EDUCATION

Volusia bar owners prepare for busy night before Thanksgiving, despite COVID-19 pandemic

Cassidy Alexander
The Daytona Beach News-Journal

If Thanksgiving is the holiday for binge eating, then the day before is for binge drinking. 

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving — sometimes referred to as Drinksgiving or Blackout Wednesday — is a famously busy day for bars, when people head back to their hometown for maybe the first time all year, and aim to reconnect with old friends on the same trip.

“You definitely have an influx of traffic,” said Tom Caffrey, co-owner of the Pallet Pub and World’s Most Famous Brewery in Daytona Beach. He's hopeful this year will be no different.

But 2020 is anything but a typical year. The feCenters for Disease Control and Prevention urged Americans not to travel for the holiday this year, instead recommending abridged celebrations with members of the same household. And as for dining or drinking out, health organizations like the CDC continue to emphasize that it's risky to gather with a crowd of people who aren't wearing masks. 

More:CDC recommends that Americans don't travel for Thanksgiving

Between the rising case numbers in the state and the millions who have already begun traveling and gathering around the Thanksgiving holiday, Director of Infection Prevention at UF Health Jacksonville Chad Neilson said it's a particularly bad time to be going out. 

"If (people) are going to be participating in traditional Thanksgiving dinners with the whole family ... they then take whatever virus they pick up from their family dinner to an establishment like a bar or restaurant that's not set up to prevent transmission of the virus," he said. 

"There's just more viral activity out there in the community and that will spill into all aspects of economic activity — that's why it's so imperative that people continue to social distance and wear masks."

The day before Thanksgiving can be one of the busiest bar days of the year — but heading to bars is ill-advised during the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the medical advice and science must compete with pandemic fatigue and bar owners who have already been dealing with months of lost revenue. 

Patti Miracle, who owns Seaside Tavern in Ormond-by-the-Sea, said her business hasn’t fully recovered from its nearly six-month closure earlier in the year. A lot of her usual patrons are elderly and their families have been urging them to stay in instead of heading to the 50-seat tavern. Miracle is not opening on Thanksgiving this year, despite it usually being a busy time. 

"Considering the oddity of this year and what’s been going on, I just think it’s best to let people stay with their families," she said. "I think the pandemic has really affected people mentally as far as where their values lie, they want to be with their families."

Caffrey has noticed a drop in business coinciding with a drop in tourism in the area, but said his business is back to operating at full capacity and maintaining a strict cleaning schedule. 

"Outside of just being a little more cautious, we don’t have a huge change here in Daytona," he said. "It's hard to mandate masks in a place like ours because everybody's drinking."

More:Volusia bar owners sue DeSantis, state, over closings

Gov. Ron DeSantis has indicated that at this point, he will not shut the state down again, Neilson said — leaving choices like masking and social distancing up to private business owners and customers. 

"There’s a large amount of people who are just over this, the pandemic fatigue has set in, they want to forget about it and go on with regular Thanksgiving celebrations," Neilson said. "Unfortunately this just isn’t the right time for that."

Miracle, who was one of two local bar owners who sued the state over the bar closures, said the Thanksgiving closure won't make much of a difference for her. But another extended closure after a dramatic uptick in cases would be a different story. 

"If there's another closure, we're done," she said.