Think Outside the Box of Chocolates

Mix it up this Valentine’s Day by creating a unique shared experience you can both enjoy.

Valentine’s Day has grown a tad predictable over the years. We’ll go out on a limb and guess some possible gifts for your sweetheart: roses, chocolate and a candlelit dinner. Instead of giving the same ol’ gift, surprise your significant other with an experience you can share. You’ll make a memory in the process—and prove life is far more than a box of chocolates.

HIGH ON LOVE
Nothing bonds a couple like an extreme thrill. Skydiving is for those daring duos who love the wind in their hair—at 10,000 feet. Air Capital Drop Zone (316-776-1700, aircapitaldropzone.net) offers tandem jumps for $190. You can also hire a freefall photographer to capture the leap for $85 or use a handheld camera for $50.

If you’d rather not jump out of a perfectly good plane, chartered flights offer a luxurious and private way to celebrate. Feel like eating fresh shrimp in New Orleans? Venture anywhere in the continental United States for $1,180 per hour with Ying Ling Aviation (316-943-3246, yinglingaviation.com). Ballard Aviation (316-613-4855, flyeaglemed.com) charges the same price if you take one person or six ($4.30 per mile), so make it a double or triple date to split the cost. Or charter a chopper from Kansas Copters & Wings (316-733-0109) for $549 per hour and $129 per hour for ground time.

For the truly romantic, float with the wind in a hot air balloon from HAVNFUN Hot Air Ballooning (316-788-6473) for $200 per person or $600 for a private ride at sunrise or sunset. For no extra fee, the company will launch another balloon to display a 15-foot “Will you marry me?” banner.

GO  WILD!
Back on land, try a dude ranch. Sun Rock Ranch Resort (1-800-710-2728 or 785-238-2728, 6260 Skiddy Road, Junction City), operates a 3,000-acre horse and cattle ranch in the scenic Flint Hills. Enjoy the Western-style living and stay in a guest room, one of which is part of the original 1877 limestone homestead. Room prices are $70 per night for two, including breakfast. C&W Ranch Resort near Salina (785-668-2352, 4000 S. Halstead Rd., Salina) has boarding stables, livestock and rooms with private baths.

If hunting is your sweetie’s obsession, places like Superior Game Farms (785-654-3887, 19001 S. Highway 56, Burlingame) south of Topeka offer great gaming opportunities. Owned by the same family for five generations, Superior has 1,000 acres of controlled shooting area, and prices start at $75 per day. Cokeley Farms Hunting Preserve (785-771-3817, cokeleyfarms.com) on the Pottawatomie Indian Reservation has guided hunts, sporting clays and an impressive clubhouse. Or Flint Oak (620-658-4401, flintoak.com), nestled in the scenic Flint Hills, offers guided bird hunts, shooting sports, riding trails and more.

A SWEET SERENADE
Feel like serenading someone like Tom Cruise in Top Gun or singing a song you wrote just for your significant other? Make the memory last by laying down a track at a recording studio like Signature Sound (316-721-5060) for $50 an hour, with a two-hour minimum. Anybody Listening Recording Studio (316-687-3891, anybodylistening.com) has a vocal room and a fully digital studio for $45 an hour.