With the winter season creeping upon us, one of the many San Jose winter traditions is back! The Downtown San Jose ice rink opened last Friday, November 20th, and is officially ready for you to glide around on from now until the end of January. Although this is a place you may have been to many times as a kid, it is also a fun and relatively inexpensive place to have a weeknight date.
The lit up, icy winder wonderland is rebuilt every year around the Circle of Palms in downtown San Jose, right next to the Museum of Art and the Fairmont Hotel, and this is the ice rink’s 14th season. The rink is open from 5:00pm to10:00pm on weeknights and 5:00pm till midnight on Friday, and tickets are $15 for adults. The rink is often quite swarming with families and kids during the weekend, but it’s a great place to take a date during the week.
Hop on the light rail from one of the 62 convenient stops throughout the bay area, and jump off at the Convention Center exit. From there, you can take a lovely stroll to one of the many restaurants around downtown to find a happy hour. One great place to go that has a surprisingly cheap and delicious happy hour menu is McCormick & Schmick’s on 170 S. Market Street. Their happy hour is Monday through Friday from 4:00pm to 6:30pm and they have an incredible bar menu with items such as a Blackened Chicken Sandwich with Cheddar Cheese and French Fries, and Salmon Cakes with lemon butter, apples, and fried leeks for only $1.95! Or, Steamed Black Mussels with coconut curry cream sauce, and Spinach Artichoke Dip with fried pita chips for only $3.95! They also have great drink specials such as Cosmos for $5.00 and Pitchers of Bud Light for $9.95. This is just one of the many restaurants downtown that have enjoyable and economically friendly happy hour specials to get your date night started.
Then, you and your date can head to the rink and go buzzed ice-skating! It is such a beautiful and picturesque environment, especially at night with the sparkling lights surrounding you. So next time you aren’t sure where to take your date on a chilly winter weeknight, go to the nostalgic place of your childhood and take the one you’re seeing on an adventure downtown to go ice skating for a whole new Twentysomething ice skating experience.
Check out the San Jose Downtown Ice site for contact info and more information about the rink.
Best Happy Hour spots in Downtown.
Check out McCormick & Schmick’s amazing happy hour menu.
Visit the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) website to plan your trip and check ticket rates.
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