Covid Chronicles. Chapter 78: Restaurants Take a Hit

 

Read chapter 77 here

Tuesday, October 27, 2020     

What’s it like to live in a state where the virus continues to run amok, where every week a new record is set for daily new cases, where the positivity rate is consistently in the 20-30% range? (A new record of 32.4% today.) 

Not all that different from when we started to live in the Age of Covid seven months ago. We still go to stores to do most of our shopping, although the majority of our purchases fall into the grocery and home goods categories. Now that cooler weather has out a damper on patio dining, we rarely visit restaurants anymore, but takeout and delivery remains an occasional option. 

Photos by Retiring Guy

One of our favorite burger places, the Village Green in downtown Middleton, which makes the best double cheeseburger anywhere, is closing for the winter, not able to make a go of it with bar and restaurant capacity limits still in effect. During the summer and into the early fall, the owner added additional sidewalk seating and took advantage of a newly created green space with picnic tables next to his building to boost his business. Most people, however, are not ready to dine indoors again, especially with the virus raging out of control. Moreover, many business owners are unwilling to put their employees at risk, especially when dealing with people who flaunt public health guidelines. (Not to mention that the Village Green, a Middleton fixture for more than 50 years, never had much of a takeout business to begin with.) 

On the other hand, the Free House, located across the street from the Village Green, has placed 7 patio heaters in their somewhat sheltered outdoor dining area, which until this year was one of our favorite summertime destinations. JoAnna and I made one of our rare restaurant visits here a few weeks ago, meeting a friend, Sue Lowry, one of The Usual Suspects, who is 72, retired, lives alone, and limits her social contacts to a small group of people, of which we are obviously a part. She spends the winters at her condo in Boynton Beach, Florida, an area where one of her children and some grandchildren live. With the virus ramping up again just about everywhere, she’s concerned about how much time she’ll be able to spend with them this winter. 

We met Sue for lunch on a cloudless day and chose to sit in the sun in the far left corner of the patio. This location protected us from a pretty good breeze blowing in the from north. None of the seven patio heaters were operating, so I’m unable to vouch for their effectiveness. Even with the impact of climate change, I don’t imagine they’ll be at all helpful during a typical Wisconsin winter.