April 2020

Name: Brewery Tours
Start: 2020-02-07
End: 2020-02-07
Location: Durty Bull Brewing Company @ 206 Broadway Street

March 30, 2020/Durham Magazine/The Magazine

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As I write this, our city is stuck smack in the here and now – it’s no small thing shuttering a city, a state, a world, and asking everyone to sacrifice together by not touching, by not working, by staying home, by changing everything. Other historical inflection points are inadequate to the moment – there is not a day of infamy, nothing to compare to the shared grief and anger after 9/11, or the Great Depression when fully 25% of the nation’s workforce was idle.

Maybe the sui generis-ness of the virus and its shutdown prevents us from clearly imagining what tomorrow will look like in Durham. Surely, much, most, of the city will come roaring back; after all, I’ve always thought of Durham as a city where optimism is the dominant part of our DNA.

But it’s fair to expect that the new normal is going to be unfair. Some restaurants won’t reopen and others are going to need extra support to get back on their feet. Many are, right now, trying to serve the community and keep their staff employed (as much as possible) by providing delivery and pickup meals. Thank you.

Typically, we as a nation eat out six times every week. When our great restaurants reopen, I hope that number doubles, which will not be a hardship here. Maybe that will stave off the onslaught of the chain restaurants. The foodiest city in North Carolina has come a long way in the past dozen years, and it will be crushing if we slide back, which I don’t for a moment believe will happen.

The heaviest burden, though, after any calamity, disproportionally falls on the shoulders of the neediest. This magazine is committed to helping out those most hurt by the virus in the aftermath of this overwhelming disaster. But that’s down the road , which we are all traveling together. – Dan Shannon