Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette A line of people moves into the Downtowner in Houghton shortly after midnight Friday morning, the soonest bars were allowed to reopen in the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan.

HOUGHTON — Friday morning, restrictions lifted on bars, restaurants and retailers in the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan. 

In Houghton, a crowd of about 30 entered the Downtowner Lounge just after midnight. A group of fellow bartenders from downtown Houghton were waiting outside beforehand in a parking lot across the street. 

“We’ve worked as bartenders, we respect our local patronage,” said one patron, who identified himself as Josh G., who had been bartending at the Douglass House Saloon. “We like to give back when we can and enjoy what we can.”

Bartenders in the area form a tight-knit community, warning other establishments of problem customers. A group of 10 or so had been hanging out frequently during the stay-at-home order. When hanging out with people beyond the core group, they were wearing masks. 

“When it comes to bars in town, all of us, we know each other, we respect each other,” said Phil White, who had been a bartender at the Continental Fire Co. “Yes, we’re in competition. But you don’t want to mess up a friend that’s in the same situation.”

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Carly Bulleit, a bartender at the Keweenaw Brewing Company, fills a growler on the bar’s first day reopening after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order eased restrictions on bars, restaurants and retailers in the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan.

State orders require a person who can medically tolerate a face covering to wear one in any enclosed public space. However, people can be asked to remove one for identification purposes. 

Other businesses reopened later Friday. Joey’s Seafood and Grill in Houghton underwent intense preparation to meet the state guidelines, finishing at about 4 a.m. Friday, said owner Alan Kiley. 

Signs on the walls alerted people they had to wear masks until being seated, one of the requirements under an executive order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Another had a QR code that diners could use for a touch-less menu. 

Another requirement is compiling a plan for best practices; most, like checking employees’ temperatures when they come into work, Joey’s had been doing for weeks, Kiley said. Employees were also trained on the new COVID-19 requirements. 

“A few of us that have been doing carryout for a while, you know, a lot of it’s in our brains, but we had to actually document it and put it down in writing and say, Okay, here’s our official training for people,” he said. 

Over the past few days, Kiley and his staff had been trying different configurations of the space to meet the requirements for 6-foot distancing and 50% capacity. 

Another addition going beyond the state requirement was the installation of ultraviolet light devices in the heating and air conditioning units to kill germs. 

“We actually had that up and going before the governor said, ‘Hey, you can open,'” he said. 

So far Friday, customers and staff had been happy with the arrangement, Kiley said. While the restaurant has continued to provide carryout during the shutdown, the meals taste best when they come directly from the kitchen to the dining area, he said. 

“We’ve had a real skeleton crew over the past nine weeks, and now we can actually get some of them back to work,” he said. 

At the Keweenaw Brewing Company, signs asked patrons to wear masks inside if medically possible; bartenders were provided custom masks to wear with the KBC logo. The seating area by the fireplace, which includes couches, was closed. Most people sat outside on the deck. 

Zach Westcott, a Lac La Belle native, had come back up from Auburn Hills with Breann Schmidt. They said they were pleased to see the precautions the bar is taking. 

“It seems like they’re doing everything right,” Westcott said. 

In talking about the phased reopening, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer likened it to a dial, which could be moved up or down as circumstances warrant. 

The crowd outside the Downtowner expressed concern about the amount of traffic they’d already seen; White, from his place in downtown Houghton had been seeing campers cross the bridge all day, which he guessed were coming from areas downstate. But they hoped people could behave appropriately. 

“I honestly believe it’s a test,” Josh G. said. “And hopefully we pass the test and we can start opening up a little bit more and more. But if someone ruins it or a couple of people ruin it for everybody, I have a feeling that they’re gonna button down the hatches.”