Writing project: Getting the spouse to come along

Let's do the Chamber of Commerce thing

Here's the scenario: You have a buddy coming from a long way away to sail in your local sailing venue. But the weather's lousy, so you need to find something your pal can do (besides becoming a couch potato in your living room), some activity that's special or unique to your area, so that, even when the weather clears and you both get out sailing, he'll remember that other activity as well.

Or maybe your buddy has a spouse or significant other or family members who, alas, aren't into sailing. In order to get your friend to come sailing with you, you have to convince her travel companions that they won't be sitting around doing nothing while she has fun sailing.

So here's the challenge: Tell about activities that can be done close to your local sailing venue, besides sailing. This can be just about anything: shopping, sightseeing, dining, museums, outdoor activities, spa treatments, wacky local traditions, whatever. Concentrate on the offbeat; for example, if you're in the New York City area, everybody already knows about the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty – tell us about something that isn't on the radar of the average tourist.

As with the light bulb joke project, contributors will be awarded, upon their next visit to New Mexico, a pint of beer at either Socorro Springs Brewing Company or the High Country Saloon. A new bonus is that if three or more contributors show up at the same time to claim their beers, I may be able to arrange a VIP showing of the short film Pirates of the White Sand, which will soon be available in a final director's cut; one of Fuego's buddies manages an art cinema in Albuquerque and can arrange a showing at some time when there aren't paying customers (i.e., during the day on weekdays).

Also as with the light bulb joke project, I will be counting entries by the number of activities you recommend rather than the number of posts, so go ahead and recommend multiple activities. A bonus of this particular writing project is that you don't have to be a sailor to participate – if you live near someplace where people can go sailing (and that's just about everywhere), you can make recommendations for sailors and their travel companions.

The deadline for this project is July 31, so get those entries flowing, either by posting on your own blog and putting a link in the comments here, or by posting the entry in the comments.