I would not call myself a dating ninja, guru, or even imply that I’m an expert when it comes to dating.

However, I do know a few things about trying to a woo a girl.

My credentials are simply that I’m a girl and besides having been in the dating scene for awhile, I have sat through plenty of late night conversations with other single girls and read plenty of online articles and blogs to know some things.

Here are four places you should never suggest to take a girl on a first date**:

1. Gym

Really. It almost happened.

A guy that I was interested in asked me what my plans were on a specific night and then asked if I was a member of a specific gym franchise. I wasn’t and our first date was delayed.

And then it recently happened again. A guy from online asked if I enjoyed weight lifting and offered his own expertise in exchange for a meeting at the gym. Perhaps he was looking to get into the physical trainer space.

Let’s not judge these guys for their lack of imagination. I’m sure they thought that it would be easy enough to just hang out and they’d still get their workout in.

I should’ve recognized our incompatibility at that point.

I go to the gym to kick some calorie butt and to really focus on sweating. The gym is the last place that I want to go on a date or be picked up by a guy.

(Now that I write that though, I think that maybe if he’s picking me up at the gym then he’s seeing me at my worst and still thinking I’m attractive.

Maybe I could reconsider this.

Since this has never happened, I’ll stand by this being a bad place for a first date.)

2. Family History Center

Okay. Maybe if you are genealogist and you love trying to discover how you are related to a monarch of some country, this is a good choice.

Otherwise, this is probably not somewhere you want to go on a first date. Consider that maybe you want to get to know someone before you get to know their pedigree.

You can’t unlearn someone’s family history.

3. Graveyard

[source: Rebel Circus]

Even if it’s Halloween, there is no reason to head to a graveyard. It’s just creepy.

Plus, they’re supposed to be closed after dusk so it’s best to just leave the dead where they should be.

And keep your first date from being a final date.

4. Movies

I hate movies for a first date. Because you can’t talk. You can’t interact.

Unless you go see a movie and there’s no one in the theater so you can spend it bantering back and forth. But who feels comfortable doing that?

I will tell you – my friends and I. We really enjoy those late night movies that no one else goes to see so that we can talk about the movie in the empty theater.

Clearly, that is not a date situation.

There are plenty of other options for a first date. What are your favorite places to go for a first date? Any good recommendations?

**Please note that these are generalized and some of these might be the perfect place to take your date. However, please consider these options only if they are a desirable place for both of you (meaning don’t just think of you… think of her or him.)