Since March, Aba Kwawu says she has been deeply tempted by the prospect of “risking it all to get an underground haircut” during the stay-at-home order. And on Friday, the day D.C. and Northern Virginia start a phased reopening, she can score an above-board appointment.

“Now, we actually can do those things, and here I am, frozen,” she says. “I’m of two minds.”

Kwawu, a Maryland resident with a public relations firm in D.C., has already made and canceled two hair appointments.

On one side, there’s her desire to support local businesses and return to a sense of normalcy. On the other hand, her 73-year-old mother lives with her, and she says that has been the deciding factor in opting to wait it out.

“Not going, that honestly is what is winning at this point,” she says.

As D.C. and Northern Virginia ease restrictions in the first phase of their reopening plans, people are weighing their longing to be out in the world and supporting local businesses with their fear of contracting or spreading COVID-19.

In D.C., the first stage of the phased reopening means restaurants will be now able to provide dine-in service outside; public parks, dog parks, and tennis courts will be open to the public; libraries and nonessential retailers can offer curbside pickup; and barbershops and salons can reopen for appointments, all while following social distancing rules.

For Northern Virginia—which is beginning to reopen two weeks later than much of the rest of the commonwealth—Phase 1 allows allows retail establishments to operate at 50 percent occupancy, restaurant and beverage establishments with outdoor seating to open at 50 percent occupancy, fitness centers to provide outdoor exercise services, and personal grooming services to allow one customer at a time.

Montgomery and Prince George’s counties will begin to reopen on Monday.

Bill Lindsey was ready to resume his Friday morning 8 a.m. slot at The Ultimate Barber in Alexandria. He and barber John Hall both wore black cloth masks.

The last time he was in the salon was mid-March, and Lindsey says so much hair grew behind his ears that he had to cut it back to fit his glasses and mask on (“it was not the look I was going for,” he quips).

Hall says he prepared the barbershop for opening under Virginia’s Phase 1 restrictions: he bought disposable white capes, placed hand sanitizer at each station, got rid of magazines that customers used to leaf through, and directed early arrivals to picnic tables outside.

Emily Escalante had “doing some girl upkeep” at a local salon among her plans for the day. She took Friday off from work to celebrate the start of the gradual reopening in Northern Virginia and D.C.

“We’ve been in lockdown for a while,” the Prince William county resident says. “I just decided, hey, let me get back out there, enjoy our local businesses, take a hike, get back into the swing of things.”

Escalante felt especially confident to be out in the world because she took a COVID-19 test that came back negative on Monday, and hasn’t left the house since.

She started off her day by getting an iced vanilla latte at Peet’s Coffee—her first in two months—and planned to hike at a regional park before getting lunch nearby, using curbside pickup at an REI, and heading to a salon. She would be wearing a mask, toting hand sanitizer, and following other Centers for Disease Control guidelines the whole time, she says.

For Escalante, today will still feel markedly different than life before the pandemic. She says she misses “being able to mindlessly get out of my car without a mask, and being able to be around someone without wondering if they’re a threat or I’m a threat.”

Lauriol Plaza opened for business at 11:30 a.m. About 30 minutes later, the Latin American restaurant and Dupont mainstay had four customers.

Juan Cockburn, who has been coming to Lauriol every Sunday for the better part of four decades, was seated at the patio. The restaurant has also turned a parking lot into a place for additional tables, so it can accommodate more patrons.

“That’s my table inside,” Cockburn says, pointing at one of the indoor tables. He had a magazine and a margarita — the first he’s ever ordered in all of his years as a patron. “I’m celebrating,” he says, adding that he isn’t concerned about safety. “Generally I don’t drink before 5.”

Cristina Cejas is Cockburn’s waitress on Friday, as she has been for 28 years. “He is not my customer,” she says. “He is my friend.”

At another table at Lauriol Plaza, Tina Johnson met her coworker for lunch.

“It feels good. I mean, it’s no different from being at a grocery store at this point,” Johnson says. “I did tell myself, if I came here and it looked really crazy, like it wasn’t following code, I wouldn’t stay. But I feel good. It’s a very calm and safe space.”

Across the street, Andy Plunket, a manager at Lucky Buns, was getting ready to open the burger joint at 5 p.m. He cleaned chairs and has distancing marked on the patio, as well as masks, gloves, and disposable menus ready to go.

“It’s terrifying,” he says. “We’re excited, but it’s a whole new business plan, really … We’ve been lucky enough to be really busy with our to-go business. We’re going to see probably a few more people, but we’ve been seeing a lot of people differently.”

Bul, a Korean restaurant in Adams Morgan, has been open for takeout and delivery for about two weeks, but waiter Danh Tran says he expects dine-in service to “feel much better. Real human interaction, real customer service, real transaction. Everybody would like to see people.”

All waitstaff will wear masks and gloves while working, and the restaurant will have two separate bathrooms — one for staff and one for customers — when it reopens.

“People call us front line, but I don’t think we are much of front liners. There are so many occupations that’s dealing with a lot harder [situations] than we are. For me, personally, I feel safe-ish,” says Tran. “I just really hope that everybody who takes part of this reopening process will be very cautious, for their own safety and for our safety, too.”

Resident Matt Glasser was walking nearby on 18th Street NW. He has no plans to take advantage of restaurants opening up on Friday.

“For me, it feels too soon,” he says. He looks at the set-up of tables on an outdoor patio. “It doesn’t look 6 feet apart. Why take a chance?”

Dacha Beer Garden’s Shaw location in pre-pandemic times boasted huge crowds and lines that snaked around the block. Under the current mayoral order, those crowds and lines are not permitted. But patrons are returning to the bar nonetheless, entering as managers remind them to respect social distancing inside.

“I’m super excited to be here,” says Amber Kirtley. “It feels like a thousand years … I want a sausage and a big beer.”

The bar opened at 2 p.m., and by 2:30 p.m. it looked about half full. Customers were spaced at least one table apart and limited to two hours at the venue.

“We are giving two hours max for people so everyone can enjoy a beer garden,” says Dacha manager Zoriana Makar. “We had two days to get everything together, so it’s kind of stressful. And also, me being around so many people, it’s kind of overwhelming but hopefully everything goes well and, you know, everyone’s staying safe and following the rules and guidance.”

Luis Mendez met up with his friend Anna Bencivengo for a drink at Dacha. The pandemic has prompted tough times for both of them.

“We’re both furloughed, both of our industries were hit super hard, so it’s nice to finally be able to get out and have a drink,” Mendez says, adding that “this place is usually shoulder-to-shoulder and now it’s kind of like a Sunday right when they open … It feels nice, but there’s going to be competition for the few amount of tables.”

Bencivengo agrees. “I think it’s weird, it’s different,” she says. “It’s not normal D.C.”

When their two hours at Dacha lapse, they planned to scope out a different bar.

“We kind of want to bar hop,” says Mendez. “A kind of semblance of before.”

This story has been updated with additional information and interviews, with reporting contributed by Mary Tyler March.