On the patio

Pandemically Speaking

Our first time going to a restaurant since the pandemic started for us in mid-March was at the Long View Lodge in Long Lake NY during our Adirondack vacation. We stopped for a beer on the outside patio. We had the round of drafts and called it a day.

It was me and Becky, Ashley and Sean and Katie. Todd was back at the cottage with the kids. Some of us had done a little shopping at Hoss’s and we decided to show them the newly renovated hotel and restaurant. However, it was a hot day and we were sitting in the sun on the patio deck. There was only one other table on the deck in use at the time so it was a good time to be there except it was hot. We had walked through the restaurant and the bar area. The restaurant was empty but there were a few people sitting socially distant at the bar. When walking through the building a mask was required but we could remove them when seated at our table. The waitress who took our beer order wore a mask when interacting with us. This was the new world of the pandemic.

We had a long history of going to the Long View Lodge for dinner going back three decades. It originally was a very traditional Adirondack hotel and restaurant with a group of cottages directly on Long Lake through the 80’s and 90’s. We loved going there and later with the kids. It was always a special occasion. I liked getting the lake trout dinner. Then later it had new owners. A couple of retired school teachers. It was still good but was noticeably slipping in food quality and service. Then it closed for nearly 10 years.

It recently was completely renovated and reopened by the next generation of the family that owns Hoss’s, a Long Lake tradition itself. The family member running the restaurant had recently owned and operated a high quality restaurant in San Francisco. Last year Becky and I stopped by the newly renovated bar for a couple of drinks and talked to the bartender and the owner. We had a very nice time there but could not get back there for dinner that year. We were anxious to stop by this year to show Katie and Sean. They loved the restaurant when they were children and teenagers. The new dining rooms were very impressive and the menu looked very tempting with a Southern cooking flavor.

A couple of days later we watched the kids in our cottage while Katie and Todd went out for the first time for dinner without their children since February. They sat on the patio under an awning and had a wonderful dinner. Becky and I are looking forward to going back next year for dinner with the entire family after the pandemic.