Great advice @retiredtraveler ! Single seniors need to take the initiative and educate themselves about the opportunities available as well learn to navigate the internet to find exactly what they're looking for.
Meet-Up is a good catch-all and depending upon where one lives, there may be multiple opportunities for breakfast, luncheon, dinner groups, wine tastings, etc. There are activities groups as well, ranging from full-bore, all-out calorie-burning activities to simpler outdoorsy pursuits that require less physical effort.
Gyms, athletic clubs and the YMCA all offer opportunities to meet others of like mind. Basketball groups are popular at my local Y and women congregate in the sauna or hot tub after exercise, yoga or aquacize to chitchat and catch up with each other.
For the lady who joined a new church, she could organize a luncheon meeting once a month. In my church, a woman who moved here from across the country did just that. It's called L. I. F. T. and the acronym stands for Ladies In Fellowship Together. Not particularly focused on religious issues, it affords attendees the opportunity to meet in an informal setting and enjoy each other's company for an hour. Everyone can do lunch once a month! We meet at local restaurants on a rotation basis.
My brother meets about half a dozen of his neighbors & friends at a local breakfast spot every Saturday he's in town. They kibbitz and joke with one another and over the years have become fast friends. They come from different walks of life but that doesn't matter. It started years ago when they all stopped in the same place to grab a quick coffee on Saturday mornings before they started their weekend errands. I know of several breakfast groups in my own town that have been going for years as well. Retirement has just increased the frequency of their meetings.
Do you like movies? I also know of several "movie & lunch" groups who meet once a week. They go to the movies on "Senior Day" which is usually a Tuesday and afterward go to a nearby restaurant for lunch. They claim their "senior discounts" at both places.
I also know of a "walking group" which follows their 3-mile morning walk with a light breakfast.
I belong to a group which meets once a month at a nice restaurant for cocktails & dinner, then repairs to one member's home for dessert and coffee. The restaurants are rotated.
I also hold "season ticket subscriptions" to concerts and plays as do many of my friends. Several of us generally attend together after first stopping for dinner out.
Volunteering is a great way to meet people with similar interests. One couple I know volunteers at a local concert hall. Neither had ever done that type of volunteering before but found that they loved it and they get to enjoy the concerts as well. They've met a lot of people that way.
Life is a smorgasbord of opportunities...you can hang back and stay hungry or you can graze to your heart's content! Try it! If you can't find what you want, make it happen...start small at first and gradually invite others to join you.
"Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness." ~ Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
