Northern Virginia Covid Date Ideas We Think You’ll Love

Let’s be frank (no – like honest, not like Frank – no one wants to be like Frank) – COVID has done a number on our dating lives and in a world separated by traffic and metro, love has taken a backseat in our car parked in the garage since no one is commuting.

But it seems like Murphy and his laws may have cashed in on those COVID-cruise discounts as positivity rates drop and new case reports decline – so if you’re lookin’ for love before 2021, you may be in luck… finally. Time to start safely socializing while still social distancing! We’ve got a few date ideas for your COVID-safe love life in Northern Virginia.

5 COVID-19 Dating Ideas for Northern Virginians

Being holed up in your house with your significant other, your 2 kids, and your pet dog and cat does not make for an ideal date environment, so we’ve come up with 5 Coronavirus-friendly ways to reconnect when you’ve finally decided to disconnect from quarantine. The important things about going out is coming back safe which is why we’re focusing on doing date night right – within COVID-19 regulations while still incorporating a fun, exciting list of “things to do… safely.”

1. Picnic in the Park

Many Northern Virginia parks have opened during quarantine with new precautions to keep you safe outside. Planning an outdoor picnic keeps costs low and the chances of getting Coronavirus even lower (we don’t want any uninvited dinner guests). Tripadvisor has made a handy list of the top parks and nature trails in NoVA to keep you active while snacking on whatever sugar cookies goodies you took from our last class.

• Billy Goat Trail. Potomac, MD
• Great Falls Park. McLean, VA
• Inside Ski Training Center. Leesburg, VA
• Huntley Meadows Park. Alexandria, VA
• Burke Lake Park. Fairfax Station, VA
• Meadowlark Botanical Garden
• Mount Vernon Trail
• Wolf Trap National Park

So get out there in nature, sit down with your loved one(s), and make the best of the amazing weather we sometimes get here in Northern VA!

2. Wind Down at a Winery

Many wineries have circumvented the required closure legislation by opening up their outdoor spaces with socially distanced tables and letting you wine taste from the privacy of your small groups. Winding down with a nice glass of whatever fancy grape of your choice is a perfect way to reignite romance Corona-style. We gathered these top 5 wineries from the local Facebook group – Northern Virginia Foodies to help you get wine drunk.

• Stone Tower Winery (Leesburg, VA)
• Greenhill Winery (Middleburg, VA)
• Wilderness Run Vineyards (Spotsylvania, VA)
• Quattro Goombas (Leesburg, VA)
• Barrel Oak Winery (Delaplane, VA)

While group restrictions remain (think 6 and under), keep it a romantic date for two and probably leave the dog at home until we reach phase… which phase is next?

3. Sugar Cookie Decorating

You didn’t think we were going to forgo the chance to chime in, did you?! We keep our sugar cookie decorating class sizes small, masks required, private work stations, temperature checks, and hand washing required – so jump on into our under-10 sugar cookie decorating classes and have a good laugh watching your significant other attempt their hand at flooding with royal icing.

Our sugar cookie classes are designed to help you have fun – safely. And you get to take your creation home to eat on that wine-fueled picnic we mentioned earlier. A triple win! Designed for the beginner cookier, you’ll learn how to pull a line in icing, trace your cookie, flood it, and decorate. Everything you need is provided in class, and after class, we give you everything you need to do this at home for those who may be immunocompromised and can’t attend classes in person.

Take it a step further and buy an at-home cookie kit! Our cookie kits parallel our class outline, so you can have everything you and your loved one needs to knock it out at home in the safety of your own four walls.

4. High up in a Hot Air Balloon

You can’t get any more socially distanced than being 14,000 feet up in the clean, covid-free air in a hot hair balloon. We have experience with one Frederick, Maryland based Hot Air Balloon company we’d like to recommend.

Tailwinds over Frederick posted this to their website: ​The Tailwinds Team hopes that you and your family are staying safe during these unprecedented times! Due to the uncertainty of the global pandemic, and we are excited to announce that we have begun flying for our 2020 season! Careful planning has led us to implement a practical approach for safety and comfort. Please note new interim guidelines and operations procedures will be in effect for the time being.

So jump in and float high with this socially-distanced date idea. It’s a fun way to reconnect and experience our beautiful countryside from above – at a pace slow enough to actually enjoy it. They’ve replaced their typically champaign toast with a brief story on the history behind the tradition, but hey – it’s better than binging yet another Netflix original from your coach for the seventh month in a row.

5. Cash in on Geocaching Hide & Seek

From the geocaching guide, “Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location. … Sign the logbook and return the geocache to its original location.”

This is a unique way to discover your city, town, and suburbs without having to breathe anything but fresh air. You can get started geocaching here. Geocaching requires you to handle things – a covid-no-no – so we recommend wearing gloves and bringing some hand sanitizer. Wipe what you found down before you leave to so the next geocachers can start fresh ‘n clean.

Hmmm… wonder if we can geocache cookies?

Stay Safe, but Have Fun.

The key to quarantining is staying as safe as possible while still getting out there and experiencing all that the remainder of 2020 has to offer (2020 – please stop offering us stuff… you’ve done enough). So have fun, be safe, and get back out there!