Thanksgiving is an enjoyable holiday that many Americans appreciate, gorging on food and coming up with some creative ideas to make the day fun. Some of these activities include watching football, writing thank you cards and volunteering. With these ideas, families and friends have a great time on Thanksgiving, making memories to share with others.
“A Thanksgiving tradition my family does is gather with family and friends and pray before our food, and [we each] say one good thing about life,” sophomore Adrain Alvarez said.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a classic tradition, has plenty of balloons, floats and performers that make it exciting to watch. In addition, families also participate in a Turkey Trot. Depending on the race, it can be a 5k or half marathon. Many runners dress up together, run or walk the race and donate for charity.
“My favorite activity to do during Thanksgiving is to play football with my little cousins in their backyard,” sophomore Kate Spivey said. “I also like running the Turkey Trot 5k.”
Before enjoying Thanksgiving dinner, many families watch football. The NFL has been playing on Thanksgiving Day as a tradition since the league began in 1920. Every Thanksgiving, three games are played, with the first two games hosted by the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys, and the third game has no fixed opponents.
“My favorite memory was going to my first UF Gators football game with my dad,” Spivey said. “It was a couple days after Thanksgiving, and it was a rival game against FSU so it was definitely a fun first game.”
Half of the fun on Thanksgiving is eating delicious food. Some of the most common Thanksgiving foods consist of mashed potato, rolls, green bean casserole and turkey. Dessert is an essential part of Thanksgiving that is needed to finish the holiday off. Any pumpkin desserts, including pumpkin pie, can make the meal feel complete. Pies and tarts are traditionally eaten with cakes, puddings and ice cream sandwiches.
“A tradition my friend does is first have a small family gathering, eat their country’s native soup and then go enjoy the night,” Alvarez said.
If one isn’t a big fan of Thanksgiving, they can get a head start on decorating for Christmas. It isn’t uncommon to see Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving has even happened, so it wouldn’t be unusual to begin.
Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday to get together with friends and families to spend time together and eat great food. Whether someone is staying home or traveling, making memories that will last for a lifetime will always be the best.
“My favorite memory of Thanksgiving was when all my friends went to my street and started playing kickball, baseball, racing and whatever we could do,” Alvarez said.
