Valentine’s Day Ideas for Your Soldier Soulmate

January 1, 2023
Pacific Beach, at the tip of the Olympic Peninsula, is a resort for military personnel.

Pacific Beach, at the tip of the Olympic Peninsula, is a resort for military personnel.

Fear not if you haven’t begun thinking about Valentine’s Day. You still have some time, and some of the most thoughtful ideas don’t take much planning, or money for that matter.

We have gathered a few ideas to get your creative gears turning; customize a Valentine’s Day care package or romantic gesture. Valentine’s Day is Feb. 14, if you didn’t already know.

Gifts to get your service member

Valentine’s Day gift idea for deployed husbands, wives or significant others abound as well, so don’t feel like you have to spend lots of money or time away to show that you care about your military mate.

The trick to making a gift special is to make sure it comes from the heart. Pinterest is full of ideas that range from personalized coffee mugs and picture frames to fitness wears or other gifts that will last for years to come.

Gifts with minimal, or even no price tags, can often be the most thoughtful. So don’t downplay the low-key options of dinner-and-a-movie at home or a cheesy card you both could laugh about over a glass of wine.

Not everything has to be all-out romantic. Heck, Post-It Notes of appreciation that are strategically placed around his or her living space or office can be just the trick. But maybe consider upping your game with a hand-written love letter, because really, when was the last time you put pen to paper and expressed your love for your soul mate?

Care packages can include the standard heart-themed candies and cookies and a tried-and-true stuffed animal in a uniform as well as an old-fashioned love letter.

Oh, the places you’ll go

Of course, generally tops on the “romantic meter” would be a weekend away, maybe at some bed and breakfast on the coast, a cabin in the woods or a night out on the town. For those near JBLM, here are some local retreats that are worth looking into.

There are places like Pacific Beach, a resort for military personnel just outside of the Quinault reservation at the tip of the Olympic Peninsula that just so happens to be offering a Sweetheart Weekend package for Valentine’s Day. The special offer includes lodging, prime rib dinners for two and relaxation to the sounds of waves lapping on the shore outside the hotel and cottage doors.

For seclusion a little bit closer to home, there are bed and breakfasts on Anderson Island, which is accessible by ferry, just a 15-minute drive from Joint Base Lewis McChord.

View from the Browns Point Lighthouse by Steve Dunkelberger.
View from the Browns Point Lighthouse by Steve Dunkelberger.

There is also the hidden gem of the Browns Point Lighthouse in North Tacoma. The lighthouse allows visitors to not only see the lights of downtown Tacoma in relative quiet but serve as lighthouse keepers during their stay in relative seclusion.

More energetic weekends could mean nights in the “big city” of Tacoma or Seattle, with all of their nightlife, museum and restaurant offerings.

But not everyone can afford either the time or expense of a weekend getaway. Maybe a fancy dinner could do the trick. It’s a good thing that Tacoma has an emerging “food scene,” with places like the Melting Pot, CI Shenanigans and Pacific Grill offering upper-end dining.

No matter where you go or what you get them, your soldier, sailor, airman or Marine will appreciate your care and love more than anything.

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