Yes! We went out to eat! Legally! In our own county! It was a heady experience, one that we thoroughly enjoyed. I was surprised that everything was nearly normal. We had a real menu to hold, and the table was not bare. We could reach for sugar, salt, pepper, mustard, ketchup, and sweeteners. The glaring difference was that half the tables had a taped “X” on them. The last time we ate there on a Sunday, all the tables were full. There was a steady stream of customers today, taking up most of the unmarked tables. We noticed there were people coming for take-out meals. With that added traffic, the restaurant might have been doing as much business as before COVID-19. Not all restaurants will be able to bounce back like that. As you can imagine, we were happy to help.
You can guess what I did. I took out the camera to record this historic moment. Look at those happy smiles and the huge bowl of salad in front of John. David’s fish did not swim into view, but it was shortly inside him.
We ate leisurely, since no one was waiting for our table. David had half an hour back at home before he had to go to work. He knows the Burger King dining room will be opening, but he hasn’t been told when. They will need a few more workers when that happens.
Mehrling Muse 
Lets pray this last and we don’t get a kick back.
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Kick back means to take it easy, doesn’t it? If we have a resurgence, we’ll be back in our homes taking it easy.
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LOL maybe not the best word. I was thinking getting kicked back to the curb and starting all over .
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I knew what you meant. I was just teasing. It’s so much fun to play with words.
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Wow! I am impressed. We won’t relax any restrictions for another 2 weeks and even then, not restaurant dining. Real menus? Real stuff? Just wow! Glad it was good.
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I think we would have enjoyed it, even if the food hadn’t been good.
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I get that too. It’s the return of one little piece of normal!
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Normal is more valuable now than it used to be.
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Amen! I will never mock normal again. Or routine. Nothing boring about it at all.
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How wonderful!! I bet you enjoyed every bite. I am looking forward to this moment in Michigan.
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We particularly enjoyed seeing people greet each other. We didn’t know anyone in the restaurant, but there were three families who called out greetings to each other.
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Oh you’re in trouble now for making me hungry. No way are our restaurants opening yet, I’m not sure about England so I’ll have to keep dreaming about my roast beef dinner.
Massive Hugs
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I’m sorry. Taunt me with your first meal out, and we’ll be even.
xxx Beefy Hugs xxx
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I’m beginning to forget what it’s like, to dine out. I’m happy that you now have the chance. Michelle and I are waiting to see the numbers start down. Which may never occur. We have had an uptick of 32% from last week, in our county.
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We’ve had 48 cases and no deaths in our county.
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Our restaurants are open in the northern part of the state, but not here except for carryout. We have a high death/cases toll though, but we are still at stay-an-home-as-it’s-safer order until June 12th.
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Your state has been hard hit. I hope the cases of the virus will drop soon.
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Yes it has Anne – hope it is back to normal soon.
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it’s nice to see that everything is normal at your end. Restaurants here only serve take-outs.
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There are still restrictions here, but we have it much easier than you do.
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Hi Anne
Good to see the smiling faces and business as usual in the restaurant.
Susie
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Eating out was wonderful. We missed it. Is the food good where you are?
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It is five star food with a limited menu.
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Wow! Hope you don’t get tired of the food before your quarantine is over.
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We ate in our area on Sunday after online church at home. We just hopped in the car and drove around looking for dine-in places. The parking lot at Baybreeze had lots of cars but all their flags out still said to go takeout available but no one was a the door. We started to leave because I wanted to support a dine-in place and decided to call. Yes, they had dine in. I saw no customers with mask. Condiments were not on the table and menus were trashed after use so they asked us to share. I’m pretty sure everyone in the part we were in, was older than us. I told the waitress about not knowing for sure they were back open and I heard others in the room agreeing. All the staff had masks on. It’s kinda hit or miss. Some restaurants had lines out the door. I think it’s painting a pretty clear picture of how folks feel about the restrictions. I don’t want a “new normal”.
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We’d like our old lives back!
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We only eat out once every few months, but I know others really miss it. Unfortunately, we have had a big spike in cases over the last two weeks, mostly in our Native community, but now it has hit the Safe House, public transport drivers and a local downtown restaurant, so I’m not sure what that means for us. We are at 150 cases now, and on May 3 we were still at 17. 😔
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That almost sounds like an explosion! I hope the number of cases goes down quickly.
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It’s concerning for sure. I spoke to a new piano parent this evening, who is a Dr. at the hospital, and she said the outbreak was pretty confined, but that we need to be very conscientious about hand washing these next few weeks.
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That’s good for everyone to know.
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How wonderful. Our restaurants, with limited seating should be opening the beginning of June, all being well.
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“Nearly normal”?! What a historic moment indeed!🙌🏻
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What is this sense of normalcy you seem to have? Amazing. And looks so fun!
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We haven’t been affected by the restrictions as much as many people.
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I hope that your little corner of the country can stay as low in infections as it has. Here, as you know, we have been massively hit and even outdoor restaurants just opened with very stringent conditions.
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We have a fairly low density of population, so we hope to avoid the worst of the virus.
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Let’s hope those reckless vacationers from other places stay away.
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People are coming into NC in larger numbers. The RV parks near us look full. Just a couple of weeks ago they were empty.
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In Maine they are bringing covid with them. May it not happen for you.
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A NY woman brought the virus to our area.
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It really doesn’t observe state boundaries, as many will be finding out this summer I fear.
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We live in a tourist area, although we don’t often cross paths with outsiders.
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But they appear to be raising your case load.
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I’m not sure outsiders have significantly increased the virus cases in our county. According to a local paper, 60 percent of ours are in nursing homes.
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How wonderful! Our region of the state (Pennsylvania) is opening on June 5 but even then, we can’t go out to a restaurant. Take out only for the foreseeable future.
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Well, we found out take out was better than nothing!
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That is awesome Anne! Restaurants have opened here as well but we have not been to one yet. Soon…I hope!
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I hope you have a wonderful experience the first time you return to the restaurant scene.
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Ooh, I’m envious! Don’t know when we’ll have the same freedom back again. I’m surprised you didn’t experience a long lineup!
I love going out for brunch, that’s what I want to do ASAP!
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We thought there might be a rush at restaurants, too, but people are being cautious. I hope you get to go out for brunch much sooner than you think.
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Thanks!!
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Great news for you. Soon I hope.
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