Anne Arundel Businesses Offer Safe Deals For New Year

ANNAPOLIS, MD — As the year rounds out, small businesses are offering safe deals for the New Year. Between carryout specials and gift card promotions, eateries want to be part of your holiday celebrations.

Patch recently partnered with several local organizations to bring you their latest news. This week's guest contribution comes from the Downtown Annapolis Partnership. Here's what Executive Director Erik Evans wrote about the city's New Year festivities:

"December is filled with holidays that bring families and friends together including Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza and ends this week with New Year’s Eve. Most of the region's New Year's Eve fireworks displays and big parties are canceled. This year many families are having smaller in-person get-togethers and it’s not uncommon for out-of-area family and friends to join together online using video chat. Using online video services, you can still have dinner, conversations, and play games with those that are unable to visit you in person. We have a natural need to be close to the ones we care about and video conferencing and phone calls can help reduce the stress of isolation many feel due to COVID restrictions.

For some, instead of traveling to visit family this could mean staying home and cooking a holiday meal together. Seasons Olive Oil and Vinegar Taproom and The Spice and Tea Exchange have free recipes to help you experiment with new dishes and beverages. For others, it means ordering carry-out. Several restaurants have put together family sized carry-out deals this week including Metropolitan Kitchen and Galway Bay. Other restaurants have put together special New Year's Eve menus including Luna Blu's 5-course carry-out meal, Paul's Homewood Cafe's 4-course carry out meal, and Preserve's appetizer box for two. For those needing something bubbly, most of your favorite restaurants have cocktails and other drinks available to go along with dinner. Mills Wine and Spirits also has mixed wine case discounts and free Annapolis delivery with a $50 minimum.

Another popular trend is giving gift cards this year. Welcome your friends and family into the new year by presenting them with a local gift card. Some local businesses are currently offering bonus gift cards or gift card discounts if you order by New Year's Eve including: Graduate Hotel, Middleton Tavern, Park Deli, Pusser's, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, and Stan and Joe's Saloon. The Downtown Annapolis Partnership has included links to all the downtown Annapolis gift cards that can be purchased online on their website. For those needing a break from home, the Flag House Inn is offering a 20% discount on overnight stays in January.

In my home, this month meant getting married via Skype instead of a big family get together. Knowing it would be hard to get family together during COVID my bride and I decided to exchange our wedding vows in our living room. The whole process was simply filling out the application for marriage at the local courthouse and checking a box that we were interested in a virtual wedding. A few days later we received a call from the courthouse and picked our time. Following the ceremony in our living room, we announced to family and friends “We eloped to our living room!” After celebrating with everyone on the phone we lit a fire in the fireplace, ordered a nice carry-out dinner for two, and enjoyed the evening together.

2021 will surely be filled with those that continue to come up with new ways to celebrate the holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and even weddings. As the new year is also bringing us several COVID vaccines, we can look forward to seeing a life that starts to return to normal.

Erik Evans

Executive Director

Downtown Annapolis Partnership"

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