Players freeze alot...

Hey I'm currently DMing my second campaign with two new players. I've been having problems with my players getting stuck whenever I give them time to explore and do whatever they want, I describe the surroundings, I give them points of interests and npcs to interact with and then they freeze, they just sit there, not even talking to eachother.

It literally took them 1/3 of the campaign to buy food (they've been living off whiskey this whole time) (kind of a mood ngl, I'm not too upset)

I usually do alot of encounters but I don't wanna tie my players hands too much and make sure they can do whatever they want.

Any tips on how to help them?