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NYC Dates Under $50

Q. Jordan:

First of all, congratulations on the pregnancy! As a long-time reader of your blog, I can’t wait to see this adorable new person that you will bring into the world, and I just know that you’ll be such a fun and loving mom.

I’m looking for some date-destination advice. My husband and I are long-time NYC residents and the recession has been hitting our recreational budget hard. We love the outdoors and would usually be planning kayaking and hiking adventures throughout the summer, but with the cost of gas lately, I just don’t see that as being very prudent. I was wondering (and perhaps your other readers might be interested, too) if you and Kendrick have any local go-to spots when you’re looking to spend some time together without spending more than $50.  The museum-and-a-cafe route hasn’t been cutting it lately.

Thanks for all the entertainment, sincerity and recipes I’ve found on Ramshackleglam. 🙂

Kathryn

A. Hey Kathryn!

Thank you so much – it’s such a wonderful feeling, getting to share all this excitement with you guys. Emails like this totally make my day.

And excellent question! What we usually do when we’re feeling adventurous but broke is take a train to a stop we’ve never been to before, and just start walking (the above photo was taken at Rue B, a speakeasy-type bar down on Avenue B that we found during one of our weekend wanderings).

To get you started, here are some of my favorite walking tours of the city, all of which include lots of cool, inexpensive spots.

Midtown West

Lower East Side

West Village

Brooklyn

More Brooklyn

Also recommended:

Coney Island

Off-leash hours (9PM-9AM) at Central Park (pictured above; even fun to sit with coffee if you don’t have a dog)

Fried Green Tomatoes from Jordan Reid on Vimeo.

Union Square Greenmarket (and then cooking with whatever you pick up back at home; above is a super-old video of me making fried green tomatoes with stuff I bought at the market)

The Highline followed by drinks at the Rusty Knot

Smorgasburg (Saturday food fair at Brooklyn Flea; I’m hoping to go this weekend)

Hester St. Fair (LES)

Intrepid movie nights (Fridays all summer long; bring a picnic to eat by the river while you wait on line)

It’s a little more than $50 – about $35/person – but I’d also recommend getting out to Sheepshead Bay for a half-day of fishing.

Finally, you can take the MetroNorth for about $15/person and get off and wander around – I like Cold Spring, Irvington, and Nyack.

I hope that gives you a good jumping-off point! Enjoy your summer :).

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