Pennsylvania Has Shut Down Drinksgiving
Alas, the evening that's earned a tab in Wikipedia known as Blackout Wednesday is cancelled in PA.
With coronavirus cases surging in Pennsylvania ahead of Thanksgiving, restaurants in the state will be prohibited from selling alcohol on Wednesday evening – the night known as Thanksgiving eve, the busiest drinking night of the year.
Restaurants and bars in Pennsylvania will not be permitted to sell beer, wine and liquor on premises from 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 25 to 8 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 26.
Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced the new restrictions Monday amid a slew of new COVID-19 mitigation efforts that address everything from education and telework to mask requirements and occupancy limits.
As a selfish prego very much on board with 'misery loves company' I say, "HA, you fools, join my pain."
But really, as a native Philly suburbanite my heart hurts for all the establishments out there struggling; this will be another huge blow across the state, especially since the restrictions came out so late in the game. Eater.com keeps a list of all the places shuttering permanently and scrolling through it is sobering. Among the latest was a Philly landmark on Broad St., Boot & Saddle.
On a much lesser scale this also poses a huge dilemma for the PA 20-somethings crowd. How are you supposed to spend your Thanksgiving Eve now? You had big plans of getting wasted & then hitting on that girl who sat behind you in 11th grade Bio & then making out with your buddy Tom's older sister then getting in a fist fight with Tom and then almost getting into a fist fight with your dad after tackling the inflatable turkey in the yard upon exiting your Uber. Now what?
The best solution I can think of for Thanksgiving Eve is to get boozed up at home in the garage or basement away from judgy parental eyes & then order a ton of takeout from the spot you were going to go to show them some support (take-out cocktails are also allowed FYI). You can absolutely still almost fight your dad. Keep a little normalcy.
** To clarify, I saw a lot of people on Twitter freaking out because they took this as beer/liquor stores also being closed the entire day before Thanksgiving but that's not the case. It's only restaurants/bars from 5pm - 8am, but I realize how much that still sucks. In the meantime you can bug your state legislature to provide more support to local businesses if they're going to impose these rules and/or lookup donation sites for emergency relief funds for the workers affected.