When we first moved into our house over ten years ago, we knew it was the perfect house for us. Little did we know that we also moved into the best neighborhood with the Holy Grail of neighbors. We are fortunate that multiple families around us have kids the same age as ours. And, most importantly, we all like to have FUN, so much so that many of us have built-in bars in our basements.
Several years ago, we organized our first neighborhood pub crawl. I love having date nights with other adults and indulging in a few glasses of wine. But I don’t enjoy big crowds at the bar, paying for overpriced cocktails, and someone always has to be the designated driver.
The solution? A “pub” crawl between all of our neighborhood houses! The benefits? A wonderful adult night out where we can talk to each other without having to shout across a bar, and nobody has to drive, so we can all indulge in beverages! Plus, it is way cheaper than a night out. It was such a success that we decided to keep doing it every year. Interested? Here are some simple steps to help you plan your own.
Step 0: Know Your Neighbors
If you haven’t already, introduce yourself to your neighbors and get to know them. A neighborhood pub crawl is the perfect icebreaker activity to bond with your neighbors, especially if the drinks are flowing freely! Make sure to get their e-mail and phone number or find them on social media so you can contact them later.
Step 1: Set a Date
Give a choice of about 3-5 dates and have everyone vote. You might not be able to find a date that works for everyone {surprise! Parents are busy people}, so pick the date that makes most participants happy. Hopefully, yours will be as successful as ours, and those who couldn’t attend the first one can join in on future crawls!
Step 2: Find Babysitters
We decided on a 7:30 p.m. start time, so it was a sans-kid event. Find a babysitter well in advance so you can be worry-free and thoroughly enjoy yourself. Since we usually all get together with our kids, this was a great change of pace and allowed us to get to know each other and let loose.
Step 3: Set a Schedule
Once you know who is participating, create and distribute a schedule for the night. The amount of time at each house will depend on how many couples are participating and your start and end times. We started at 7:30 p.m. and planned to end around 11 p.m. Since we had five different houses we allotted about 30-45 minutes at each house. Someone should be in charge of keeping the group on track. Be sure to let the babysitter know when the group will arrive at your house so they know when to expect you.
Step 4: Food
Each hosting house should have food. I don’t know about you, but give me a glass of wine and I’m suddenly starving. The first houses could have appetizers, and the last houses could serve dessert. It’s best to prepare it earlier in the day, so you need to take it out, especially if there are only 45 minutes at each stop; you don’t want to have to waste that time getting the food ready. Some of the food on our pub crawl included mini chicken salad sandwiches, chips and dip, cheese and crackers, and cannoli dip. Having stuff to pick on as we went to each house was nice.
Step 5: Drinks
Each house should have drinks {and water} to offer the group. It can be as simple as bottles of wine, prosecco, or a few different types of beer. My husband and I got pretty serious about it, and we even had a signature drink for our stop. You could even have a theme at each house—for example, margaritas and coronas with chips and salsa or wine with cheese. When you send out the schedule, tell everyone to bring their own glass for the night. This way, you can bring your drink when it’s time to walk to the next house, and each host doesn’t have a ton of glasses to wash later on.
Step 6: Enjoy
Have fun and enjoy an adult night out without the hassle of going out! Bonus tip: Whatever the end time is scheduled, add one hour to that and tell the babysitter when you will be home. I promise that time will pass by too quickly, and you will have so much fun that you won’t want to leave early!
If your neighborhood pub crawl is a success, why not try a neighborhood egg hunt in the spring?
