Date #4

Type: Paying (Cost $32.00 + 10.00 tip= $42.00)

Date: Go to a Sushi Restaurant

Result:  If you haven't caught the "sushi fever" that has swept across our nation for the past ten years, maybe it's time to give it a try.  Many people who don't like sushi claim that they don't like raw fish.  Well here's a quick cultural lesson for you:  The Japanese term sushi does not mean "raw fish,"  it means "cold cooked rice."  It is sashimi that is Japanese for "raw fish."  You can get your sushi with veggies and cooked meat...or you can get it with raw meats.  So if you have stayed away from sushi for that simple reason, we beg you to reconsider. 

We went to "Nikki's" (http://www.nikkissushibar.com/#homewhich) is a local place with 2 locations.  We got one down here on Pleasure Island last summer.  When we arrived, we had the choice of sitting at a table or the bar.  We opted to wait for a table...it was a "date" right?  It's a pretty small restaurant and it was packed as usual.  The service and food were both great.  I told Maria that they were probably going to think we were food critics because we were taking pictures of every aspect of our date.

We split a ginger salad to start.  Maria ordered:  a Rockin Roll which had tuna, avocado, and crab.  I had: a Super California Roll,  Spicy Scallop Sushi, and Spicy Shrimp.  Our overall experience was great.  As always, Maria was much more adept at using chopsticks than I was.  We definitely counted this as another success

Date #3

Type: Non-Paying

Date: Cook Dinner Together

Result: Even though this was a "non-paying" date, it is important to note that we did have to spend about $15.00 to get the ingredients we didn't have.  In hind sight, maybe we should have looked at what we had and went from there.  Regardless, cooking together is something everyone can do.

Maria found a recipe Caribbean Seafood Stew on line at Recipe.com (http://www.recipe.com/caribbean-seafood-stew/).  We made all aspects of the dinner a part of our date, including going to the grocery store together.  We shared the work equally.  I cut the fish, detailed the shrimp, and chopped the onions and green peppers.  Maria chopped the jalapeno and cilantro, seasoned the fish, and was in charge of the cooking process.  Not quite sure how I wound up doing the dishes :)

We found Caribbean music on Spotify and listened to it while we cooked.  We actually made quite a good team.  Overall, it took about 40 minutes from the time we started cooking until the time we sat down to eat.  The meal was actually very good and as Maria always likes to point out, pretty healthy too.  We both had a good time and counted the date as a success.

Date #2

Type: Paying (2 tickets=$20, drinks=$20)

Date: Go to a Comedy Club

Result:  One of the greatest qualities in the world is the ability to laugh, humor is an absolute necessity in the quest for happiness.  We were pretty excited to have drawn this date, as we both consider ourselves to be quite hilarious. 

Wilmington has a cool little comedy club called The Nutt Street Comedy Room.  It is located in downtown Wilmington right beneath the Soap Box.  We looked on line and decided to go to the Thursday night show, primarily because it started at 7 and we already had some standing plans for the coming weekend.

The show featured four comics.  One was a beginner from UNCW, two were from New York, and the headliner was Michael Bluastien, who had been featured on MTV's "Punk'D" and Comedy Central's College Comedy Tour.  All four were hilarious.  All four had the crowd in stitches and we were literally laughing out loud at all of them.  There was some "crowd call outs," but none were malicious.  The headliner actually looked like a skinnier version of James Franco...and I mean spot on identical.  Out of respect for the show, I didn't take pictures of the comics.  The one picture is of the owner introducing the show.  We really had a blast.  If you like comedy, go check it out.  http://www.nuttstreet.com/

Date #1

Type: Non-paying

Date: Walk the trails off Dow Road in Carolina/Kure Beach

Result:  If you checked out our blog last week, you may remember that we created 26 non-paying and 26 paying types of dates for our challenge.  We decided to alternate between the two types weekly.    We drew from the non-paying pile of cards for our first date, primarily because we spent so much money over the holidays.

Maria lives in Kure Beach and I live in Carolina Beach.  Both beaches are located on Pleasure Island, which is bordered on the eastern side by the Atlantic Ocean and the western side by the Cape Fear River.  Connecting the two beaches on the western side of the island is Dow Road.  The majority of woods between Dow Road and the Cape Fear River are federally owned and marked with no trespassing signs.  There is however, a Methodist cemetery that is accessible.  There you find a modern graveyard and a civil war period graveyard about 100 yards into the woods.  You can walk trails behind the cemeteries and if you go back another 200-300 yards, you come to an opening to the river.  Luck was on our side, as we made our way back to the river at low tide.  Low tide exposes a thin strip of smoothly sanded beaches.  It was really pretty back there as you can see in the pictures below.  We walked along the shores and took in the beauty.  We considered our first of fifty2 first dates to have been a success.

The 2013 Challenge

 

Rules and Regulations

 

After having completed my very successful personal 2012 Challenge, I had two options...1. rest and take a year off...or 2. make up another challenge.  I decided to do the latter.  I will be enlisting some help for this challenge.  My lovely assistant for this challenge will be my sweet Maria.

 

What it is?  We decided to make a list of 52 things that would be considered acceptable for a first date.  We will be doing one a week for the entirety of 2013.  We will post pics and reflections of each date.  A facebook link will be posted every Sunday.

 

About the Dates:  Out of our master list of 52, we divided it into two parts: cards #1-26 are dates that will require cash and cards #27-52 are dates that will be completely cost free or at the most under $10.  Each month we will draw two cards from the "need to pay" dates pile and two cards for the "inexpensive" dates pile.

 

Seasons:  North Carolina has four seasons (winter, spring, summer, and fall) according to James Taylor's song "You Got a Friend."  That being said, we are marking the backs of the cards S/S = for dates that need to be done in spring or summertime and F/W = for dates that need to be done in fall or winter.

 

Follow us:  I was so happy to hear that I had inspired so many people with my first challenge.  It really made me feel great to hear that people were coming up with their own 2013 Challenges.  We hope you will follow our adventure through 2013.  You are more than welcome to complete this challenge with us.  God Bless and Happy New Year's!!!