Eating Out

 

Configuration.

That’s what’s on my mind this morning: Columbia’s Village Centers and how they are laid out in 2021. Our Friday night in Wilde Lake got me thinking about whether it would be possible to do the Great Village Center Tour of 2021, eating dinner outside in each one. I’m not entirely sure it would be.

It’s my understanding that, the older the village center, the more likely it was to have been built around a courtyard. But the courtyard model has gone out of style commercially. So some of the older village centers have been reconfigured. I moved to Oakland Mills after the Great Reconfiguration so my experiences are of the new model.

Off the top of my head, I’d say you couldn’t do the eat outside thing in Oakland Mills these days. The late Second Chance Saloon had tables out front and the Cactus Lounge out back. Alas, you can’t have that experience anymore. Oakland Mills has a lovely courtyard but it isn’t particularly conducive to grabbing something from one of the center’s food merchants and dining al fresco. Because the village center is now configured as a “shopping center”,  the courtyard really functions as an additional event space for the Other Barn. The layout makes things different.

I know I’ve had many a summer excursion to Rita’s in Kings Contrivance, where businesses still line the courtyard and there are tables and chairs available for patrons. And there are a few benches in Harpers Choice if you want to enjoy your Rita’s ice over there. (Hmm, I’m sensing a pattern here.)

In the past I would have been looking at this more as a community issue. It still is, to my mind, but now there are folks who are still hoping to eat outdoors for as long as possible due to COVID concerns. That’s how we ended up at the Wilde Lake Village Center on Friday night.

So here’s my question of the day: if you live in Columbia, or patronize the Village Centers, tell me about the one you know best. Is it possible to buy food and eat outside there? If not, why do you think that is? Do you think the configuration makes the difference? Most of all, do you think that being able to do that is a good thing?

Comments are welcome here.