I read in Dear Abby or something today, about a woman whose children promised her a trip to anywhere along I-80 for her 80th birthday. I thought that was a fun idea. Here, local Route 60 gets you to a WalMart. But also a Nothing Bundt Cakes, so there’s that! Is there an I-60?

Well, it turns out that there is no I-60 except a fictional one in a movie. So, so much for that idea.

DH gave me a list of all the places I can get a senior discount.

OH! At 60 you can get a life membership to the National Parks! I got one! Free entry for everyone in your car! We don’t have much in the way of National Parks north of Chicago, though.

I’m seeing age 62 for the lifetime senior pass to the national parks...

I like the idea of a list of places to get a senior discount, haha! Also, he doesn’t have an AARP membership yet so I could get him that too.

I distinctly remember DH's 60th birthday which wasn't too long ago. It was Friday afternoon, and his birthday was the next day. That morning I had oral surgery in the City. One was to get a root out of my gum that wouldn't come out when the dentist got the rest of the tooth, the other was to pull a molar in the far back. He didn't have to pull it but I told him to just get it done with because it was recommended. Actually that was the best dental appointment I've ever had. lol.

I digress. While in bed fighting a swollen jaw and pain, I heard DH on the phone calling our friends telling them he's throwing himself a 60th bday party the next day. WHAT? This was when DS1, DL and kids were staying with us while their house was being built, and they pulled it off. I said hello to everyone and went back to bed.

My 60th bday? Kids were still living with us and I bought a tee shirt from Amazon saying, "This is what 60 looks like." They laughed. And that was all. :(

I had mine in the absolute middle of the worst of the pandemic. I dreaded it and hated it, so I got nothing. It was the pits. This year hubs got me a gift certificate which I plan on spending on plants . . . which brings me to . . . at my age, I don't want or need much in the way of things. Is there something hubs loves to do that you could do a special trip for? Prior to the pandemic, as a Christmas gift for hubs, I organized a trip to a local music festival and a stay as a special B&B, which for us was a really fun trip, since we don't have much opportunity to enjoy live music locally and hubs loves it. I can also think of a few other trips I could organize around things he likes too, like a trip to wine country, etc. A special golf weekend would be another one for hubs, or a bike trip . . . but that's my husband. But maybe something like that for yours, a special weekend package that you design around things he really likes a lot. You don't have to go the exact weekend of his birthday . . . just put together some flyers or something so it looks like a package deal . . .

Edited to add that at this point I would LOVE a party with friends outside vaccinated folks. Everyone could bring some type of remembrance or photo that you could put in a binder for him. A friend did that for her husband, that was fun.

We usually do a big trip for the big birthdays. DH‘s 60 was Hawaii, mine was Italy.

But....I really like your beer garden idea. Be creative in gifts, throw some humor in.

Since I'm single, I organize my decade parties now. For the 60th, I took about 30 of my friends to the roller derby in Seattle where we watched the Rat City Roller Girls, then to a nearby restaurant for a catered dinner. It was SO much fun!

Oly, what an awesome night out for you and your friends!

One of our neighbors did a block party/carnival complete with bounce houses, magicians, fortune tellers, all sorts of games with prizes, and clowns, of course, for her husband's 6th decade party. She had the shindig catered via various food trucks. And there was a bar tent where you needed a wrist band for admittance. A great time was had by all.

For my Dh's 60th we went to a lake cabin, with his siblings who could meet us, in an unfamiliar area. We just had fun in the sun and water. On his birthday date we had a nice cake. Not fancy but delightful.

My birthday is in September. My kids each sent me a card with little squares of paper in them. When I opened the first one I thought that it was some kind of confetti. When the same confetti was in the other two cards I realized that something was up, and realized that I had a puzzle to put together.

I immediately recognized it as a sculpture in Puerto Vallarta, and with the Christmas gifts and Santa hats I realized that it meant a family trip for Christmas!

I had a big party at our house for DH's 60th. It wasn't a surprise. He's a very social extrovert so he loved it. He had a big surprise party for my 50th and I'm not so much of a social extrovert so I had planned a trip to Asheville, NC and that's all I wanted to do. SURPRISE! For my 60th I told him I didn't want any party - just a relaxing time away at our lake cabin and a nice dinner out. I think it killed him to do nothing more than that but I enjoyed it. We have also taken some special trips on some of the other big birthdays, often with good friends.

We don't do anything for so-called milestone birthdays. And when I thought about it, neither do our friends or siblings.

4 hours ago

I’m seeing age 62 for the lifetime senior pass to the national parks...

Maybe it was 62. Once you’re 60, time just all flows together..

I threw a party for my husband in New England where most of his family (10 siblings) and many friends are. We had a great week up there too. When my son turned 30 we went to Disney World with him and a couple of friends and their families (all young men with disabilities) and on that trip I decreed that all decade birthdays would be celebrated with a trip. I'm turning 60 next month and we are going to Hawaii in October. But we will be at the beach here during my birthday week.

I like the beer garden idea! Maybe get an oompah band for a bit, serve pretzels and bratwurst. Could be fun.

One idea is to get something in writing. On one of my birthdays, I gathered a few girlfriends and we all went to the lakehouse. During the birthday dinner, they presented me with a beautiful little wooden bowl full of smooth rocks (the kind you might see in vases), upon which they had each written one word that they felt described me. And then they went around and talked about what they'd written. I truly had no idea they held some of those beautiful thoughts about me, and not only is it a wonderful memory, but I love having the little bowl of stones. I've also always loved the idea of getting people from the person's life to send in notes about a memory and presenting those together somehow. Sixty is momentous, and none of us are promised tomorrow..... it's an opportunity to let people share things they might not otherwise.

We only barely acknowledge birthdays as we age. However, my favorite best remembered birthdays were had boating. Champagne, finger food and a beautiful sunny day! Oh joy!

We really don't make a big deal. The Mr. and I neither one like being the center of attention. We always do something special, but not a party. He turned 60 in 2020 and we had a weekend away in a place that is special to us. Dinner out with our best friends (AKA family to us). My 60th was in January with the pandemic in place. He went out and picked up a special dinner for us to enjoy at home.

I think what I’ll do is plan a family dinner out on that Fri — middle DS is planning to come home for DH’s bday so I’ll keep it a surprise and he can just show up at the restaurant. (He lives across the country.) That will be exciting enough for DH. So now I just need to figure out what we might do to continue the celebration through the weekend.

We are also going to our beach house with our two “BFF” couples the weekend before the bday, and that will also be a surprise to DH.

Part of me is just ready to host a party, but I also know that’s more my thing than his, and he’d probably be happier with low key celebration(s).

Sounds like you have a good plan in place. Kudos to you for recognizing and respecting that he would be happier with low key celebrations.

Years ago, I threw a “surprise” party for my husband to prevent his sister from throwing a party for him. He agreed to the party and knew the overall plan but not every detail.

To prevent his sister, or other family members, from hiring a clown/stripper/stripping clown, which she had done for his birthday before I knew him, I put her in charge of stopping anyone who wanted to surprise him with anything like that.

For some years husband & I had been hosting 6-8 friends for Fourth of July Bar-B-Q. Husbands birthday is early May. The year he turned 60 I sent out invitations to about 36 friends to join us for a surprise party on Fourth of July. I was able to prepare for the party and Husband never noticed the quantities were WAY more than 10 adults would eat. He didn't even notice I had rented several banquet tables and chairs.

Friends started arriving at our house. After about a dozen were milling about Husband asked me what was going on and we all screamed "Happy Birthday".

LOL, Rho, that’s a good one. My SIL did something similar but it was in winter so friends just started walking in their front door.

I have developed a plan with the help of the kids. DH likes puzzles, is very intelligent, likes to use his noodle. So on that Sat we are going to do a scavenger hunt in the city, have lunch someplace, then do an escape room (we did this a few years ago as a family and had a lot of fun). Trying to think of other things to add to the theme. He does suduko every morning but a custom crossword puzzle could be the way I tell him what’s happening that weekend, if I could figure that out.

Oh, or a jigsaw puzzle. I could write down what we are doing, take a photo, get a custom puzzle made.

Guess who else is smart? LMAO

Huber o I laughed out loud. Clown stripper?!

“Oh, or a jigsaw puzzle. I could write down what we are doing, take a photo, get a custom puzzle made.”

Yes! Do this. But...remove the most important pieces so he won’t know all the details til the puzzle is almost complete. .

I am reminded of my BF turning 60. I asked him if he wanted a casual party and he almost agreed -- but his boss invited him to play with his group in a scramble at a nearby resort. He chose golf. It turned out to be a bad choice, because his boss unexpectedly charged him $250 to play. lol!

DH turned 60 during Covid. The two of us took a car trip to Sedona, it’s about 8 hours from home, we hiked and enjoyed outdoor dining. Then we had a small outdoor get together with our immediate family.

My cousin really went overboard LOL. Friday night he hosted a private dinner party at a restaurant for close friends and family; then on Saturday afternoon he had a large event in a local park, with several tents, music, food, drink, and invited a few of his favorite causes (Sierra Club for one) to set up booths.

Me? I celebrated by training for and completing a half-marathon (not on my birthday, but that month) then had all the cake and ice cream I wanted!

Ohh cooking class is a good idea. But now I’m so gung ho on my puzzle theme... cooking doesn’t really fit.

The puzzle thing sounds great. Although I really love the cooking idea too. It seems like you're on the right track for your DH though. You might all be too tired to do any cooking class as well anyway...

I hadn't read all the comments when i posted ; I'm only on my phone. I just meant that doing some task or project as a family is always fun ... SueB your plan sounds perfect.

Maybe part of the scavenger hunt is for exotic ingredients for a cooking activity later?