Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Whiskey Riff!
Hopefully this story finds you well, and possibly in the middle of one of these oh so lovely Turkey Day activities. Thanksgiving is truly one of the most underrated holidays, and is always overlooked because of Christmas (thanks a lot Mariah Carey).
You might be asking “why is Thanksgiving so great?” Well, allow me to walk you through the incomparable and remarkable schedule of the day in order to make my argument.
The Parade
First things first, you wake up for the day and flip on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and there’s just something special about it. Maybe it’s the nostalgia, or maybe it’s the towering floats flying through the New York City skyline, but there’s definitely something about it that brings you back to it every year.
You grab yourself a cup of coffee, settle into a cozy spot on the couch before the craziness of your family arrives at your house (or you have to leave to go to a family gathering somewhere else), and you watch grown adults try to keep big balloons from flying off into the sky. If that’s not entertaining, I don’t know what is.
The Dog Show
Now this usually only comes on because you forget to change the channel after the parade is over, but before you know it, you are completely sucked into the National Dog Show. Only seconds before, you didn’t even know the dog show was happening, and then all of the sudden you are looking up winning dog odds on DraftKings.
That’s an exaggeration (hopefully), though it is oddly fun to watch dogs prance around on stage and have weird “dog judges” decide who the best in show is. The competition of the dog show perfectly leads into the more action-packed contests that happen a little later in the day.
The Football
Is there anything better than football on Thanksgiving? Right around the time you are starting to hang out with family, NFL games get going so you can avoid those deep and awkward conversations. Who cares if your second cousin is unemployed, did you see that toe-touch touchdown catch?
The games are perfectly timed out to where they last all day long, with the Green Bay Packers taking on Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions first, then a tilt between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Commanders, followed by an exciting night game as the San Fransisco 49ers match up against the Seattle Seahawks.
What more is there really to say?
The Thanksgiving Food
At some point during the day (whether you eat at lunch, the afternoon, or around normal dinner time), you get to the best part of the holiday: Thanksgiving food. Turkey, ham, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce and anything and everything else you may eat are up for grabs, and it is glorious to say the least.
As you are gathered around by friends and family, everyone rejoices as they dig into their loaded Turkey day plates. If you are lucky, the food will be so good that no one will have time to bring up politics. You can also avoid unwanted and uncomfortable conversations by blasting this song below that might as well be the Thanksgiving anthem:
“Beans, Greens, Potatoes, Tomatoes Remix”
The Nap
And finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the most relaxing part of the day. The tryptophan from the Thanksgiving turkey hits hard, and you suddenly have the urge to stare at the back of your eyelids and take a nap.
A lot of times, this step can be involuntary, and can happen without warning (usually with a football game playing in the background). However, that’s the beauty of it, because it almost acts as the final step of the Thanksgiving Day. Either you are the host and you fall asleep, so everyone else says “we should probably head out,” or you are the guest, and the uncontrollable yawns start and you use it as an excuse to make a beeline home to throw on some stretchy pants and settle in for the day.
All in all, it’s a wonderful holiday, and like I said earlier, hopefully you are reading this right now and finding yourself smack dab in the middle of one of these Turkey Day steps. I guess you wouldn’t be reading this though if you are in the nap portion of the proceedings…
