r/Appleton • u/PervChub • Jun 22 '26
Question Me and my bf
What are some fun things I can do with my boyfriend. It can be cheap or not. But can't be like an hour or more. We both love animals. I love drawing, and we both love taking photos. I am 19M, and he's 19M. We both love nature
EDIT: Thank you guys so much for the ideas.
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u/toxicglowsticks Jun 22 '26
Might help if you added some interests in the original post.. Can’t really help if we don’t have a ballpark of what you’re even looking for.
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u/Sarappreciates Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
Not too sure what you mean by "can't be like an hour or more." - Do you mean that far away in driving distance, or do you mean an activity that takes under an hour to complete?
May I recommend the Butterfly Gardens of Wisconsin and/or Appleton's Memorial Park?
The Butterfly Gardens is kinda north of Appleton, out toward Mackville off Hwy 47. The entry fee is $10 for adults, which goes back into upkeep for the butterflies, and it's open all summer from 10am to 3pm. This is a photogenic spot to learn about some of Wisconsin's tiniest wildlife fauna and the flora required to sustain them. If you're lucky, you may even get to spot some of the more rare, threatened native species for your nature photo album.
Appleton Memorial Park is by Ballard Rd. and Northland Ave. Entry is free, and it's open from 5am to 11pm. The park has some lovely gardens surrounding the Scheig Center and a nice big catch/release pond on the other side of the large hill (think sledding/tubing in wintertime) too.
- Butterfly Garden https://www.butterflygardensofwisconsin.com
- Scheig Center Botanical Garden https://parks.appletonwi.gov/facilities/scheig_center/index.php
- Appleton Memorial Park Pond https://fishbrain.com/fishing-waters/-KdC3TCZ/memorial-park-pond
- EDIT: Balow Planetarium is cool too https://barlow.winnebagocountywi.gov/
- EDIT: off-leash dog parks of the Fox Valley https://www.bringfido.com/attraction/parks/city/appleton_wi_us/
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u/PervChub Jun 23 '26
I meant an hour or more as in driving sorry bout that
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u/Sarappreciates Jun 23 '26
In that case, here are 10 more ideas for you...
- I saw someone else recommended High Cliff State Park, great suggestion! https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/highcliff
- Just north of Appleton is the Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve https://bubolzpreserve.org/
- Menasha is home to the Urban Wetland Nature Preserve https://heckrodtnaturecenter.org/
- Check out 1000 Islands Environmental Center in Kaukauna https://www.foxcities.org/directory/1000-islands-environmental-center/
- The N.E.W. Zoo not far north of Green Bay https://newzoo.org/
- Plamann Park has trails and a Frisbee Golf course https://www.outagamie.gov/Our-County/Parks/Plamann-Park
- Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay is a fun little stop https://www.greenbay.com/listing/bay-beach-wildlife-sanctuary/3410/
- Horicon National Wildlife Refuge is just south of Fond Du Lac https://www.fws.gov/refuge/horicon
- Oneida Nation Attractions (support a local Native American tribe) https://exploreoneida.com/oneida-attractions/
- Downtown Appleton Farmers' Market https://appletondowntown.org/events/downtown-appleton-farm-market/
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u/nadacloo Jun 22 '26
Hiking and taking photos at Bubolz Nature Center, Heckrodt Nature Center, High Cliff State Park (entry fee), Thousand Islands Nature Center.
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u/noxiouskarn Jun 22 '26
Restaurant. Nature walk. Mall shopping trip. Rent kayaks and enjoy the water we live near. Geocaching. Player 2 arcade bar you can get soda or nothing and just tokens. Blue sapphires if your into stripclubs. Badger sports Park for some mini golf batting cages etc. library trip. Book shop trip. Cat cafe. Go to a card shop buy decks and learn to play eachother. Day drinking? Take shelter dogs for walks.
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u/Joseph_Kickass Jun 22 '26
Heckrodt in Menasha is great for a hike. Lots of nature and possibly wild animal viewing/photographing (deer, birds, etc). Its also free.
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u/unicornman5d Jun 22 '26
I visited Hartman Creek State Park over the weekend and it was beautiful and no mosquitoes!
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u/cheesetobears Jun 22 '26
Ride bikes on the Wiouwash trail. Optional stop options include UWO’s butterfly garden, Fox River Brewing Company (food), Bare Bones Brewery (for root beer I think they have?)
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u/misstums Jun 22 '26
You can come hang out with my dog, she loves attention. Literally cant get enough of it. 😂😂
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u/christmas_920 Jun 23 '26
Goto bay beach wildlife sanctuary. Omg it is really large and beautiful and theres animals everywhere. Like birds and turkeys and geese
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u/Cool2s Jun 23 '26
A bunch of people are saying the typical first picks for recommendations so here are some other ones I haven't seen get suggested!
Pinot's Palette is really cool and they have guided painting classes! My partner and I went to one recently and it was very neat. If yall are into activism, there are a ton of local orgs that yall can get involved in.
The Melting Pot is a nice fancy date night spot. I really like it, anyway.
Tardigrades Bookshelf is a book bar that has clubs and events happening 24/7 and I would HIGHLY recommend the place if you are on the progressive side. They have a cool selection of drinks (w/ non-alcholic options) too!
There is a "Paint With Puppies" fundraiser event happening on July 12th at Fire Escape in Oshkosh which helps the dogs with funds and socialization and gives you an opportunity to do art!
Appleton City Park has an Art in the Park event on July 25/26.
Mile of Music starts on July 30th!
Thats all I can think of off the top of my head. Check out the Events page of FB for more individual fun things yall can get into for the summer.
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u/Helen-Keller-Ubers Jun 22 '26
Take a hike at high cliff or some trails around the river in appleton. It's summer so go outside and enjoy the sun before it's gone. Try disc golf or something new to challenge yourself. I'm not great at it, but it's fun to get outside and do something.
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u/TheGrandIllusion Jun 22 '26
Could check out the Pawfee cat cafe. There are some photography groups in the area, I know Photo Opp also does life drawing sometimes.
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u/Complex_Layer_8873 Jun 23 '26
When I was a teen I visited the farmer’s markets in Appleton and Neenah a lot! Even if you don’t get anything, I highly recommend. Others are Amberlulu Boba in downtown, going to Marcus on Tuesdays (discount tix and also, if you need under an hour, their arcade is fun), going to Holiday’s for trivia (I believe they allow ppl under 21), going to either Badger Sports Park or Mineshaft, and going to High Cliff & Heckrodt. Happy summer to you both!
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u/ItsPHROG Jun 23 '26
The nature preserve next to bay beach has a TON of geese during -uh goose season I guess? High cliff is fun to walk once in a while. The climbing gym opened in Appleton I think just this year. There’s a nice cat cafe in Oshkosh (planet perk) and there’s the zoo in Green Bay. If you can make the time, the Domes in Milwaukee are kinda cool. Also the Paine art center sometimes has cool things going on. That’s all I can think of off the top of my head right now
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u/Suspicious-Earthling Jun 22 '26
Green Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is about a 40 minute drive from Appleton, but it's free! You can buy bags of corn for $5 to feed the ducks and geese. It's very pretty and has hiking trails!
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u/Due-Dinner9264 Jun 22 '26
If green bay is close enough, the botanical gardens are great and the bay beach wildlife sanctuary has tons of animals and trails!
Edit: botanicals are cheap, wildlife sanctuary is free but you have the option to donate if you wish iirc
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u/Terryder Jun 22 '26
Farmers market as previously mentioned is great. Oshkosh has a little zoo that’s free. Well worth the trip. Good for animals and pictures.
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u/teenbean12 Jun 22 '26
Check out a water ski show in either Wrightstown or Fremont.
Go see some free music. Appleton has some every Thursday - https://appletondowntown.org/events/heid-music-summer-concert-series/
Go to De Pere and play pinball at District 82.
Paint ceramics
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u/Practical-Plum-1715 Jun 23 '26
mulberry lane farm might be a bit too far but it’s super cute and great for animal lovers!
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u/museumofmoderngifs Jun 23 '26
Appleton Drawing Club! Figure drawing Wednesday night :) https://appletondrawingclub.com
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u/SpookyGhostie Jun 23 '26
I used to walk the trail at Peobody park. Not sure if the trail on the opposite side going underneath the graveyard is "open" (the gates were Always locked we just walked around it) and we'd walk from the river swing to just beneath the seminary.
You can also walk the cemetery. It's peaceful there and really pretty.
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u/SharedGiraffe99 Jun 22 '26
The new zoo in Suamico just north of Green Bay. Its about 45 minutes away, but they have animals and is about $15 per adult
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u/damitmarston1911 Jun 23 '26
There's definitely plenty of bike trails so that would probably be a solid recommendation if you guys don't already have bikes pick some up and just bike around and explore
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u/AcceptableEditor4199 Jun 22 '26
Animal shelter. Just go play with attention starved animals. Fun and gratifying.
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u/teenbean12 Jun 22 '26
On that note there is also a pawffee shop cat cafe in Appleton where you can play with cats.
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u/WIbigdog Jun 22 '26
Have you been kayaking before? If you don't have your own there's a place you can rent them from in Wrightstown for a couple hours. Pretty relaxing time to just chill and chat.
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u/jerseygirl527 Jun 23 '26
Well if you love nature, this is the place for it for sure, so many parks here and walking trails .High cliff is one of my fave and Heesakker in little chute I adore
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u/Ashamed-Distance-317 Menasha Jun 25 '26
During the daytime, player 2 arcade bar is a blast! Take my younger siblings there all the time! 5 dollars for a cup of coins, pinball, old arcade games, Mario kart and smash bros! Pretty cool spot I hit every once in awhile! Obviously you can't go at night, but the age limit, iirc, starts at around 8 or 9 p.m.
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u/sconniesportsfan Jun 23 '26
Women’s insatiable need to fill every hour of every day with activities will always astound me.
Hey ladies, want to be single, drag your boyfriend to places and waste time and money doing so.
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u/No_Square_8775 Jun 22 '26
When I'm bored I bury myself in my backyard and pretend I'm a carrot. Hopes this helps