Going out in the evening

If I come home from work on a Friday night, I sometimes really can't be bothered to start cooking, so I'll suggest we go out for a meal. We live in a very small, civilised town, and rarely is a restaurant overfull or noisy.

I do regret the trend however to cold bare floors and no tablecloths. Obviously it's more hygenic, but it does increase the noisiness, and reduce the atmosphere.

I wonder if technology is yet at the stage where we could all be in a video chat with our own dinners cooked and eat at our computer table and pretend we're out at dinner together. Maybe 4-6 people at a time.

My night vision isn't good (hasn't been since my 40s, I'm only 62) so I avoid driving at night, even walking in poorly lit areas is difficult. Like many others I usually go out during the day, sometimes just for coffee, sometimes for a meal.

I love curling up in front of the TV in the Winter. I'm not lonely & very much enjoy my own company. I have lovely neighbours who I can chat to if I want. Sometimes my neighbour texts me or I text her. I speak to DM every few days as she lives 300 miles from me. She no longer drives but goes out quite a lot in the evening as friends give her a lift.

I was a real night owl in my teens & 20s until my DD was born. I worked part-time as a Barmaid when she was small, Lunchtimes & Evenings, very social.

I was never one for pubs and clubs when I was younger, but I do like to have an occasional night out with The Wonderful Man. We go as a couple to the cinema or for a meal in a very nice local hotel or with wider family to good restaurants. Because TWM works away a lot I occasionally accompany him (at our own expense) on his trips and we enjoy taking an evening stroll to find a decent eatery in the evenings. Other than that I go for a monthly meal locally with the WI and have half a dozen work related evening meetings.

We try to go out to a different restaurant once a month and mostly enjoy the experience. But my favourite is facing the Marina and our winter's are very mild, but we made the mistake of booking Christmas day lunch there with two of our Swedish friends who were looking forward to a British Christmas meal.
OMG it was awful, it tasted stale, obviously cooked pre Christmas day, and when I asked our waiter he confirmed that it had been prepared three days before.
We went home embarrassed for our friends and have boycotted it ever since.
I think if we experienced the British winter's we wouldn't bother going out.
Going for a stroll on the beach this afternoon with the dog and then maybe a coffee and cake. Bliss.

Cannot go out without getting someone to sit with OH. He has dementia and can wander. So it is long dark evenings and nights indoors . Love summer when I can stay out in garden puttering till very late and husband would have to pass me to go wandering.

I have always been a pretty good cook and find meals out a bit disappointing usually (my little granddaughter usually picks spag bol for her meal but says they are never as nice as my version ) I do miss going out with my late husband, we both loved Greek food and really enjoyed eating out at our favourite restaurant, sadly my three grandchildren are not keen on Greek food so we usually end up in a generic restaurant with pizza, spag bol and jacket potatoes (for my other granddaughter) on the menu!

Would sooner go for a meal at lunchtime when it's quieter, cheaper and I've got ample time to digest it. Gone are the days of a late curry after the pubs closed!

In the summer we love to rat out a lot both lunches and dinner but when it is cold and evenings darker I am no so keen to go out as much and sometimes open a bottle of wine and suggest a takeaway instead.

Venus (up-thread somewhere), so sorry for your loss. Your sad little post made me very grateful my DH is still with me and I shall appreciate him more. I hope you will feel happier when the light evenings come round again. Here are some flowers to cheer you up.

As for going out in the evenings, we play badminton one evening a week and are happy to turn out for that but in all honesty it is very pleasant just to put on comfortable clothes on dark evenings and eat dinner in front of the woodburner and the TV. Like others, we prefer to socialise in the day time now we are retired.

As usual I am at odds with the majority here!
OH and I are both still working, me part - time , and there is nothing better than Friday teatime when we gather with the usual suspects at our local.
We all raise a glass to the end of an other week and all of us having survived it.... so far one is retired one tried it and returned to work some have no option and one is a long way off being far too young.
I love the social life, but ONLY on Fridays.

We tend to go out in the daytime for a meal in fact we have just both met after being out in different places for a spot of lunch. Much better when someone else cooks it

Mostly I agree with this. It takes effort to leave the house and get to a destination whether it be a theatre or a restaurant. I often find that going to a good concert is worth it but I go less and less these days.

When working DH & I were too tired to go out for the evening except at weekends. Now we're older and retired, it's great to go out for lunch, which I find is usually much better value than an evening meal. It's seasonal though - much easier to go out in the evening (to anything) in the lighter nights.

Going out in the evening usually means putting on make up and getting dressed up. It has to be something special for me to do all that.
Like many, ICBA.
Oddly enough, I don't mind doing it in the daytime. Come the evenings, I'm just too tired.

We work full time, from home, and come 6 ish when I could go out it's dark, cold and usually wet so why would I? I've barely left the house this month, although we usually go to choir one night per week. Longing for light (hopefully warm) nights, bbqs, friends round and yes a few meals out - 10 min walk to the station to get the train into the city centre.
We do enjoy it when we make the effort but it's too much effort this time of year!

I would love to go out in the evenings but we live unfortunately near a main arterial road into central London although you wouldn't know it by all the green fields close by . It means however that going out after 4:30 pm entails sitting in traffic jams 5mins from the house to go in any direction.
We do it if we're invited out but if it'sjust we two it's just too much of a pain.

I'm the same as the rest of you, I really can't be bothered to go out in the evening. We used to meet up with friends in the evening every couple of months but our lack of interest has killed that off I'm afraid. I'd much rather go out for lunch and spend the evening at home.
Also my DH goes to bed very early, usually before 9.30 - he always wakes at 5 a.m so this is understandable.
If I go to stay with any of my children I'm happy to go out at night, making the most of my time with them - but even then we usually go out locally and are home reasonably early,

It does seem that the older we get, the less we like evening trips to restaurants but actually, often, I don’t think the food is that great. I could cook better at home some of the time, although many younger people sadly may not be able to. I enjoy a summers evening meal out, or if on holiday but otherwise, in the winter, I stay tucked up indoors in the evening!

The only time we are out past 7pm is when we go to the ballet (a few times a year). I then feel very ‘rock and roll’ as it may be 11.15pm when we get home. Admittedly, so prefer a matinee if I can get one! Remember how cool and genuinely rock and roll we once were? Like others, I like to be in my jarmers for Channel 4 News ?

I rarely go out in the evening. I agree about the cold and wet being offputting but my main issue is being on my own and not being able to drive. I will go somewhere quite near but do not feel safe at my local station and not happy to hang around at bus stops either.

I love going out, even in the winter, maybe because I live on my own so don't have company at home. I go to various WI meetings several times a month, two book clubs each month and NWR discussions every two weeks. I also belong to a few dining clubs from an Internet group called Meetup and eat out with them at least once a week. Some weeks, after being out for three or four nights on the row, I do look forward to a night in!

We are all getting/sounding old! Remember the nights when food hardly counted in an evening & it was all exciting and about the getting ready (what to wear/choosing make up & hairstyle) then going OUT to meet (hopefully) THE ONE?? Perhaps now we have (or had) him we’ve just become the old people ....

Oh my goodness I would go out every evening if I had the chance and the money! I have rarely been able to afford meals out so don't know much about restaurants. My DS's now treat me to theatre visits or similar a couple of times a year which I love, and we have been for some meals over the years!

I don't like driving in the dark but will do it if it means getting out of the house. My only regular weekly outing is my choir which I never miss. I even went two days after my cataract operation! I would worry more in snow and ice but it would have to be bad to stop me at all!

M0nica I used to love going for walks in the dark but am more worried about doing that on my own now though probably the risks are no greater. I am definitely a night owl and could 'dance all night' if I was given the chance. I would be the last to leave the party if ever I went to any.

As I have child care for DGC and almost daily taking to or picking up from clubs or activities I can't even do much in the daytime. Roll on the lighter nights when at least I can get out for a walk sometimes. My camera is full of sunsets and rising moons!!!

I can barely be bothered to go out during the day.