See Claudia Date

Date #14: Mike L., 27
Location: Morikami Muesum & Japenese Gardens in Delray Beach

I love going to museums and to be honest have not been to one since moving down to South Florida. The cultural connoisseur in my died or something. Then Mike steppped in and changed all of that when he suggested we go to the Morikami Museum. It’s a combination of exhibits and a huge Japanese garden…although the website says it’s technically more than 300 small gardens.

I’ll start off by saying I was late. Which sucks because it’s one of my pet peeves. Obviously I felt terrible and texted him to let him know I was running late. Then I called him when I realized I was gonna be about 15 minutes late, but he was very understanding (it just wasn’t the first impression I was going for).

When I finally got there, I greeted him with a hug and told him I was excited to do something a little different than the norm. He paid for my admission and when I thanked him for doing so he replied “This is a date”. It never ceases to amaze me that guys are so willing to pay for a date, although it shouldn’t. I did embark on this journey expecting to pay my half of the dates, but I’ve met some really kind and generous guys so far.

So back to the date, we started by walking around the gardens outside. I love being outdoors, so even though it was a little hot outside, it was nice to walk around and carry on a conversation. He told me a little about his family (originally from Brooklyn!) and hobbies and interests. And when we discovered that we both have a massive phobia of cockroaches, we kinda just laughed. Then again, I have yet to meet a person who actually doesn’t mind them. Ugh. Gross. Then at one point in our walk, after said talk about cockroaches, some type of flying insect landed on my sleeve. I didn’t let out any girly screams, but man I was like, “WHAT THE EFF IS THAT?” and flicked it off into the ground. Then Mike kicked some dirt over it to make sure it was dead. Definitely a funny moment.

Before we headed back inside to check out the current exhibit, we made a pit stop at the cafe for some water and a snack (edamame and egg rolls!). We continued about various topics like TV shows and we both recently discovered The Colony on the Discovery Channel (a reality show about a post-apocalyptic scenario…watch it!). After he picked up the tab (again), we went back inside the museum to check out the cool exhibit on vintage toys inspired by Japanese films and TV shows. So fun!

Bottom Line: I was so worried about the first impression that I was gonna make by being late that it was a relief to meet someone who was so understanding. He’s a nice guy and I’d go out with him again for sure.