Thanksgiving Travel Traditions
It’s that time of year. If the idea of participating in another family discussion on who is hosting and who is bringing what leaves you less than enthused, maybe it’s time to develop some new Thanksgiving traditions. Here are some thanksgiving travel ideas that may have you reinventing how you spend your holiday season.
Families who love the outdoors may find the Woodloch Resort to be the perfect all-inclusive destination. Celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving vacation with Woodloch’s Thanksgiving Feast, crackling fires, Walnut Hunt, nightly entertainment, Festival of Lights hayride. woodloch.com. The Split Rock Resort is an all-inclusive family resort that features an indoor water park, view of Lake Harmony and the majesty of the surrounding mountains and forests. A popular Thanksgiving Family Package has deluxe accomodations, Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, daily breakfast, a movie pass and a visit from Santa for the children. splitrockresort.com.
Farm to Table Thanksgiving Dinner
Framed by the misty Great Smoky Mountains, it’s hard to paint a more idyllic picture than Walland, Tennessee, a small town on the eastern side of the state whose claim to fame is the luxurious American resort, Blackberry Farm. Situated on 4200 softly rolling acres, the hotel, spa, and working farm makes an easy, ideal Thanksgiving escape. It doesn’t get more local than the cooking at The Barn, where chef Joseph Lenn serves up sophisticated “Foothills Cuisine” (scallops with pumpkin butter and preserved collards, for example) inspired by the bounty of the Farm and the Tennessee region. More than 60 small-batch American whiskies fill the Blackberry’s Dogwood and Barn Door Bars, try one preferably in a seat by the fireplace. www.blackberryfarm.com
Ireland’s Ashford Castle, which dates back to 1228, welcomes guests this Thanksgiving with a special buy-two, get-a-third-night-free package. The ideal place to spend a cozy Thanksgiving weekend, here, guests can enjoy nights by the fireplace and exceptional service from a staff that feels like family, but without all the drama. The package starts at $980 and includes a full Irish Breakfast for two each morning, dinner in the George V dining room, including a Thanksgiving turkey served on Nov. 22 and a complimentary third night bed and breakfast. Ashford Castle www.ashford.ie
Make Your Thanksgiving Magical in NYC
This year marks the 86th for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The procession of Snoopy, Kermit, and company rides a new route in 2012, from 77th and Central Park West and down Sixth Avenue to Macy’s Herald Square. Stay at the Hilton right in the heart of the parade route at 54th and Sixth. Ask for a float-facing room between the seventh and 17th floors. Eat a Thanksgiving Feast at the Sea Grill in Rockefeller Center. Your family can work it off afterwards with an ice skate around the Rock Center Ice Rink. Add a little more magic by visiting the updated “Harry Potter: The Exhibition,” which returns to Discovery Times Square on Nov. 3 and will be open during Thanksgiving. Hundreds of original props and costumes from the Harry Potter films, including a new vignette dedicated to the epic battle of Hogwarts. www.DiscoveryTS.com
This year, instead of chowing down on traditional meal of turkey, why not join a party where turkeys are the guest of honor? In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, Farm Sanctuary serves up traditional Thanksgiving dishes prepared with vegan ingredients during its annual Celebration for the Turkeys event. The dinners are served picnic-style on Farm Sanctuaries lands, and the event highlight is the “Feeding of the Turkeys” ceremony, when guests can watch rescued turkeys gobble up a feast of their own. Farm Sanctuary, www.farmsanctuary.org Acton, CA: November 11, 2012, Orland, CA: November 17, 2012, Watkins Glen, NY: November 17, 2012.
For an all new Thanksgiving Day tradition, and one that benefits charity to boot, join the hundreds of hearty souls who participate in Nantucket’s annual Cold Turkey Plunge. Swimmers brave the cold waters at Children’s Beach on Thanksgiving morning, all while raising money for the Atheneum Weezie Library for Children, the island’s public library. Last-minute plungers are welcome, even encouraged, and are asked to make a $25 donation to the library. www.nantucketatheneum.org Thanksgiving, November 22, 10:00 am Nantucket, MA.
Gather Your Thanksgiving Dinner
If you just can’t live without the traditional dinner, try participating in a Thanksgiving foraging excursion. Sonoma, California BeautifulPlaces is offering villa guests the opportunity to gather dinner ingredients with Chef Max Porter-Elliot at his favorite local haunts. Visit a turkey farm where the poultry are humanely raised, pick up freshly baked bread at a local bakery, and savor local cheeses, all while getting an inside look at how these farms and businesses operate. www.beautiful-places.com.
The prime spot for the season, is where it all began, Plymouth, Mass., where at the living-history attraction Plimoth Plantation (plimoth.org) they’re offering a “Harvest Dinner With the Pilgrims” on certain days of the week. It’s a place where the best historical evidence available of what went on at the Pilgrims’ first feast in 1621 often collides with expectations. At Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts (osv.org) an early-19th-century holiday is invoked Thursday through Saturday. Don’t miss Friday’s target shoot. At the Billings Farm and Museum (billingsfarm.org) in Woodstock, Vt., Friday through Sunday it will be Thanksgiving dinner preparation, 1890-style.
