Nicky
Age: 27
Job: Credit Coordinator
Interests: Being with my friends, playing with the dogs, enjoying music, wine and snowboarding, being spontaneous
Brandon
Age: 24
Job: Server/bartender
Interests: Playing basketball and golf, going out to dinner, enjoying nightlife with my friends
The Shooting Range and the Restaurant:
French Creek Outfitters
270 Schuylkill Road
Phoenixville, PA 19460
Phone: (610) 933-7200
Sly Fox Brewery
520 Kimberton Road (Route 113)
Phoenixville, PA 19460
Phone: (610) 935-4540
First Impressions?
Nicky: Brandon was sweet enough to pick me up before our date. He was on time and came to the front door to get me. Our 2 golden retrievers decided they needed to be the first ones to meet him, but they seemed to like him. I usually don’t date guys with facial hair, but his looks good on him and I thought he was cute. He was dressed nicely and was tall, which is a huge plus!
Brandon: I picked Nicky up at her house and my first impression was that she was definitely a cute girl. Her dogs escorted her to the door, which was a huge plus because I absolutely love any dog. She had on a beige shirt with brown stripes and jeans. She wasn’t the type of girl I would typically go for physically, but that’s not really a huge factor for me.
The Date:
Nicky: I thought it would be fun to do something different, so we got set up to go shooting at French Creek Outfitters in Phoenixville. I had been target shooting once before and had a blast, so I was really excited to try again.
Brandon: For the date we went to French Creek Outfitters to shoot pistols then to Sly Fox Brewery for dinner and a beer tasting. I’ve never shot pistols before, but was very excited to try. I’m a huge microbrew-beer fan, so the Sly Fox beer tasting was right up my alley.
The Conversation:
Nicky: At first, we talked about work, food, beer, music, school, West Chester and, really, all types of things. It wasn’t awkward, which was cool. I had had a really busy day, but he had gone to the trouble to find out exactly where we were going and knew who we needed to talk to once we got there. That was very reassuring and helped me to feel more at ease. We got stuck in traffic on the way to the range, but we had such an easy conversation that we got to Phoenixville in what felt like no time at all.
Brandon: From the second I picked Nicky up we were talking the whole time. The conversation felt effortless and smooth all night and I can’t pinpoint even one awkward pause. She didn’t seem like a shy person, which is always a plus on a blind date.
Nicky: I shot guns once before when I lived in Arizona, so I was excited to do it again. Brandon had not, but he was a natural!
Brandon: French Creek was a great experience. Nicky had shot a gun before and I hadn’t, which had me a little nervous.
Nicky: Stan, our host, was great! Very encouraging, though Brandon and I didn’t seem to need it…we’re both totally awesome at shooting guns and each shot about 97% bullseyes. Child’s play! Brandon almost bought himself a gun on the way out, but then thought that maybe CC wouldn’t foot that bill. Stan kept telling me not to make Brandon angry since his shot was so good. Hopefully Brandon will stick to water guns! We tried 3 different guns with 3 different sizes of bullets and, before we knew it, we were loading them up like pros! I would definitely do it again some time.
Brandon: Stan was our aid and he was very helpful and encouraging, which made the experience a lot better. I think I did pretty well shooting, but I’ll have to admit that Nicky was definitely a better shot.
The Restaurant:
Nicky: We headed over to Sly Fox to get some dinner and taste their brews. It reminded me a bit of Victory, just not nearly as large. They had a nice outdoor patio, which wasn’t open since it was so chilly out, but on a nice day it would have been a good place to sit and people watch.
Brandon: This was the first time I had ever been to Sly Fox Brewery. We were told that they had just moved to this location Saturday and you could tell because the place still had a new feel to it. It was a great place with a nice little menu consisting mostly of pub food, like appetizers and sandwiches.
The Service:
Nicky: The manager came over and seated us. We ordered 2 flights of beers: five 5-oz. beers per person, and shared them. They were good! Loved the ales and the IPA. We almost ordered tiny shots of Jameson and tiny shots of Baileys to make tiny car bombs out of the tiny stouts, but something told us that no one sells .5 oz shots! Future business ideas!
Brandon: The service was good at Sly Fox. I give any server credit that works at a brewery because there is an awful lot of information to learn and remember. We had a few different people come up to our table throughout the night to check on us and make sure everything was up to par. It’s good to see when restaurants are attentive.
Drinks with Dinner/Beer Tasting:
Nicky: We had one sample of each beer on the menu, plus the US Saaz Pilsner. Brandon had been telling me about what a beer connoisseur he is, but we more or less just relaxed and tried the beers ourselves.
Brandon: One thing that impressed me with Nicky is that she said she’s a big fan of beer. So, when we decided to try a beer tasting we thought, why not try all 10 beers they had on tap. My personal 2 favorite beers were the 113 ipa and the phoenix pale ale. Both were pretty hoppy beers, but were not overly bitter and were very drinkable. Out of the 10 samples there were probably only 2 we didn’t care for and that’s a pretty good success rate.
The Food:
Nicky: I had a turkey burger and he had the pretzel melt sandwich, after we had the roasted crab and corn dip, which was awesome! The food was good and it’s always interesting to see how breweries do their food and their service. I was starving, so I housed my turkey burger and didn’t share. The corn dip was a perfect dish to share and it had a good kick from the jalapeños!
Brandon: The food was awesome at Sly Fox. We got a crab and corn dip as an appetizer and we both really enjoyed it. For the entree we got sandwiches. Nicky got a turkey burger and I got a ham and turkey sandwich on a pretzel roll. Both sandwiches looked great when they came out and tasted just as good. Between the beer and the food I would definitely recommend Sly Fox to friends.
Conversation and Chemistry:
Nicky: We got into the subject of music, which is a big passion of his. I love talking about music, so I jumped right in and challenged him with some new music that he might like. I’ll let you know as soon as he comes back to me and tells me he LOVED it! We went to McKenzie’s after dinner to grab another beer…I had a seasonal and he had the Pale Ale, which is always delicious. Then he challenged me to a game of beer pong on the TOUCH game machine and was a little bitter when I kicked his butt. Ha!
Brandon: I believe we did have some chemistry just the way the conversation kept rolling all night. She was a very easy girl to talk to and we got a long very well, although I couldn’t tell if there were sparks.
Did you exchange numbers?
Nicky: Yup, he asked for mine.
Brandon: We did exchange numbers.
Was it a Match?
Nicky: We’ll see. If not, I’d love to stay friends because he seems like a lot of fun and we had very similar senses of humor. And he knows what the Eagles Club is. Bonus!
Was there a kiss?
Nicky: So personal!
Brandon: I’m a gentleman.
Will there be a second date?
Nicky: He has my number.
Brandon: I’m not sure about a second date. I would definitely hang out with Nicky again.
Nicky: He dropped me off and said goodnight.
Brandon: I dropped Nicky back off at her house and I told her next time she comes into West Chester she needs to text me and we can meet up and have drinks.
