The Road to Romance and a First Date on Ice: Our 2017 #UncommonDate Winners

Last Valentine’s Day, we asked you to tell us about your most uncommon date. We loved reading about all the disasters and happily ever afters so much we had to do it again. This time around, we received over 75 entries ranging from adorable to downright cringe-worthy.

After hours of deliberation, we managed to select two winners and three honorable mentions.

Grand prize winner number one, Eileen Field, shared a slightly illegal and very romantic blind date story with us via our blog:

“We were fixed up by a friend in 1983 on a blind date. First time I met him was when he drove a half hour from his house and arrived at my door. It was Hanukkah and the house was filled with family. He didn’t even know which one I was. After all the introductions, we headed out to a local restaurant/bar. I had a very strict father and had been given a very strict curfew. When we arrived at the place, my date asked me to hold his keys and wallet in my purse. We talked for a couple of hours and he excused himself to the bathroom. He was gone a long time and I began to worry that I might miss curfew. I looked around for him and he was nowhere to be found. I didn’t really like him and I was not missing curfew for a guy I’d never see again. So I left. Took his car and drove myself the 2+ miles home. I left his wallet and keys on the front seat of his car, parked in my driveway, and went to bed. About an hour or so later, the doorbell was ringing like crazy and it woke everyone in the house. My date had walked in the dark of night to my house and was absolutely furious. It took some time to convince him not to call the police and have them charge me with grand theft auto. Four children and 33 years later and I am still driving his car. Just a nicer one!”

The second grand prize winner, @thelambchop, told us about the first date she ever on Instagram:

“[W]ent on my first date ever, not first date with this guy, but first date of my entire life when I was a junior in high school. This guy invited me to play broomball at an ice rink with his church youth group. Five minutes in, some random kid hits me in the face with a broomball stick and my dad had to come pick me up from the ice rink and take me to the hospital. I had to get two stitches right above my eyelid and it was the most exciting first date I could ever hope for! That #uncommondate got me a great story and my first boyfriend.”

Our first honorable mention, @autummsun, was greeted with a slightly questionable outfit choice via Instagram:

“A guy once came to my house wearing dolphin shorts…With leather slippers…He wanted to go rollerblading… Lol…”

Second runner up Sandra told us about the time her life flashed before her eyes on our blog:

“I hope I’m supposed to post our ‘uncommon date’ here: We’ve lived in Arizona for 18 years. About 10-12 years ago my husband of many years decided it would be romantic to go on a hike. We were just hiking up to the wind caves. A very low-key hike. His plan included dinner at the top of the hike and staying long enough to see the sunset. Sounds lovely, dinner was a hit, chocolate covered strawberries for dessert were yummy. All was beautiful and after a gorgeous Arizona sunset, we started down. The only problem was, my sweetheart hadn’t factored in the dark that comes after a sunset. No flashlights, our only source of light was his cellphone, which as is often the case with him, was very low on charge. I had visions of us tripping and being eaten alive by coyotes. Our children were all grown, no one to miss us for days…all was well, and that year will be a Valentines Day to remember.”

Last, but certainly not least, Kristen C shared a very romantic date via the blog:

“My husband and I were neighbors when we first met, so our first date was cautious (great, but simple, just in case things didn’t work out and we still had to live in the same building). Second date though… after an evening of jaunts around the city, dinner in one spot and dessert elsewhere, we were discussing sights we’d never seen and he suddenly offered at 1 am in the morning to take me up the Empire State Building. So we head across town, get in the very short line at 1:45 am, and make it to the top for the final minutes below closing. We walk around and take in the view. The viewing platform closes at 2 am, but true love was blooming and the guards apparently had a romantic side. As 2 am ticked by, they stepped back and let us be. Our first kiss happened at about 2:03 am, on top of the Empire State, virtually alone above NYC. A pretty memorable start from the guy I could already tell was a keeper!”

Thank you to all who entered, and congratulations to our two winners (who are taking home some goodies from our Valentine’s Day Gift Guides) and three honorable mentions. For more stories, check out the #UncommonDate tag on social media, or our blog post.