The way that I’ve helped myself come to terms with the recent state of affairs is to simply repeat the words “nobody told me there’d be days like these — strange days indeed”. One can only wonder if in writing those words, John Lennon imagined there’d be days quite like these.
I began this blog with a colleague in 2016 intending to explore the vibrant dining and drinking community that we were are all fortunate to have in Bellingham, and share those experiences in an interesting, informative, and photo-rich manner.
New restaurants, craft breweries, and cideries were among the exciting new businesses opening (and closing) at an amazing rate. Bellingham became known as a craft brew mecca. Since then, many more have cropped up, including unique venues such as the Makeworth Market, and more recently, the Neko Cat Cafe. As you can see by the articles published here, we got off to a pretty good start.
Our goal was not only to introduce you to new establishments, but to stay connected to our dynamic community, and support the food and beverage establishments while doing so.
The obvious benefits of turning our love of eating a good meal and sampling local frosted malt beverages into a business were not lost on us. After a few (too many) of those fine malt beverages one night, DIneDrinkBellingham.com was officially launched.
As often is the case in life, an unexpected turn of events interrupted our journey. Life’s events forced me to change directions suddenly. My partner decided to return to her native Spokane, and the combination of the two events made it impossible for the publication to continue.
Which brings us to today. I freely admit that during my 60 or so some odd years of life, I always believed it would be our strange relationship with nuclear weapons that might radically alter our society.
And while I gave the various predictions of pandemic credence (I too watched ‘Contagion” with frightened fascination), my mind was fixated on how I would live in the machine-controlled, post nuclear wasteland that was surely coming, and not how to survive an ongoing societal-altering pandemic.
It may seem like a strange time to revitalize this publication, after all, we are entering a period where certainly as many restaurants, bars, and craft breweries may be closing as opening, but the reality is – there could be no better time.
The food and beverage industry has been one of the hardest hit, with as many as 70% establishments either closing entirely, or greatly reducing operations.
The craft brewery industry, dependent on social interaction, is at a virtual standstill as social distancing is the new norm. The economic impacts, especially with regards to the service sector job losses, will be staggering for years to come. The changes in peoples habits as a result, will impact business in ways not foreseen.
As with any period of adversity, there are compelling stories out there. Many will be unfortunate, but many will be stories of adaptation, innovation, perseverance, caring for others, and courage. And there may be no other time in history where an industry, and our economy in general, needs more support.
We hope to share some of these stories and provide our readers with insights into how many have coped and adapted. And in doing so, provide any assistance that we can to help Bellingham’s food and beverage industry, and Bellingham, return to its full vibrancy.
