News: The Ultimate Valentine's Day Date Guide for Steampunks

You (or your partner, or both) are a Steampunk. Let's get away from all the mindless, unfeeling commercialism for a few minutes and think about dates instead of gifts—where do you take your significant other for Valentine's Day? What would be the ultimate Steampunk Valentine's Day date?

There are probably a million awesome places to go, but these are at the top of my list:

1. The Edison

The Edison is a bar in Los Angeles that looks vaguely like an industrial wet dream. The bar itself used to dbe a power plant, and was in fact the first power plant ever built in L.A.

While it's frequently crowded full of non-Steampunks, the luxurious visuals are worth the hassle. I'm sure it'll be absolutely jam-packed on Valentine's Day, but it might still be worth it if you've never been.

These pictures, as gorgeous as they are, just don't do justice to the actual space. It's the most amazing club I've ever been to—the only problem is their clientele!

2. The Edison Museum

Let's stay on the Edison kick for a moment and take a look at the Edison Museum in Beaumont, Texas. With more than 1,400 artifacts, this museum is packed full of cool Steampunk stuff.

If your guy or gal likes learning about stuff, this is definitely a good option.

I know that Edison gets a lot of flak in the Steampunk community for being a massive jerk, but he also got a lot of stuff done! I would classify him as more of a business man or a science popularizer than an actual scientist, but there's no denying his role in history.

3. The House on the Rock

There is just no possibly way to describe The House on the Rock, in Wisconsin, to someone who hasn't been there. Words fall short when trying to explain it, but I'll give it a try.

The House on the Rock was built by one man, and is more than just a house; it's more of a compound. It houses a museum about the house itself, as well as the house, which is also sort of a museum.

Try to imagine a museum that's also a totally ridiculous house, that has the largest collection of self-playing musical instruments in the US, as well as the largest carousel in the entire world.

Did I mention that it also has a three-story-tall sculpture of a whale inside of it? Seriously, there's just no way to explain something so bizarre. Trust me, it would make an excellent date!

4. The Alexander Graham Bell Museum

Alexander Graham Bell is a name that frequently gets left out of Steampunk, but his work is thoroughly interesting! While he's most notably known for his work on the telephone, he did far more than that in his life. The museum in Nova Scotia was built near Bell's own home, and contains a variety of objects that he worked on.

This odd, unassuming building is actually quite large. One of the things that Bell worked on later in his life was high-speed travel, particularly on the water. So you can see some absolutely awesome designs and prototypes that he made.

It totally reeks of mad science, and is a great place to wander around and look at cool stuff!

5. One of the Many Train Graveyards

Old trains, being steam-powered, are something of a symbol in Steampunk, so what could be better than going to see a whole ton of old trains?

Particularly when they're all rusting and falling apart, they look absolutely beautiful, even in decay. There are train graveyards across the world, but some of the most notably ones are in Belgium, Bolivia, New Jersey, Ukraine, Thailand, and Cincinnati.

If you live near any of those locations, you owe it to yourself to look into visiting them. Take pictures, and all of your Steampunk friends will be jealous!

And More...

Where would you recommend that people go for Steampunk dates? I know there are plenty more places out there, so why don't you share some of the great places that you know!

Pictures from Parks Canada, LA Travelbug, Thirsty in LA, Wikipedia, JKroll, PBase, and PunkTrunk.