Since weather has been so oppressively hot as of late, and shows no sign of stopping, my husband and I have become virtual “vampires” in that if we “go out” to the bar, we only do it after 8: 30 p.m. So last night, we visited a local bar called Aubree’s, which we hadn’t visited since before mid March, when the Plague started claiming its first victims – and bars were shut down for everything but take out and delivery services. It was quite odd seeing a normally friendly bartender named Dana – who usually ran a tight ship at the crowded bar during happy hour on Friday nights – wearing a face shield – and pouring drinks by her lonesome at the bar without any barstools.

Outside was where a majority of the customers were sitting (including my husband and I), with seating expanded into the adjacent street (which has been closed to all but bicycle/pedestrian traffic). I saw a beer on the beer list that looked very, very enticing! It was called “Machine Shop Wit,” which is a Belgian style beer with various spices, orange peel, and…blueberry juice! We arrived around 9, and the bar/restaurant closed at 10, so I only had time to have one of these tasty, tasty beers.

We happened to see some people we knew walking along the sidewalk, so we chatted with them a bit. One of them is a local trivia host we’ve known a few years, she commented on another local bar scene, at a place called McShane’s. She said that the restaurant area has been improved somewhat (new flooring) and doesn’t look “quite as much” like a “bowling alley lounge.” Social distancing was great in the restaurant area, but not so great in the bar area, where she said customers were crowded closely with little social distancing.

Since Aubree’s closed to early, we decided to close out the evening at another nearby bar, Arbor Brewing Company Microbrewery (known to regulars as “The Corner Brewery”).