Another Valentine’s Day is in the books, but romance doesn’t end there. In the Raleigh area, you can fall in love with a variety of tempting date night ideas in Fuquay-Varina, NC. 

The Raleigh suburb sits just 19 miles southwest of the North Carolina capital, and has been growing steadily as people seek life outside the urban center. Currently, Fuquay-Varina has a population of almost 47,000 people, more than doubling over the past decade. The population growth has the added benefit of attracting new businesses and attractions. Whether you share a love of the outdoors or your exploration directs you more to restaurants, shops, arts, and nightlife, you’ll find your paired passion in Fuquay-Varina.

Downtown Stroll

Downtown Fuquay-Varina is actually made up of 2 districts. Fuquay and Varina were separate towns that merged in 1963. Fuquay-Varina is part of the North Carolina Main Street Program, which supports a combination of revitalization and historic preservation. The Fuquay District and Varina District are within walking distance of one another, so you can spend your date night in one or both.

Put this location at the top of your list of desirable date night ideas in Fuquay-Varina, NC. Within each downtown, there is a designated social district. Purchase your favorite alcoholic beverage at one of the permitted businesses and then take it with you as you wander down the streets, through the shops and other businesses.

Whether you choose day or evening for your downtown date, the streets of Downtown Fuquay-Varina are lined with eateries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sit outside at a cafe and watch the activity. Dine inside on your favorite fare. For a different kind of dining experience, try one restaurant for an appetizer, another for the entree, and a third one for dessert, if you have room. Then, venture on to a bar for after-dinner cocktails.

Work off the calories you consumed by visiting the shops, galleries, boutiques, and studios. Maybe find a romantic memento to give to your date—like a visit to Mr.Goodbooth for some fun, casual photos of the 2 of you.

How about planning a spa day at Feelin’ Knotty or Jade Moon Massage & Facials in Downtown Fuquay-Varina? Or you can start or end your date with a soothing massage.

Plan your date to coincide with First Fridays in Fuquay-Varina and you won’t be disappointed. This monthly event features live music, shopping, great food, and special activities, one of many things to do in Fuquay-Varina, NC. The downtown businesses have planned all the fun for you. You and your date just have to show up on the first Friday of any month.

Get a Sporting Chance in Downtown Fuquay-Varina, NC

How about adding some playtime to your date night. Axe throwing is all the rage now. Hurl axes at a wooden target at the Inner Beast Hatchet House on South Main Street. It’s easy and fun, like bowling but with an axe instead of a ball. Easy to learn and certainly a different date night experience!

Are you both interested in golf? Spend an hour on the golf simulator at Happy’s Country Club, or sign up for a private golf lesson.

Tour de Brews

If you and your date enjoy craft brews, a pub crawl could be the right choice for an evening on the town in Fuquay-Varina. But don’t call it a “crawl”. That’s certainly not romantic. How about “Tour de Brew”?

Whatever you want to call this date night event, Fuquay-Varina serves up a full menu of destinations. The Mason Jar Lager Company and The Mason Jar Tavern, Fainting Goat Brewing Company, The Corner Biergarten Bar & Bottle Shop, Vicious Fishes Brewery, and Oaklyn Springs Brewery are stops to plan along your tour.

How about taking your date for some flights at The Aviator? The Aviator Brewing Company spreads its unique blend of beer and food across multiple venues, with a taphouse, smokehouse, and pizza parlor. Craft brews, mouthwatering menus, music, and dancing are all within the Aviator’s brand.

Top off your Tour de Brews by segueing from beer to dessert, with the unusual combination on tap at Pints Ice Cream & Beer, also located in Downtown Fuquay-Varina.

Something for Arts Lovers

The Fuquay-Varina Arts Center is a local gem for culture enthusiasts. The FVAC sponsors a full calendar of live performances—music, dance, and community theater. The music spans a range of genres, so you can find something to pique your interest. As one of your date night ideas in Fuquay-Varina, NC, you could suggest exploring a musical style you and your date haven’t yet experienced. How about Celtic, jazz, soul, swing, or movie themes? It’s all here at the Fuquay-Varina Arts Center…and more. The Arts Center’s gallery features an ever-changing collection of exhibits.

One Friday night each month, the Art Cafe at the FVAC welcomes people to spend 2 hours on a project, which could be painting, mixed media, printmaking, calligraphy, or some other form. Create an artful reminder of a unique date night!

Farm to Your Table

Put this on your list of date night ideas in Fuquay-Varina, NC, but you’ll have to start in the morning. Head to the Fuquay-Varina Growers Market on North Main Street on any Saturday morning from April through September. Browse the fresh produce, baked goods, cheeses, locally sourced meats, flowers and plants, condiments, and crafts. 

Pick out the ingredients to prepare a meal to prepare together, from appetizer through dessert, and with fresh flowers your your table. And you can enjoy this date knowing you’ve supported local businesses!

Go on a Treasure Hunt

One of the popular things to do in Fuquay-Varina, NC is hunting through antique stores and vintage boutiques. You might need to move up your plans to an afternoon, but leave plenty of time, because Fuquay-Varina is a tempting destination for these treasure hunts. Wander through 5,000 square feet filled with antiques and collectibles from numerous vendors at KnB’s Marketplace in Downtown Fuquay-Varina. Hunt through the one-of-a-kind finds at Southern Attic, Bostic & Wilson Antiques, and Counting Stars Vintage & Antiques. 

Picnic in the Park

There’s nothing quite as romantic as a picnic! You’ll find no shortage of locations in Fuquay-Varina where you can unpack your basket and enjoy the lovely weather and views. Fuquay Mineral Spring Park is a popular place for picnickers. Spread out your blanket or use one of the picnic tables. Once the highly sought-after destination for people who wanted the effects of the healing waters, Fuquay Mineral Spring Park remains a relaxing place with beautiful views.

Pedal or Paddle in Pairs

If you both enjoy a bike ride, map out a route for a pedal-perfect date. Take your pick of 11 trails and greenways throughout Fuquay-Varina, with scenic views along the way. Pack a picnic lunch and stop to explore interesting sites, both historic and scenic. 

The Carroll Howard Johnson Environmental Education Park is a natural choice for nature-lovers. Ride your bike along the 2-mile trail, across 2 bridges over the creek. You can follow the self-guided tour marked with interpretive signs to learn about the beauty and history of this wildlife habitat.

The American Tobacco Trail runs more than 22 miles through 3 counties. You can jump on the trail in Fuquay-Varina and follow it as far as you like. 

Would you prefer to take your date on the water? Kayaking, canoeing, and paddle boarding provide the foundation to a relaxing date day. Drop your oars into the Neuse River and spend a leisurely day enjoying the cool waters, solitude, and beautiful scenery.

The Couple That Cooks Together

For a weeknight date, share a culinary experience by taking a cooking class at Fuquay Mineral Springs Inn and Garden. Learn tips, tricks, and techniques from Chef Francesca while you prepare a complete dinner—appetizer, entree, and dessert. Imagine learning how to create gamberetti fra diabolo (spicy shrimp with fire-roasted peppers) and tiramisu. Spend an evening with Chef Francesca and you’ll be ready to serve many more date night dinners.

Shape Your Date Night in Fuquay-Varina, NC

Remember the iconic scene in “Ghost” where Demi Moore and Patrick Dempsey are shaping clay on a pottery wheel? While date night in Fuquay-Varina might not have the same sizzle, take your date to Piedmont Pottery. You can sign up for a class in pottery making or just paint a piece of their premade bisque. Piedmont Pottery also hosts a monthly Crafting Night Out.

Learn a Thing or Two

Learning can be a stimulating experience. Plan a day exploring the Fuquay-Varina Museum Complex. There are 6 museums, each presenting a unique historical perspective on the area. Plan your date to start at The Centennial Museum, where the collection traces the town’s history back more than 100 years. Step into old jail cells, browse artifacts, and look at the historic images in the Heulon Dean Collection. With Fuquay-Varina growing quickly, it’s good to look back to where it started.

The other museums in the Complex showcase Fuquay-Varina’s heritage: 

• The Fuquay Post Office is the actual building dating back to 1902, a few years after the town was founded. 
• The Tobacco Barn is a 100-year-old log barn that was dismantled in its original location and reconstruction as part of the Fuquay-Varina Museum Complex. Tobacco farming played a large part in the town’s growth. 
• The Schoolhouse is a 2-room building with fascinating artifacts that show how children were taught in the late 19th century and into the 20th century.
• When the children weren’t at school or working on the family farm, they played. When you visit the Johnson Playhouse, you’ll get a glimpse of the toys and games that entertained kids long before electronics came into the picture.
• The Caboose is an actual train car, almost a hundred years old. It was purchased and moved to this site, where a historic depot is planned to be rebuilt.

Come home to Fuquay-Varina, NC

Fuquay-Varina continues to appeal to people who are looking for a place to live in the Raleigh area. There are quite a few affordable suburbs within a half-hour drive of Raleigh, and Fuquay-Varina is high on the list of the most desirable.

New Home Inc. is building communities of single-family homes and townhomes throughout these Raleigh suburbs. We design and build our homes to offer lasting value, a combination of careful planning, thoughtful design, and a commitment to quality that spans everything from the details in our homes to personal service through the buying process and beyond.

We studied the concept behind home design and recognized that a lot of “the way it’s always been done” is outdated. In just the past 5 years, the way we live in our homes has changed. A growing number of multi-generational households created the need for an additional suite—or more. These bigger families require a better organized, more functional kitchen. Managing the increased use of home deliveries can be challenging when someone isn’t home to receive them. And then there’s all the electronic devices that are simultaneously taking up your network’s bandwidth, slowing connection speed for everyone.

Our new homes for sale near Raleigh, NC, address these issues. 

• For more living space, we incorporate flex rooms and optional layouts in our floor plans. You can easily convert a room to a suite, as needed.
• New Home Inc. changed the design of the center island. No more elevated breakfast bar because it’s not a good use of space. And we extended the countertop on the island so there is seating on 3 sides, not just 1 or 2.
• To help with kitchen clutter and bottlenecks, we added a service pantry, which we call a “messy kitchen”. This pantry is next to the kitchen, separated by a pocket door. The messy kitchen can be outfitted with cabinets, a sink, mini-fridge, wine chiller, dishwasher, and anything else you need to utilize it to declutter your kitchen.
• Our solution for packages delivered to your home is the Smart Door Delivery Center. We enclose a space between your exterior and interior front doors. It’s secured with a smart lock. You provide the lock code to the delivery person who then unlocks the door and places the package in the Smart Door Delivery Center. The door automatically locks again, and you change the code.
• Don’t worry about the strength and reliability of your home’s network. We use CAT6 ethernet cable in every home we build. The result is a robust connection, no matter how many users and devices access the network. And there are no dead zones!
• New Home Inc. also looked ahead at the growing use of electric vehicles. We rough in a charging station in the garage before sealing the walls. Then, when you need your electric vehicle charging station, it’s easy to power it up!
• You’ll also discover that we’ve thought of security for your home. We include a complete smart home automation package that includes a video doorbell, smart door lock, and more.

New homes for sale in Fuquay-Varina, NC

As you're considering your list of date night ideas in Fuquay-Varina, NC, add one more place to visit. New Home Inc. would like to show you our new construction homes for sale near Raleigh, including Fuquay-Varina, as well as communities in Angier, Clayton, Lillington, and Smithfield.

We have a selection of new construction single-family homes and townhomes, in a wide variety of styles, square footage, and lot sizes. You can tour any of New Home Inc.’s quick move-in homes, which are either newly completed or almost there. These are all new construction homes, fully covered by our builder’s warranty. Right now, we’re offering a rate buydown option on some of these homes, at no cost to you! You could get a mortgage interest rate as low as 4.99% on a 30-year, fixed rate home loan.

Contact New Home Inc. so you can spend unlimited date nights in Fuquay-Varina, NC!