5 holiday date-night ideas to melt her heart

The holidays can be some of the most romantic times of the year.

If you play your cards right, you can make lifelong memories by taking that special someone on a holiday date.

In honor of the holidays, here are a few ideas:

Stroll through holiday light displays

So, you’ve scored the date night and it’s December. You may think it’s one of the most obvious holiday dates, but this is a classic, timeless option. Take your date to Botanica’s Illuminations, which is open every night from 5:30 to 8:30, except for Christmas Eve and Christmas. You can eat dinner there this year, as the popular holiday attraction has added hamburgers, brats, french fries and funnel cakes to its food offerings, alongside its traditional hot drinks and cookies.

If you’re willing to spend a bit more for a unique experience, Fulton Valley Farms, 5079 SW Fulton Road in Towanda, is serving traditional Christmas dinners Tuesday through Friday nights, starting at 6. The dinners feature turkey, ham and all the trimmings, and individual tickets are $35. Reservations are required, though – call 316-775-1894 or e-mail bootscootin@fultonvalleyfarms.com to make yours. If you go on a Friday night, you can walk around the venue to experience A Country Christmas afterward. The grounds are lit up with Christmas lights on Saturday nights as well.

A horse-drawn carriage ride

There are two free horse-drawn carriage options in Wichita – one of which is more of a Saturday early-afternoon event, and the other is a Friday and Saturday night affair. Carriage rides through Old Town originate at the Warren Theatre Old Town, 353 N. Mead, from noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays through Dec. 17.

If you’re looking to use a horse-drawn carriage ride to cap off a successful evening date, free rides through Bradley Fair originate at the fountain at Bradley Fair Plaza from 6 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Dec. 23.

There may be a slight wait involved with both carriage-ride options, but you can’t beat free fun during the holidays.

Lights, hot drinks, movies

For another free idea, try driving around Wichita’s festive neighborhoods and admiring the work that homeowners have put into decorating their houses. Here’s how to optimize your experience: Before you start driving, stop by one of Wichita’s many coffeehouses – Mead’s Corner, R Coffeehouse and Reverie Coffee Roasters are a few that stay open later in the evening – and pick up a hot drink. You’ll want to drive slowly through the Christmas lights, partially because you want to truly take in the lights, and partially because you won’t want to spill your drink.

After your holiday drive, you may want to snuggle up under a warm blanket and watch some holiday movies. Here’s a few currently streaming on Netflix:

▪ “Love Actually”

▪ “Christmas With the Kranks”

▪ “White Christmas”

▪ “A Very Murray Christmas”

▪ “Christmas, Again”

Wintry fun

If you and your date just want to have some fun in the cold, here are two good options for December dates.

The Sedgwick County Zoo is open every day of the year (except one day to set up for Zoobilee), and it hosts Winter Wednesday events every Wednesday in, you guessed it, wintertime. Admission is only $3 per person on Winter Wednesdays, when the zoo is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visiting the zoo in winter is underrated, as you don’t have to deal with crowds. One time, I went to the zoo in the dead of winter and it almost felt like my group and I had the place to ourselves.

Another option is to attend a public skating session at the Wichita Ice Center. Ice-skating is a classic wintertime activity, and while Wichita doesn’t have any outdoor skating rinks, the Wichita Ice Center provides a quality skating experience. The cost of admission and skate rental varies by day, but from Dec. 16 to Jan. 3, admission is $7 and skate rental is $3. For more information about public skate hours at the Wichita Ice Center, visit its website at www.wichitaicecenter.com.

A holiday road trip

If you just can’t find anything in Wichita that you think would please your date – or if you have a bit of wanderlust – you can take a road trip to quaint Kansas destinations at Christmastime. You can impress your special someone with your knowledge of Kansas destinations – it’s not a place many people think of as being a winter wonderland, but there are some magical spots.

One popular road trip spot this time of year is Lindsborg, about an hour’s drive north of Wichita. The town, known for its Swedish heritage, hosts its annual St. Lucia Festival on Saturday, Dec. 10 – a traditional Swedish holiday. Its Old Mill Museum is also a draw this Saturday, as it is hosting its Old-Fashioned Christmas event from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Even if you miss some of these festivals, you can visit one of the most popular stores in town, Hemslojd, to pick up some unique Christmas gifts. And, of course, no visit to Lindsborg would be complete without a visit to nearby Coronado Heights, the castle on the Plains, which is practically screaming “photo opportunity” at every turn.

Or how about a trip to Winfield, about an hour’s drive southeast of Wichita? The town goes all-out for its annual Isle of Lights event, a sort of drive-through display that’s open every night from 6 to 10. After you visit the Isle of Lights, relax with dinner at one of Winfield’s downtown restaurants. I’d personally recommend the Millington Place Eatery, which serves top-notch food and has a full-service bar. You can cap your night in Winfield by staying at The Barns at Timber Creek, a romantic bed-and-breakfast north of town.

Along the way, if you’re driving at night, be sure to take some of the more rural roads – in many small towns, people decorate grain silos, barns and other structures in Christmas lights.

This story was originally published December 7, 2016 at 8:54 PM with the headline "5 holiday date-night ideas to melt her heart."