Unique Ideas For Your Valentine

Feb. 5, 2016

The restaurant, the flowers, the chocolates, the card are all safe and very nice bets, for sure, but, if you want to treat your Valentine to something a little different and a lot more memorable, here are a few ideas to add a unique sparkle to this year’s holiday.

MAKE IT MACKINAC

For a quiet and — dare we say — magical escape, travel somewhere almost guaranteed to be free of crowds: Mackinac Island. In the winter, it’s pretty much the opposite of the high summer season. Some of the island’s lore even includes romantic legends like the one explaining how Arch Rock was formed by the tears of a Native American girl crying over her love. Arrive on the island a day early via Great Lakes Air and spice things up with the annual Great Turtle Chili Cookoff at Cawthorne’s Village Inn (Feb. 13.) Stay at a quaint winter getaway like the Bogan Lane Inn or the year round Pontiac Lodge and wake up late on Valentine’s Day to enjoy some cross-country skiing or snowshoeing on empty trails surrounded by snowy cedar trees. A seasonal meal at Cawthorne’s or fun pub fare at the Mustang Lounge will make your holiday stay complete. More information: mackinacisland.org/winter or (906) 847-3783

GET FANCY

If you don’t mind being in the car just a little longer (bring some great tunes and snacks and make it an event!), point your Valentine to Detroit for the Michigan Opera Theater Studio’s Valentine’s Day Concert on Feb. 14 (concert and dinner are $55) in the beautiful setting of the Grosse Pointe War Memorial’s lakefront ballroom. Underneath crystal chandeliers, with dramatic views of Lake St. Clair, these emerging vocal artists will work their musical magic alongside a gourmet dinner. Continue the breathtaking views at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, where you can dine, shop and sleep to recharge for your drive back north. More information: warmemorial.org or (313) 332-4074

BE A KID AGAIN

Surprise your Valentine a couple days early with an easy road trip to Grand Rapids for this unique kids-free night of fun and play to benefit the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum on Friday, Feb. 12. For $30 per person, you and your Valentine can enjoy “grown up” pizza offerings from local Grand Rapids restaurants, plus a selection of local craft beers, wines and spicy ciders while you give your inner kid free reign via a building-wide scavenger hunt throughout the museum, plus rounds of laser tag, all starting at 6:30pm. There are plenty of places to stay in the big city, too, including the swanky, modernized 1920s landmark Amway Grand Plaza, which is right downtown, so you can add a romantic wintery walk along the Grand River to your adventure. More information and tickets: grcm.org

LIGHT THINGS UP

One last idea in the opposite direction: grab two sets of cross-country skis or snowshoes (and a pair of headlamps or flashlights) and head to Tahquamenon Falls State Park in the Upper Peninsula on Feb. 13 for the park’s unique Lantern-Lit Ski and Stroll on a snow-covered, lantern-lit trail through the forests of the Upper Falls, starting at the Upper Falls Fact Shack. A one-mile nighttime loop prepared the evening before Valentine’s Day will welcome you and your skiing or snowshoeing sweetheart; you’ll warm up by a bonfire with refreshments between treks. The nearby Magnuson Grand Hotel Lakefront offers simple, but pleasant, lake view rooms for your overnight stay. More information: michigandnr.com or (906) 492-3415

Valentine’s Gifts Around the World

Are flowers and chocolates the standard for celebrating Valentine’s Day in other countries? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Denmark: Men give women a perforated card called a gaekkebrev with a custom-written poem and dots instead of a signature. If the woman guesses who it’s from, she wins an Easter egg later that year.

England: Flowers and chocolates are standard, along with Valentine’s sticky rolls filled will caraway seeds or raisins.

Germany: Flowers are also very popular here, as are “love tokens,” embossed or die cut cards similar to American greeting cards, but smaller and more intricate.

Italy: One of the most popular Valentine’s gifts is baci perugina, chocolate-covered hazelnuts wrapped in paper with a romantic quote.

Japan: Chocolate is by far the most popular Valentine’s Day gift, usually given to men by women; one month later, on Mar. 14, the country celebrates White Day when the men turn around and give chocolate gifts to the women.

South Africa: Women write the names of their love interests on small pieces of paper and literally wear them on their sleeves by pinning them in place so the men can know who their female admirers are.

Taiwan: Flowers have complicated meanings here; one rose is just fine as a romantic Valentine’s gift, but 108 roses indicate a proposal of marriage.

Wales: “Love spoons,” intricately carved wooden spoons with symbols like horseshoes, wheels and keys (to his heart, of course), are gifted from men to women as a token of affection.