Farewell, first dates

Does anybody really enjoy first dates? If you’re lucky they’re tolerable, but in my experience they are usually uncomfortable, awkward and a bit like a job interview — or more accurately, an interrogation.

What do you do? How many siblings do you have? Have you ever been married? Have any kids? Do you floss every night?

Ok, maybe not that last one, but you get the point.

I recognized a long time ago, particularly when I delved into online dating, that to make first dates at least a partial success, there had to be something I could get out of the experience no matter if it resulted in a second date or was a total flop.

So, I made the decision to try and meet up at a new place that I’d always talked about checking out but never got around to for every first date I went.

Because of first dates I found Tiger! Tiger!, Wine Steals (where the guy admitted he drank a six-pack before meeting up with me, but “don’t worry, I’m not an alcoholic” he said before downing two bottles of wine, of which I had one glass), Lion’s Share, Lucha Libre and Neighborhood, among others.

Best, however, was a first date at Soda & Swine barely a week after it had opened at its current Liberty Station location. The date was with a tall drink of water I had met on OkCupid. When I arrived he was chatting with a guy I recognized as one of the owners (hey, Anthony Schmidt), a positive first sign from the normal head-down, focused-on-the-phone look I was used to.

Conversation was easy, we shared some kind of dirty fries and sipped on some tasty cocktails. I felt sparks, but was worried his lack of eye contact during that first date was an indicator of his disinterest. Luckily I was wrong and a second and third date were quickly put on our calendars all within the span of a week. And, as of June 8 when we officially tie the knot, I am swearing off first dates for good (not that I didn’t do that a long time ago, but now it’s just officially official).

Sayonara, San Diego single life and farewell first dates, this lady is finally off the market.

But enough about me.

Since I will no longer have awkward dating stories to regale you with, you can always count on PACIFIC’s most popular feature to keep you entertained each month. See how our PACIFIC blind daters did when we set them up on a first date at downtown’s Rooftop Cinema for a Queen sing along night.

XOXO,

Leslie Hackett

leslie@pacificsandiego.com