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A special day at Katie's. In recognition of public concerns about contagion, Mike, the owner of Katie's, removed some tables to create more space inside. He also brought in a couple of extra people to serve food & coffee outside, which was greatly appreciated! Were there any good cars there, for those who came out? You be the judge!
A friend, who is both a Car Guy and an ER doctor, helped me make sense of the seriousness of limiting personal contact: If we continue to travel and socialize at our normal rate, the number of COVID-19 cases will skyrocket. If that happens, the healthcare system will not be able to keep up. If, under the load of massive increases in patient loads, nurses and doctors get sick, this can very easily spin out of control. While contracting COVID-19 may not kill you, it might spread to your friends and relatives, through you. If they are 60 or older, or have existing health problems, it could kill them!
If people can just avoid close contact outside the home, it helps a lot. Local weather is such that it's pretty nice to be outside, which also works, keeping a sensible distance from others -- (social distancing). If we can extend the spread of the virus out to, say, a few months, the load on the healthcare system will be less, the supply of the masks and testing items can catch up, and everyone will benefit. No need for panic, but lots of reasons to help lessen the load on the system.
Hope this helps - the explanation was a help to me, in ways that what I see on news and social media has not been.
In case you were thinking about going to Saturday Cars & Coffee at Katie’s, don’t. I just got a call from Mike Kearney, owner of Katie’s. Fairfax County and the State of Virginia are insisting that any establishment that serves food must limit the total amount of people in their space to 10 – including employees. Mike will be putting out signs around his property, declaring that there will be no Cars & Coffee tomorrow.
I intend to make it a point to order carryout lunch or dinner from the Brogue several times in the coming weeks – I have a lot of sympathy for Mike & his employees. Mike says if we call ahead to (703)759-3309, they will let us know when we can pick the food up to take home. Here’s Mike’s message, from his website:
–March 18, 2020–
Dear Old Brogue & Katie’s Coffee House Patrons and Customers,
It is with a full heart that I write to thank you for your patronage and support on St. Patrick’s Day 2020. It was 39 years ago on St. Patrick’s Day that we opened our doors to begin serving our community. Over these many years, we have been through a lot together — we have celebrated life’s special events, mourned losses, and supported each other through personal, local, and national crises. The Coronavirus crisis sweeping our nation caused us to have to close our doors this St. Patrick’s Day. But you showed us that there is still the possibility to do some business while our doors are shut — a way to keep serving the community and to provide work for our employees, many of whom rely on their jobs at the Old Brogue to support their families.
Our pop-up Food & Brew Thru was patronized by over 400 customers yesterday. Thank you for showing up for us. Thank you for caring. Thank you for keeping the tradition of St. Patrick’s Day alive. The generous and caring spirit of the community that we are a part of was very much present yesterday, and we can’t tell you how much it means to us.
For the near future, we will remain open for takeout service (food, coffee, beer and wine) only. In the days ahead, we will be working to put new systems in place to efficiently and effectively run as a take-out business (we had a few tough lessons yesterday!).
Our current hours are:
Katie’s Coffee House will be open from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The Old Brogue will be open for takeout service from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. for our updated menu including nightly specials, beers and wine to-go.
You can either drive up to our Food and Brew Thru or you can call in your order to 703-759-3309. We will take your order in advance to be ready at a future time as well. We are all in uncharted territory now, and would appreciate your patience and feedback as we figure out how to best serve you. We will keep you updated on developments via our website. Please call us if you have any questions, concerns, or feedback.
When I was growing up, Johnny Carson was the king of late night TV. He was a fixture in every American home. When he was off, NBC selected a highly-rated, memorable episode from their archives, and aired that older episode. It was always funny, and very entertaining. It was called 'Best of Carson', and was very popular. I hope people enjoy reminiscing, like I do.
During the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are missing the socialization that we have taken for granted. Over the years, I have made many lasting friendships via my Saturdays at Katie's. Medical experts insist that social distancing is critical to prevent crushing our medical infrastructure, so for the time being, cars & coffee events (as well as other social gatherings) are not a good idea. To help fill the gap, I am asking everyone to share pictures and stories from past memorable Katie's Saturdays.
My contribution: This coming April 4, 2020 will make 10 years of the 'official' Katie's Cars & Coffee weekly event. I was notified by an Elise owner, Mike in Alexandria, about a new event that popped up in Great Falls, VA. I first went, long before it was an official gathering, on Halloween 2009. Attendance was modest, but there were some marvelous vehicles there. Peter Garahan brought out his antique fire engine, while Mike and I drove our Elises, and there was a beautifully-restored Mini. Bob Morris, who saw the big cars & coffee in Southern California, brought the idea of establishing a Katie's Cars & Coffee weekly event to Katie's owner Mike Kearney, drove his Kaiser Darrin.
No cars & coffee, but please consider calling in a food order to support Katie's. You can pick your food up at a drive-through, right in front of Katie's, to take it home.
Carry-out food can be ordered at (703)759-3309.
No Katie's Cars & Coffee, again this week, due to social distancing. A major annoyance, but the only way we have of lessening the spread of COVID-19 is to help the medical community by limiting contact, and thus, the spread of the virus.
Thanks to my friends Chuck Brownstein, Mike Swiek, David Sunter, and Mike DiAndrea for contributing pictures from the past!
It's highly unlikely that the distancing rules will be lifted in the next week, so I will continue to post Best of Katie's pictures from the past, until we can get together again.
I do have two requests:
1.) Please send me your favorite car and car people pictures, so I can continue posting.
2.) Please consider ordering carryout from Katie's (and other local businesses). They need the $$$$. You can pick up or have Katie's food & drink delivered,
by calling their order line, (703)759-3309.
--Bob Collum
NOTE: Next week will be the 10th anniversary of the 'official' Katie's cars & coffee.
It's the third week of going cold-turkey from Katie's Cars & Coffee, and this is a special week. The first-ever, 'official' Katie's Cars & Coffee happened (according to my info) on 04/03/2010. That makes this the 10th Anniversary of our favorite weekly car gathering! I will start with a selection of some pictures I took on that day, 10 years ago -
BEST of KATIE'S, 04/04/20 - 10th Anniversary Edition
I asked for, and got, some Katie's pictures from friends. The quarantine isn't going away soon, so let's make the best of it! Please send some favorite pictures of cars and people of Katie's, to me at - Robert_collum@hotmail.com. I will do my best to include pictures I am sent in next week's edition.
...and, if you don't have pictures of cars or people actually AT Katie's, any cars or car people in a picture will do!
Finally, a few of my favorite 'overhead' shots. I'm not the first one to use the landing at the top of the parking lot, but I use it almost every week!
