10 Ways to Honor Your Dad This Father’s Day
Editor’s Note:
This Father’s Day, make some time for the special dad in your life by doing a fun activity together. Whether you plan to spend the day hiking, birdwatching, going to a car show, or just grabbing a coffee, make it something to remember.
In her newest book, “Everyday Should Be Father’s Day” Jennifer Basye Sander shares 50 exciting ways to honor and appreciate the father figure in your life. With activities for every budget, age range, and physical ability, there is something for everyone. The best part is that you don’t need to spend a fortune because sharing experiences and making memories is the most important part. Below are 10 of our favorite selections from the book for you to explore with Dad. They are sure to put a smile on his face!
1. Vintage Hunting
Has your father ever waxed nostalgic about the car he was desperate to own in high school? Something a neighbor or maybe the football star owned? Or perhaps there was a watch that he loved but one day lost and still mourns?
Why not arrange a date with your dad to go on the hunt for vintage treasures? You could spend an afternoon in a u-pull-it yard or a junkyard, walking among the rusted hulks of cars he remembers clearly, or visit a car museum to hear him share memories. Thrift stores, consignment shops, and even yard sales in every town are filled with items that could spur nostalgic moments and perhaps inspire a purchase. Just don’t hurt his feelings and suggest a trip to an “antique store” to look for childhood possessions. “Vintage” is a much softer word!
2. Board Room
Did your father harbor a secret (or maybe not-so-secret) desire to surf in his youth? Or maybe he is now looking with envy at paddle boarders gliding on the lake surface. Could be a kayak is more his speed, but whatever his water-borne dream, you can take steps to bring it alive.
Kayak and SUP (stand up paddleboard) rental companies abound near watery places, and if there is a surf break nearby then there is a surf school nearby. No need to undergo a lengthy commitment, just a one-day quick lesson and board rental will do the trick and give you (yes, you’d better get out there on the board or in the kayak too) both a taste of the boarding life.
Kayaking might be easier for dads who have knee issues and can’t balance on a paddleboard.
3. Wilderness Lodges and Ready-Made Camping
Did you spend your childhood watching your father struggle and swear to back up a trailer into a narrow parking space, or try to remember how to set up the tent summer after summer? It is time to let him relax, and you can take over from here…but if setting up a tent or backing up a trailer isn’t really your thing, there are now places that let you have the camping experience without the hassle of set up.
Airstream trailers are the hippest thing these days, and all around the country there are hotels that have turned the shiny aluminum trailers into comfy rooms you can rent. North of San Francisco in the heart of the Sonoma wine country is where you will find AutoCamp, where the trailers are outfitted like high end hotel rooms. Check them out at autocamp.com. Up in Oregon’s Willamette Valley is where you will find The Vintages Trailer Resort, filled with restored retro trailers, the kind that fans called “canned hams” because of their distinct shape. On the outskirts of Ashville, North Carolina, you can stay at the JuneBug Retro Resort, in their collection of restored 50s and 60s campers and trailers.
Wilderness lodges are also a way to go if you and your dad are in pretty good shape and willing to hike to get there. In Massachusetts, Mount Greylock has the Bascom Lodge for about $40 per bunk. In California, the High Sierra Camp is far more comfortable but also quite a bit more expensive; it falls into the category of “glamping.”
Even if your dad’s trailer driving days are behind him, you can still get him out there in a folding chair to watch you struggle to light the campfire. Now it’s his turn to laugh at your efforts.
4. Sharing a Sunrise
Watching the sunrise holds a personal meaning for each of us. The quiet and stillness of a new morning watching with amazement all the glory as a new day uniquely encourages us…It is even better shared or better yet, shared with Dad. Have you considered rising at dawn with a thermos brimming with hot coffee, and Dad? How special it would be, magical even, to take Dad for coffee as the sun comes up. Get out the thermos and real coffee cups. You just might have a handed down red plaid travel thermos stored somewhere in the garage. Take the blankets and chairs. When have the two of you ever done this?
If Dad is retired and likes to avoid crowds, arrange your work schedule to make it happen. There are opportunities for enjoying a sunrise every day.
Watching a sunrise together might open your father up to sharing memories from your childhood that he remembers fondly.
5. Backyard Movie Night
Of course your father has a big screen television in his house and the ability to watch a favorite old film whenever he wants on the Turner Classic Movies channel. But wouldn’t it be more fun and festive to set up a screen in the backyard, gather some family friends, pop up some popcorn, and pour your favorite candy into a bowl and host an outdoor movie night for your dad? Maybe you can show the very movie that your parents went to on their first date!
There might still be a pull up screen in your father’s house left over from the days of watching slide shows, or you can certainly find one at a thrift store. For outdoor movies you can improvise by hanging a sheet, show the movie against a wall, or spring for one of the blow-up screens that are available from online retailers.
6. The Note
Write a handwritten note to your dad. It could be silly or serious but most of all, it must be sincere. Remind him of something that he’s done that sticks in your mind. He may have forgotten or maybe he never knew how important it was to you.
Write about just one thing. A father doesn’t always have the experience of seeing your handwriting, especially in today’s world. It promises to add value to his memories of you. Writing a letter is probably easier than listing all the reasons of why your father is a great father. It doesn’t need to be a long letter. What is written in a note will become a lasting memory.
Do you remember opening a handwritten letter from your dad? Do you recall holding it for a while before reading it because you’ve never received a letter from him before? It promises to be a personal experience for you. It works the other way around too. And, you can do it anytime for any reason.
7. Close Shave
When was the last time you went for a haircut with your dad? Maybe it’s time to share a haircut together. Has your dad always gone to the same barber? If so, listen in to the banter—their relationship continues in conversation every four or five weeks; you will likely be intrigued with their interaction. Take a selfie with your dad or a photo of your dad and his barber, then turn it into a Father’s Day card. You’ll learn something new about your dad as you share a meaningful and lasting experience that includes a trim.
Barbers are suddenly hip these days, and what was considered an old-fashioned job is now highly sought after by a new crop of young men entering the profession. So maybe you should take your dad to your barber instead and let him see how the barbershop world is changing.
8. Visit a National Park
With our busy day-to-day lives, obligations, planned vacations, and holidays, how much quality time have you actually shared one-on-one with your father? Twenty-nine states have accessible national parks. Visiting national parks is quite a popular bucket list item! We think sharing the adventure with Dad should be bumped up to the top of the list.
In the US, we have the ability to enjoy 61 protected lands, each unique, special, and amazing like nothing else in our world. Within the parks we can fish, swim, explore, hike, view historical objects, unique geological features, and ecosystems. We can enjoy great animal experiences like finding an elk herd, moose in the wild, bison herds, or find rare birds, like albatross. Imagine seeing wildlife that can’t be found anywhere else on earth and sharing the experience with Dad. You may remember being a child seated in the backseat of the family car as you read the national park signs that you passed on the way to somewhere else. Well, now is the time to share that curiosity with Dad. He just might surprise you with his ideas of which park to explore first.
9. The Old Country
Establishing family traditions leads into family heritage. Ask Dad about your family heritage. Do a DNA test together and wait for the results. Research family history for an amazing journey together. Share an ancestry project with Dad. Gather the family history through scrapbooks or files that Dad has and move forward with an ancestry website. This project might take a while. It could start with a community information class and continue with online information. Most ancestry-type websites that are available include an enormous database. It requires a commitment of time to check and recheck information so that your family history is verifiable. This is a great project when you have a committed allowance of time available.
Be prepared to discover more about your family history than you believed possible. This is also an opportunity to collect old family photos, identify family members, and organize the information including letters, cards, and other important historical data that Dad has collected over his life.
10. Keys to the Ferrari
Has your father always secretly (or not-so-secretly) longed to drive a high-end performance car like a Maserati, a Ferrari, or a James Bond-like Aston Martin? Or perhaps swan around town in a toney Bentley in the manner of to the manor born? It is possible to give him the experience for a short time, anyway. Many of the well-known car rental agencies have high end departments that rent specialty cars.
Hertz has a Prestige Collection that rents Mercedes and Range Rovers, and Enterprise has a division called Exotic Cars Collection that rents Aston Martins, Bentleys, Ferraris, Maseratis, and Lamborghinis.
This excerpt has been adapted from “Every Day Should Be Father’s Day: 50 Ways to Honor, Appreciate, Indulge, and Amuse Your Dad” by Jennifer Basye Sander. To buy this book, click here.
