5 Ways To Enjoy Time at Home On Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend is pretty special to me. I do not shop, I do not in fact, go anywhere. I use this one long weekend a year to enjoy what I consider to be the perfect country weekend. I stay at home amidst the woods and fields of my parents’ farm and my family does the things that country people do on Thanksgiving weekend. If you’re going to be in the Hudson Valley and Catskills this holiday weekend, you may want to share in my country alternatives to shopping, football, and movies you've already seen a bunch of times. If you don’t want to run around like a turkey with your head cut off on Thanksgiving weekend do some or all of these - you'll finish the weekend as grateful as you began: 

1. Bonfire Bocce.

I’ve never understood beach bocce! To me bocce should be played on a rutty field to make it really challenging. If it’s intermittently soggy, so much the better (wear your boots and some gloves). The best thing about Bocce is that it only requires occasional concentration. When it’s not your turn you can catch up with the people you're playing with, drink a warming beverage or beer, enjoy the scenery, and breathe the fresh air. But the fresh air is chilly you say! That’s where the bonfire comes in (or the totally contained fire in your backyard firepit - Bonfire Bocce is just more fun to say). Run over and warm up or try to keep the game near the fire - an extra challenge! Bonfire Bocce, it’s what your backyard is there for. 

2. "Puzzle."

I know, there are dozens of engaging games on your phone - but on Thanksgiving weekend we puzzle. Puzzling is a verb. Spending time puzzling equals quality time with your family and friends. Just like bocce, it doesn't take all your attention, so you can catch up or philosophize while you find the right piece. Some say doing puzzles makes you smarter - it definitely makes you chill out! If you're no good at chilling out, you can always get several of the same puzzle and see who can finish it first! Thanksgiving weekend is perfect for puzzling because it lasts exactly as long as it takes for several people to finish a 1,000 piece puzzle with lots of breaks. Like many things that used to be considered nerdy, puzzles are now for the super-cool and available with images that are far more appealing than kitty cats in teacups or weird landscapes with glitter. Here's the one I've got lined up for this Thanksgiving.

Who doesn't love a decorative gourd! This one can be ordered here but there are so many local sources for puzzles, you might stop in at one of the shops below before Thanksgiving and choose something. Here's where to go:

Briars and Brambles Books - Windham | Oblong Books - Rhinebeck | The Nest Egg - Phoenicia

The Rare Bear - Woodstock | Inquiring Minds Bookstore - Saugerties & New Paltz 

3. Walk it off. Dress appropriately.

If you’re lucky enough to be in the woods, or on a country road, or in a sweet village, go for a walk. Go with someone. Your phone does not count as someone. The best conversations I’ve ever had have been while taking a country walk with a friend. Also, walking burns the calories from the stuffing - I'm convinced these are the worst kind of calories there are. Before you head out give a quick thought to safety. If you're going to be crossing paths with hunters, don your blaze orange fashions. 

4. Make Crafts With Natural Materials

Thanksgiving Weekend, we like to craft. Here's a photo from last Thanksgiving, my Dad was helping my daughter make a board game from the Colonial era. (Oh, another thing, on Thanksgiving weekend, we do not get dressed up. Obviously. No one wants bocce mud on their velvet.) There's a chance you don't have your own woodshop, but trust me you DO NOT want to go to “Michaels”, “AC Moore”, or Joanne fabrics on Thanksgiving weekend. They will be MOBBED. Don't worry, you can find what you need to get crafty outdoors. There are so many great craft materials right outside your door. Make something with the things you find on your walk! Here's a whole page of crafts made of acorns! Make a stick wreath or a leaf mandala! Personally, I'm going to give the leaves as animal masks a whirl this Thanksgiving.

5. Read A Good Novel

I saved the best for last. Not a day goes by that I don’t spend a passing moment looking longingly at the stack of books piled up on my bedside table, just waiting to be read. And the one in my office. And the one on top of my piano. We have three glorious days of free time coming up. Instead of gobbling turkey I plan to gobble books cozied up on the couch! If you want to join me and want to read something apropos of the locale, here are 5 options with a Hudson Valley/Catskills Region connection. 

Carol Goodman is a professor at SUNY New Paltz and the region's mystery maven. I haven't read Return to Wyldcliffe Heights yet, but I am a fan of River Road - one of her earlier novels. Set in a former psychiatric hospital turned neglected estate in the Hudson Valley, it's a thriller with a Jane Eyre connection. Sounds like a great respite from puzzling to me! 

Buy It From Rough Draft In Kingston

Written by Mermer Blakeslee, a former pro skier and Catskills dweller who was recognized as a Barnes and Noble Great New Writer, this work of historical fiction is a love story set at the time some Catskills communities were flooded to create the Ashokan Reservoir. 

Buy It From Catskills Curated

If you caught the moody (and fabulous) Netflix movie based on The Pale Blue Eye you might be tempted to skip this historical mystery set at West Point. But, author Louis Bayard is lauded as a master of historical fiction - I'd hazard a guess that like so many books adapted for the screen this novel has something extra to offer readers.

Buy It From Oblong Books

A Newbery Honor Book, My Side Of The Mountain was written for mid-level young readers. It's the story of a young boy who's unhappy with his life in New York City. With a few supplies he runs away to the wilderness of the Catskill Mountains for a year on his own. We can relate! It's a classic for anyone who loves the mountains, no matter your age.

Buy It From The Golden Notebook

This "Best Book Of The Year" from the Washington Post and NPR asks the question, "how would you live if you knew what day you'd die?" I'd live everyday like it was Thanksgiving weekend! The Hudson Valley connection? Author Chloe Benjamin is a graduate of Vassar.

Buy It From Briars and Brambles

Set in the Hudson River Valley just before the Revolutionary War this work of historical fiction uses the legend of Rip Van Winkle as a jumping off point for a profound and touching adventure.

Buy It From Amazon

Whatever you choose to do this Thanksgiving, from all of us Local Experts in Upstate Real Estate at Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty, have the happiest Thanksgiving! 

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