Unless you've met on a hike, there's always the complication of appropriate distance and pace to consider too.

If the person you're dating is a hiking neophyte, they may not know their limits and commit beyond them, which can get quite unpleasant.

The 1929 Ziegfield Follies had a tune that went "Hungry women, hungry women; I feed them and weep!"

There's a logic to high-ticket meals, though: Use them to REWARD a woman who has been a valuable part of your life. Otherwise, she sees it as a bribe.

Meetup.com is a popular resource for casual meetings. Find an event in your location and ask her to join you.

I think dinner is actually a lousy first date, as is going to the movies. The latter doesn't allow for conversation, while the former requires you to sit and look directly at a stranger and try to be your most brilliant, charming self. I agree that activity dates are the way to go. Go to an art show, a street fair, a museum, hell, a dog or cat show, hell, a science fiction convention, what ever engages your interest. First, it will help you discern whether the two of you enjoy the same kind of things -- if you love comic conventions, but she looks at you as if you've grown another head when you suggest it, she is not the girl for you. Second, it lets you do something together without that laser focus, and gives you a natural source of conversation.

And third, yeah, it'll help you weed out women who are only looking for a steady cash supply.

The Goddess writes: (Your shallow grave or mine?)

Okay, that made me crack up.

A walk around the park is less taxing than a hike.

I agree that going out for dinner is my least favorite first date activity. I'm too self conscious to eat in front of people I don't know well and carry on a conversation at the same time. You know, worrying about salad stuck in my teeth and such.

I meant I agree that a dinner date is not the best first date. It certainly is my least favorite date activity. The shortcut I took in my previous post doesn't work.

Something low-key like coffee. Most places have a nice, trendy coffee shop. I think it's better than alcohol, it's something that can be fairly quick, but can linger if you want it to.

Activities can be good. Apple picking in the fall, bowling was mentioned, a museum...

Do not spend wads of cash on a first date, it looks desperate. Also, too much pressure. If you take her out to dinner, take her somewhere low-pressure. Nice, but not totally swanky.

Walking tours are always a good early date, as is general sightseeing -- even if it's of your own city.

SF conventions can be a bit pricey (starting at ~$40 a pop to get in the door) for a first date...unless you know ahead of time that your date is into it. Renaissance Fairs may be a cheaper but equally fun alternative.

Amusement parks are an option, as well as tourist traps that, as a local, you never visited.

Let's not discount the concept of seeing a movie...If you follow it up with a visit to a diner, soda fountain, shwarma stand, or somesuch.

The idea is that you get to engage in give-and-take AFTER the film, using the subject of said film as conversation fodder. Your date may stay mute on some subjects, but opinions about a movie might come out more easily.

"What was your favorite part of the movie?"

"Watching Kirk die. I swear, Chris Pine is the worst captain of all the Star Trek franchises!"

Tells you something about your date, non?

You said it, Dana. I love movies (four-star movies) but I don't care to see them with someone I hardly know. Also, being active is a good way to be less self-conscious with a near-stranger than when you're at dinner.

I've said it elsewhere: I believe a lot of resentment between the sexes could be wiped out if parents would teach teens (but especially their daughters) that it's OK for a man to spend little or nothing on dates until she reciprocates in similar amounts of coin - and keeps doing so. Also, a woman who really wants a financially stable man has to learn the joys of frugal dating activities anyway - that's how one STAYS financially stable, after all!

Dinner on a first date is wayyy too much, especially if you're meeting online where you might decide 5 minutes in that you'd rather have an unaenesthetized root canal than watch the other person chew.

That being said I think hiking is a terrible idea to propose for a first date unless it's someone you already know very well...there's no way I'd do an activity alone, potentially without cell service, with someone I'd never met before. I actually had a guy I met online get huffy because I wouldn't give him my address so he could pick me up at my house.

There are so many good, cheap first date ideas - free museums, ice cream, a bottle of wine at an outdoor movie, or just Google "free things to do in [your city] and you'll find stuff.

There's hiking and there's hiking. Or, more accurately, walking in the woods.
Went hiking near Lincoln, NH. Only saw one bear track and one moose. But I was carrying a big stick and hitting trees with it make sure a bear wasn't surprised. Takes some of the fun out of it if the guy is carrying a club, I imagine.
And some terrain has it in for your ankles, legs, and hips. Rocks, roots, slippery mud.
So the question is, can she carry you down the mountain or not.