Fredericksburg Back To 'Semi-Normal' With Restaurant Week, Tours

FREDERICKSBURG, VA — The city of Fredericksburg is ready for the start of its annual Summer Restaurant Week, which kicks off Friday.

Visitors traveling to downtown Fredericksburg for restaurant week also can visit the city's reconfigured visitor's center, which provides a safe space for people to learn about events, museums and other attractions in the city and purchase Fredericksburg-themed merchandise.

Summer Restaurant Week, which runs through Sunday, Aug. 23, provides a variety of options for diners, including dining-in, curbside pickup, pre-packed picnics and take-home meal kits.

"This year’s Summer Restaurant Week is an emphasis on curbside takeout, picnic-style where people can just go and grab some of the restaurant week specials, and then they can take them home, or they can go to Old Mill Park and have a picnic," said Danelle Rose, manager of the Fredericksburg Visitor Center and Tourism Services, in a video created by the Fredericksburg Economic Development and Tourism.

"We were really excited that we were able to continue this tradition" in the middle of the coronavirus crisis, Rose said of the Summer Restaurant Week.

A list of all the participating restaurants can be found on the Summer Restaurant Week 2020 website.

"Ordering from our participating restaurants is simple — choose from a menu of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drink specials that are sold at price points in the “20 of 2020” range," the restaurant week website says. "Our budget friendly options span between $4.20 and $40.20."

Visitors can download the Traipse app for a chance to win prizes. When they arrive at a participating restaurant to pick up or dine in, visitors open the Traipse App and complete the available challenge.

After ordering and completing challenges from at least five restaurants, participants will be prompted to fill out a prize entry form for the chance to win downtown gift cards and merchandise. All prize drawing entries should be submitted no later than Aug. 24 at 5 p.m.

Restaurant week organizers are instructing visitors to wear a mask, keep a proper distance from others and wash their hands often.

"It seems like things are starting to get back to semi-normal," Bill Freehling , director of economic development and tourism, says in the video.

At the Fredericksburg Visitor Center, located at 706 Caroline Street, the city has set up temporary counters on wheels that can be moved to accommodate visitors. The counters have Plexiglas that allows visitors to safely consult with the visitor center's travel counselors. The center also provides visitors with hand sanitizer and wipes, along with disposable masks.

Plenty of Fredericksburg-themed merchandise is available for sale at the visitor center. Merchandise can also be ordered online. Among the items for sale are "FXBG Strong" face masks.

For visitors who prefer to stay outdoors, the visitor center is offering grab-and-go bags on a rack outside the center that contain visitor guides, dining guides and information about walking tours in Fredericksburg.

This article originally appeared on the Fredericksburg Patch