Thanksgiving has never been a big holiday in my family. Looking back at past Thanksgivings, I can't remember ever doing the same thing twice. Sometimes I've spent it with my mom, sometimes with my dad, other times with friends, but there has never really been any tradition.
The one tradition I can remember is waking up to watch the parade and eating cinnamon rolls and mimosas with my mom. The Pilot has been working the last two years on Thanksgiving, so my mom has come down to see me.
This year, she came in on Wednesday night and I spent my afternoon on Wednesday making an attempt at homemade cinnamon rolls. I found this no-yeast-required recipe from Kristin over at Iowa Girl Eats. I usually shy away from recipes that involve a rolling pin (apartment living isn't really conducive to rolling much of anything), but this recipe was surprisingly easy!
We woke up Thanksgiving morning, watched the parade, ate my cinnamon rolls, drank mimosas and then headed to the Botanical Garden. The Smithsonian Museums are all open on Thanksgiving Day (until 5 so that everyone can still spend time with their families) and we went to a museum last year and decided to do it again this year.
My mom grew up id n the Dominican Republic and she loved looking at all the citrus trees and recognizing them from home. She knew what just about everything was! The Botanical Garden had a model train exhibit and recreations of all of the monuments made almost entirely from plant parts. It was pretty awesome.
We left the Mall around 4 and made our way to Old Town Alexandria for our Thanksgiving reservations at Jackson 20. The food was delicious but I wouldn't recommend it for Thanksgiving dinner. We went to Lincoln last year and had a much better experience. We still had a great time though.
The Pilot's schedule ended up changing and he came home late Thursday night. My mom and I brought him dinner and we spent the rest of the weekend doing some Black Friday shopping (furniture and work clothes), finally seeing The Hunger Games, and taking a girls trip to Mount Vernon.
Thanksgiving weekend is the busiest travel weekend of the year and being a standby passenger makes it almost impossible to get on a plane. For the past two years, I've stayed local and used the weekend to discover more of DC and for the past two years, it's been perfect. I definitely plan to keep this tradition going for as long as we live in DC!
The one tradition I can remember is waking up to watch the parade and eating cinnamon rolls and mimosas with my mom. The Pilot has been working the last two years on Thanksgiving, so my mom has come down to see me.
This year, she came in on Wednesday night and I spent my afternoon on Wednesday making an attempt at homemade cinnamon rolls. I found this no-yeast-required recipe from Kristin over at Iowa Girl Eats. I usually shy away from recipes that involve a rolling pin (apartment living isn't really conducive to rolling much of anything), but this recipe was surprisingly easy!
We woke up Thanksgiving morning, watched the parade, ate my cinnamon rolls, drank mimosas and then headed to the Botanical Garden. The Smithsonian Museums are all open on Thanksgiving Day (until 5 so that everyone can still spend time with their families) and we went to a museum last year and decided to do it again this year.
My mom grew up id n the Dominican Republic and she loved looking at all the citrus trees and recognizing them from home. She knew what just about everything was! The Botanical Garden had a model train exhibit and recreations of all of the monuments made almost entirely from plant parts. It was pretty awesome.
We left the Mall around 4 and made our way to Old Town Alexandria for our Thanksgiving reservations at Jackson 20. The food was delicious but I wouldn't recommend it for Thanksgiving dinner. We went to Lincoln last year and had a much better experience. We still had a great time though.
The Pilot's schedule ended up changing and he came home late Thursday night. My mom and I brought him dinner and we spent the rest of the weekend doing some Black Friday shopping (furniture and work clothes), finally seeing The Hunger Games, and taking a girls trip to Mount Vernon.
Thanksgiving weekend is the busiest travel weekend of the year and being a standby passenger makes it almost impossible to get on a plane. For the past two years, I've stayed local and used the weekend to discover more of DC and for the past two years, it's been perfect. I definitely plan to keep this tradition going for as long as we live in DC!
What are your Thanksgiving traditions?
Do you stay local or travel?
Your traditions sound similiar to my family's. We watch the parade in the morning while eating breakfast casseroles, french toast casserole and sipping mimosas, yummy! I want to try and learn how to make cinnamon rolls, they sound delicious!
ReplyDeleteWe stayed local this year too, to keep out of the yucky traffic. Lincoln is a great restaurant, but I've never been to Jackson 20. Was the food or service bad or just not quite thanksgiving enough?
Hope you have a great week!
So glad you had a good weekend, even if the Pilot couldn't be part of the main event. Those cinnamon rolls looked delicious over the weekend and they look super yummy now! :)
ReplyDeleteLove that you got to explore and experience DC with your mom :)
It's so sweet that your mom flew over to spend that day with you! And surprise changes of schedules to spend time with the Pilot doesn't sound so bad either :) Besides, you exploring DC = me vicariously exploring the city with you via your blog!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun tradition! The cinnamon rolls and mimosas sound delicious. Exploring DC must be nice! Glad you guys enjoyed!
ReplyDeleteThose rolls look amazing!! I'm glad you got to spend the holiday with your mom :) and that the Pilot got to come home earlier than expected!! Maybe I'll check out the botanical gardens in April--I've never been, even in Cleveland, and they look beautiful!!
ReplyDelete