyond walking slowly. Start in the cloister and follow the arches all the way around.
2. Take turns guessing which pieces made the trip in which of the 11,000 crates. You will both be wrong, and that is the fun.
3. Find a bench in the gardens and sit for twenty minutes with your phones away.
4. Step into the church last and keep your voices low; it is still in use.

Talk about:If we could lift one building from anywhere in the world and move it here, which would it be?

Setup.The last Friday of the month, comfortable shoes and a little cash for artists' stalls. Check the Viernes Culturales site for that month's date and lineup.

1. Arrive before sunset and start at Máximo Gómez Park, better known as Domino Park, where games have been going since the early 1970s.
2. Walk the Calle Ocho Walk of Fame between SW 12th and 17th Avenues; Celia Cruz and Gloria Estefan are among the names, and each of you picks the star you would most want to have seen live.
3. Duck into whichever gallery or artist's table catches your eye and buy one small thing to remember the night.
4. Join the free guided history walk led by Miami historian Paul George if it runs that night; registration is on the festival site.
5. End wherever the music is loudest and stay for one more song than you planned.

Talk about:What is one tradition from your family that you want us to keep going?

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 antiquarian or used bookshop in a literary city. Cash for small purchases. A budget.

1. Each picks the section they would never otherwise visit.
2. Spend 30 minutes there. Pick one book.
3. Reveal at the till.
4. Read at a café for 30 minutes before walking on.

Setup.A pub running weekly trivia. A team name. A pen.

1. Order food before the quiz starts.
2. Argue every contested answer.
3. Stay for the prize round even if you cannot win.

Setup.A public ferry route or commuter boat. Most coastal and river cities have at least one.

1. Take the slowest ferry that leaves before sunset.
2. Sit on the upper deck if there is one.
3. Walk for 30 minutes at the destination, even if you do not stay.
4. Take the next ferry back. Watch the lights come on.

Setup.A pick-your-own orchard within an hour's drive. Autumn weekends.

1. Go early to skip the queue.
2. Pick more than you think, they keep.
3. Cider doughnut and hot apple cider before driving home.

Setup.A beach with legal bonfire pits, most coastal cities have at least a few. Wood, kindling, a lighter, marshmallows on sticks.

1. Arrive before sunset. Build a small fire.
2. Eat dinner around the fire, sandwiches or cooked-on-stick foods.
3. Marshmallows for dessert.
4. Put the fire out fully before leaving, beach rules matter.

Setup.A restaurant doing weekend bottomless brunch. Reservations.

1. Order water alongside everything, important.
2. Eat the eggs first, the cocktails second.
3. Walk for at least 30 minutes after.

Setup.A weekend farmers' market. Reusable bags, a budget cap.

1. Walk the whole market once before buying.
2. Each picks two ingredients the other will use.
3. Brunch at the breakfast cart at the market.
4. Cook dinner at home with what you bought.

Setup.A country neither of you has been to. Music from there, food from there, a film from there.

1. Dress in something that fits the place, vague, fun, not a costume.
2. Cook (or order) one classic dish from the country.
3. Watch a travel show or short film set there.
4. Make a one-page "itinerary" you would do if you went next year.

Setup.A blanket, dinner from the fridge, a bottle to share, a torch. A patch of grass with a sky view.

1. Leave home an hour before sunset. Walk if you can.
2. Eat slowly while the light goes.
3. Lie down for the last hour. No phones except for a star app.
4. Walk back the long way.

Setup.A traditional tea shop. Cash, time, an open mind.

1. Ask the owner to recommend one tea each.
2. Drink it across multiple steeps, taste each one.
3. Buy a small pack to take home.
4. Walk for 30 minutes after.

Setup.A public pickleball or tennis court. Many parks have free courts and some take bookings. Two paddles or rackets and a few balls; many rec centers lend or rent them.

1. Watch a three minute rules video on the way. Pickleball scoring is the part everyone gets wrong.
2. Rally without keeping score for fifteen minutes, until you can both return a serve.
3. Play one proper game to 11. Whoever loses picks the snack afterward.
4. If another pair is waiting, offer to play doubles. Mixing in with strangers is half the fun.

Talk about:Are you more competitive with me or with strangers, and why do you think that is?