We all know spring is the best time to jolt some fresh energy into an existing relationship or boot up a new one. But what mom has time to figure out sexy, creative, appealing date nights? We get it! And so, we’ve rounded up the very best spring date night ideas to get your heart thumping, your booty grooving and you and your partner (back) in love!

 DANCE IT OUT:

Broken Spoke – this South-Central Austin honky-tonk is the real thing, a dance hall harkening back to the pre-tech era when Austin was stranger and more remote than it is now. Multi-story apartment buildings may loom around this historic treasure now, but step into the Broken Spoke and enter a timeless wonderland of country music, whiskey and two-stepping. Dancehall doors open every night Tuesday through Saturday from 7.30. The best part? Dance lessons are offered every from 8-9 to get you started off on the right foot.

Austin Swing Syndicate – if you want to get truly serious about dancing head to the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs, or the Fed – where the Austin Swing Syndicate has been raising the roof for decades. There are beginner dance classes every Thursday at 8:15 in the main ballroom while progressive 4-week long classes of differing styles are taught in an adjacent room by swing dance troupe Four on the Floor. The dance floor opens up at 9:00 – time to “swing a wing” as they once said!

HEAD TO DRIPPING SPRINGS

Fabulous new venues are popping up all over Austin – but Dripping Springs is a quadrant especially given to quirky-awesome-uniqueness. Traffic out this way is sparser than other parts of Hill Country making this a doable date night even for north Austinites.

Jester King – there is some seriously hip instagrammable development happening along Fitzhugh road in Dripping Springs, and this place might be the most amazing. More than a brewery, it is an alternate reality fantasy world of laid-back Austin cool. Offering a farm-to-table chef-directed restaurant that offers wood-fired pizzas and wine in addition to the ginormous selection of beers brewed on site, huge fields, woodland vistas, and terraced seating alongside a tasting room which out-Napas the best of Napa, this place is as Austin as it gets. Cuddle up beside a fire, listen to a banjo-driven band, or wander beneath the stars a spell: multi-level intoxication of the best kind awaits.

 

Tillie’s

A stunning 200-year-old town hall from Vietnam was imported and rebuilt at luxury resort Camp Lucy and opened as a restaurant named for the owner’s grandmother, Attilia “Tillie” Hancock. The chef, Brandon Martin, was sous chef at Odd Duck – and the New American cuisine here is both inventive and tasty.  The building and its décor however steal the show: you’ll feel as if you dove head first into a spread in Travel and Leisure — the perfect date night location!

 

APPRECIATION IS AN ART

Third Thursday at The Blanton ­– Every third Thursday of the month UT Austin’s sophisticated and eclectic art museum stays open until 9 for an exciting program of performances and activities. Admission is free, and food and drinks will be available at the atrium. The galleries will be open to the public until 9 and you will be free to want the Blanton Museum’s extensive collections that encompass everything from ancient Greek and pre-Colombian sculptures to the work of cutting-edge contemporary artists from around the globe. The current temporary exhibit, Words/Matter: Latin American Art and Language at the Blanton is comprised mainly of works from the Blanton’s outstanding collection of Latin/American art in order to explore the relationship between word and image throughout the region since the early twentieth century.

Upstairs Circus – making art together can be something an aphrodisiac. Upstairs Circus in downtown Austin offers a delicious menu of drinks and creative projects for date night couples to choose from. Moving beyond the typical craft studio’s offerings of wall weavings and watercolor many of the projects available here have a decidedly masculine angle. Distressed wood art and making a leather hip flask should appeal to those with XY chromosomes as well as the double XX’s. Get your hands moving, and the rest will follow.

 

WORK IT GOOD

 Sure, you could get dressed up and do something sceney and cultural for date night. Or you could rock a tee shirt and leggings and get a good sweat going. Climbing gyms are perfect in this temperamental Texas climate, and once you know what you are doing having your partner belay you or support your headstand can only build more trust.

 Crux Climbing Center  — in south Austin on the cutely-named Pickle street this climbing gym is colorful and welcoming. They offer classes of all levels at night throughout the week. And the lively Cosmic Coffee and Beer is right across the parking lot. Cooling down with a brew after a hot climb is bound to bring you closer together.

 

Northwest Austin Rock Gym—For those in the north this climbing gym also offers classes at night, and on Fridays there is a $10 discount on a climbing pass for two people. Their rock-climbing claim to fame is a bouldering structure called “The Big Pig”. The environment may be no frills, but if your goal is to climb without crowds this is the place to go.

 

Black Swan Yoga – if yoga is more your thing consider taking a class together at Black Swan – the downtown studio at Orchard with its trippy black and neon décor and spirited soundtracks provides the perfect happy medium between a rejuvenating flow class and a night out in a club.

 

Wanderlust Studio – as a Gen X oldster I think of this place as millennial heaven. The studio design has a sophisticated bohemian touch, the yogis in attendance are all enthusiastic and bursting with charisma, and there are restaurants a-go-go within walking distance. The ordinary drop-in fee of $28 ain’t cheap, but happy hour yoga on Friday evenings at $10 will leave you some money for sustenance afterwards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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