Packers fans, 'happy there's a season,' watch game at 'distanced tables'

MILWAUKEE - Surreal, wild and unbelievable were just some words Green Bay Packers fans used to describe the 43-34 win Sunday, Sept. 13 over the Minnesota Vikings -- uttered before a single play. This, as fans reacted to all the changes COVID-19 has thrust upon the game itself.  

Under a cloudy, gray sky, specs of green and gold filled the outdoor beer garden at The MECCA in Milwaukee.

"This is my getaway from reality if you will," said Meb Blakeman, Packers fan from Nebraska. "That's what I'm excited about. It's a very different reality now."

For some Packers fans, it was a first.

"I don't know what it's going to be like," said Ben Boldt. "I'm just happy there's a season -- happy we can watch here, even if we can't be at the game."

Boldt and his buddy, Logan Kluis, would have normally been at Lambeau Field, cheering for their respective teams from the stands.

"It's too bad we can't actually go to the game and be there, but the fact that we can watch the game outside and be together, it's still nice," said Kluis. 

For Sunday, a giant screen served as the next best thing -- with fans not allowed to be there.

"Outdoor seating, distanced tables," said Boldt. "We don't have to be close to people."

Officials at The MECCA asked fans to call ahead to book reservations. 

"We would usually be at a bar in Riverwest called High Dive watching it every Sunday," said Sean Miller, Packers fan from Milwaukee. "Yeah, it's sad I can't be there, but hopefully, we can get this under control."

Miller said it's all a bit surreal -- not just the pandemic. When the Vikings were the only team on the field for the national anthem, it's something he noticed right away.

"Everyone has their right to peacefully do whatever they would like to," he said.

Managers at The MECCA said they didn't expect patrons to wear their masks the entire time they were in the building, and they could take them off when they were eating and drinking -- but they did expect customers to wear them indoors, especially when moving about in the building.