Reinventing the obligatory beer and coffee date in Charlotte
Oh, the horror of getting to know people. In Charlotte, it seems there are only two places to meet: a coffee shop or a bar.
We’re bombarded with Facebook invitations to breweries and pub crawls and coffee houses boasting lattes with playful fern-leaf shapes in them.
While having a first-time meeting with a friend, colleague or romantic interest over coffee and beer is wonderful, it’s time for more options.
Here are the three criteria I looked for in a first-time meeting place sans coffee and beer:
(1) I would be able to talk without screaming or whispering.
(2) I wouldn’t be stuck at a restaurant, bar or coffee house.
(3) I would be able to find converstation starters in my surroundings.
So let’s change the conversation – or at least the place where we have that conversation. The winners are:
– Sky High Sports: There’s nothing like getting to know a potential friend while bouncing on a trampoline. Coffee and beer are nowhere to be seen — only a drink machine full of cold bottled water and Gatorade – and you’re in stretch pants.
You’ll get to clutch a giant rope and jump into a pit of yellow and blue foam blocks. You can also play in a laser maze. I pretended to be Catherine Zeta-Jones from “Entrapment,” making sinewy, gratuitous moves through the lasers.
Time to do your own #missionimpossible stunt! Try out #Skyhigh‘s #lasermaze! http://t.co/8jY3zpTNbB
— Sky High Sports (@SkyHigh704) March 11, 2015
– Dupp& Swatt: For a few bucks, this venue offers spoken word and poetry nights in an atmosphere that encourages discussion. You can bring a potential new friend or make friends there. You can interact with the performer.
Mingling is encouraged via icebreaker games, like sticking the names of famous authors to people’s backs and forcing people to guess how they are labeled through clues from another person.
thanks @blacksheepskateshop for having us!! @specialedmusic @thespreadmag #PushPlay A photo posted by DUPP&SWAT™ (@duppandswat) on Jun 1, 2015 at 7:20am PDT
– Painting with a Twist: You can learn a lot about a person by the way he/she follows directions in a glorified paint-by-number class.
Bond over a disposable plate with blobs of paint you add to your canvas when the Bob Ross-like teacher tells you to make a streak here, a mark there.
Yes, some people at the class may bring a bottle of wine, but that is their bottle of wine. They are not about to share. Be sure to not mistake your paint water for a drink.
Check out our new VIDEO that will air on Southwest Airlines flights, starting in March!! #paintingwithatwist http://t.co/3Jd9BCuJIF
— Painting witha Twist (@pwatcorporate) February 3, 2015
Photo by John Simmons/Charlotte Observer.
This story was originally published June 7, 2015 at 11:51 PM with the headline "Reinventing the obligatory beer and coffee date in Charlotte."