6 Suggestions for Where to Take Your Date for the First Time

Some of the suits at our corporate office must be thinking about moving to Cheyenne, looking for love, because they asked us to compile five of the best places to have a first date here. I generally try and avoid writing about things I know nothing about, but I also want to always help a friend. (Hope you're reading this boss!)

In no particular order, here are five good places to take a first date in (or near) Cheyenne. Special thanks to our friends on Facebook, who suggested a couple of these spots. And of course, we don't mean this list to be exclusive: there may be a few things we've missed. If so, tell us in the comments!

Shadows Pub & Grill
115 W. 15th St. (Depot Plaza)
Cost: $$
Shadows is a good place to hang out and grab a beer with some supper. You can choose from their selection of microbrews - 6 to 10 are on tap at any given time - while enjoying a good meal. They also have plenty of televisions for you and your date to watch the game (good luck!) or play bar trivia. Being in the Union Pacific depot, there's a lot of other stuff to check out in the same building, and historic downtown Cheyenne is across the street. If your date is from out of town, they might get a kick out of the artistic boots in the area, too. Their menu is online, or like them on Facebook.

Vedauwoo, in the MedBow
Via Happy Jack Road or Exit 329 on I-80
Cost: Free
If something outdoors is more your thing, Vedauwoo is an excellent choice. You can make it a simple picnic, or get more ambitious and hike in for camping. There are limited four-wheeling opportunities (bring chains and a comealong in the snowy season) or you can haul in your own horses. Hiking and climbing offerings range from taking an easy stroll to freeclimbing the side of one of the many rock formations in the area. The improved sites are fee-use, but if you don't mind packing in a grill and packing out your trash, there are many spots - some social and some secluded - where you can build a fire and throw a lawn chair. Someone is good enough to maintain a Facebook page, and a rock climbing group has a website here.

Redwood Lounge
2105 E. Lincolnway, between Logan and Converse Avenues
Cost: $
Want to shoot pool, chuck some darts, and enjoy the ambiance of a neighborhood tavern? Take your beau to the Redwood, where the company is friendly and the drinks are reasonable. And if it's near the end of the week, consider coming by for Thankful Thursdays, when our 1063 Cowboy Country crew hosts an evening of fun, prizes and best of all - drink specials. If you're in a hurry, or if you have other important things that need doing, the Redwood also offers package and a to-go lane. If your date and you are on the way to do something with critters, the drive-through staff has been known to give Milk Bones or some such. Check them out on Facebook.

The Cheyenne Botanical Gardens
710 S. Lions Park Dr. (In Lions Park, across from Frontier Park)
Cost: Free
The Botanical Gardens are a great place to visit if Vedauwoo is too far or the weather isn't cooperative. Open year 'round, the Gardens host a number of plants indoors and out, along with interpretive displays and information. Their staff is too busy growing things and helping visitors to build a Facebook page, but you can check them out on the web. The Conservatory is only heated by the sun, which also provides for about half of its electrical needs. If you need something for any children along for the date, the Gardens are a great place to go. Besides all the information, the Paul Smith Children's Garden has special displays and activities for the younger ones.

Suite 1901
1901 Central Ave. (In the historic Frontier Building)
Cost: $$$
If your date skews toward city-dweller, martini drinker, tapas-eater urbanite, Suite 1901 offers a reprieve from it all. Their professional and friendly staff specialize in making martini drinks that defy my understanding (which ends at: "rinse glass, add whiskey, add ice, water optional"). There's a wine cellar, catering options (for the big day, if this first date of yours goes well) and an outdoor patio for the three weeks of the year that it's advisable to sit outside. They offer light fare, too, as well as the only dueling pianos that we know of in the state. Find them on the Facebook.

Two Bar Bowl
700 E. Carlson St.
Cost: $$
If bowling is your thing - and even if it isn't - the Two Bar offers plenty. If it is bowling you're after, the lanes offer all the goodies. But there's also food, drinks in the lounge and, on Saturday evenings, Karaoke. You can find the Two Bar online, and I should also mention this was one of the crowd favorites, via Facebook. This is a great place to go to spent a whole evening: you can have supper at their cafe counter, then bowl a few games before retiring to the lounge for a few cocktails to close the evening out - and maybe seal the deal.

Good luck. If things go well, I would appreciate your thanking me. If things go badly, I promise it's because you screwed something up, the moon was full or the gods on Mount Olympus were having an off day - not because any of my suggestions were poor.