Botanical Garden Walk

Walking side by side removes the interrogation-style face-to-face setup of restaurant dates. Botanical gardens provide natural conversation starters every ten feet — weird plants, hidden paths, that one greenhouse that's inexplicably 95 degrees. It's free or cheap, it's outdoors, and there's enough visual stimulation that silences feel comfortable rather than catastrophic. If things go well, you can extend to a nearby cafe. If they don't, you "have a thing."