Tuesday, October 23, 2012

a semi-frugal date road trip

If you talk to people that have been married 30+ years, you'll often hear the old sage advice of continuing date nights even after you get married. The hubster and I agree, but a date night can be a huge budget breaker! These days we just don't have the money to throw 25 bucks toward a movie date. Besides everyone knows you can't actually improve your relationship staring at a screen! Sorry, pet peeve...anyway...

We choose instead to spend our time together outside exploring new places and old haunts. As a young (and broke) dating couple, we spent countless hours in the state and local parks in our area. In fact, the day the hubster first asked me out we took a five mile walk along the Delaware. Dad always said take a man on a hike to see if he's marriage material...well I'm happy to say the hubster was and still is marriage material!

Our date suggestion - find a map and check out your local parks, national forest, historic sites, etc. This past week we rediscovered a place my family used to visit when I was little. French Creek State Park and Hopewell Furnace Historic Site is free to visit and you can go apple picking for a dollar a pound in a historic orchard. The apples aren't sprayed with pesticides, so they look a little spotted, but taste awesome!

the spoils!
Glorious fall colors and weather, lots of paths and old buildings to explore, great company, awesome photo opportunities - all for the price of $2 in apples and gas (if only gas prices would go down these dates would be even cheaper!!).

And now to make a delicious budget-friendly apple butter coffee cake using our just picked apples!