Can you feel that chill in the air? Are you buttoning your jacket? Do you notice the dwindling daylight hours? Sure enough, it’s cuffing season, and it’s stressful enough trying to find your perfect match while simultaneously trying to be someone’s perfect match and mixed into that nerve-wracking, nail-biting ordeal is the question of what to do on a first date without going broke in the process.
Princeton is certainly not most people’s first thought of where to go for romance on a budget, but there are plenty of places to get your heart a thumpin’ without breaking the bank, you just need to know where to look.
Start with ice cream. Yes, it’s cold, but how better to cool off the sweat of a first date? Try Halo Pub on Hulfish with its 48 all natural flavors for a reasonable $2.45. Stroll through Palmer Square and make small talk about the Colonial Revival style architecture.
Next, head to the Princeton Record Exchange (aka P-rex), one of the most famous vinyl shops in the country. The store soundtrack never repeats itself but the most magical thing about Prex is that you do not need to spend a cent there to have fun time. Start a convo with your swipe right by talking about albums they blast on their car stereo with all the windows down. See who can find the weirdest named album in the $1 record bins. In my searches, Who knows? Maybe in one of these records with become your song.
Musicked out? Head to Jammin’ Crepes for the “Banh Mi Crepe,” a playful spin on the classic Vietnamese sandwich. It’ll set you back $9, so maybe try their “Apple Toasty Crepe” with local orchard apples, browned butter, and signature cinnamon sugar for only $6.50.
After lunch, it’s time to walk through the Princeton campus until you get to the Art Museum. For free you can check out art from Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Andy Warhol, and Leonardo Da Vinci.
On the floor of the ancient Roman art section, you will find a breathtaking mosaic of the head of Medusa that, remarkably, you are welcome to walk on; even though it dates back to the 2nd century. While your date is captivated by each intricate tile, slip your hand into theirs. Steal a kiss as you both stand on the ancient mosaic where perhaps the Roman poet Catullus once stood when he wrote:
Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred, then another thousand, and then another hundred, and, when we’ve counted up the many thousands, let us confuse them so as not to know them all, so that no enemy may cast an evil eye, when he finds out that there were so many kisses.Final stop: the Fountain of Freedom. Sit at the water’s edge and rest your head on your date’s shoulder while you talk about everything and nothing. Or take your date by the hand and dance in the shadow of the fountain like nobody’s watching.
