Thanksgiving Turkeys
Every supermarket carries turkeys at this time of year. It takes a little more work to find a Minnesota-raised turkey, a free range turkey, or an organic turkey. Here's where to find ethical Thanksgiving turkeys in Minneapolis and St. Paul.Don't Want to Cook? Restaurants for Thanksgiving Dinner
If you don't want to cook this year, many local restaurants will be happy to host your Thanksgiving dinner.Local Thanksgiving Food and Drink
As well as local Minnesota turkeys, local Thanksgiving meals and sides are stocked in co-ops across the Twin Cities. Local dairies provide butter and cream for cooking. Local squashes and pumpkins are perfect for pie, and Minnesota's famous wild rice makes great stuffing for your turkey.Surdyks in Northeast Minneapolis is one of the largest and most comprehensive liquor stores in the Twin Cities, perfect for a special bottle of wine to drink with Thanksgiving dinner.
And since there will be football, and you will probably need beer too. The Four Firkins in St. Louis Park is a new specialty beer store with a phenomenal selection of craft beers.
Things To Do: Thanksgiving Day
Most attractions in the Twin Cities close for the Thanksgiving holiday. But there are still a few places to visit on Thursday.Como Zoo and Conservatory is open every day.
The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden can be visited every day of the year. If you have out-of-town guests who want a photo opportunity, you can't get more iconic than a snap in front of the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture.
The Depot, in downtown Minneapolis, opens their beautiful indoor ice rink on November 25, and will be open for skating on Thanksgiving Day.
View holiday lights in St. Paul's Phalen Park. Over a million lights and animated displays to admire every night from November 24 until New Year's Eve. The admission charge goes to local charities.
Things to Do: Thanksgiving Weekend
The most famous Twin Cities holiday event, the Holidazzle Parade, begins on the Friday after Thanksgiving.Romantic horse drawn carriage rides leave the historic Alexander Ramsey House, just outside downtown St. Paul, are available all holiday season, starting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
On Saturday 28, downtown St. Paul's Rice Park Ice Rink opens. The Rice Park Christmas tree will be lit, and the ice rink will be opened, at the opening ceremony on Saturday afternoon.
Thanksgiving Activities: Getting Active and Outside
Most downhill ski and snowboard areas will be open on Thanksgiving day. There should be plenty of snow, and several runs open by late November.And if there's snow on the ground, sledding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and all kinds of snow-and-ice activities are a great way to burn off the turkey (or work up an appetite for it).
In Minneapolis, the annual Lifetime Fitness Turkey Day 5K begins at the Target Center and takes runners around downtown Minneapolis.
This one is inside. The Mall of America hosts the annual Walk to End Hunger 5K on Thanksgiving morning. Register to walk the 5K walk, bring food for the food drive, or call into the phone-a-thon to help local food banks.
Family in Town? Need a Hotel?
Many of Minneapolis' hotels are in downtown Minneapolis. There are also plenty of hotels around the Mall of America and the adjacent Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Downtown St. Paul has several hotels, and then the rest of the Twin Cities have various chain hotels scattered around.The exception is Stillwater, in the far east of the Twin Cities metro area, which has a couple of independent inns and hotels - the Rivertown Inn, the Lowell Inn, and the William Sauntry Mansion Bed and Breakfast.
Volunteering
Volunteering to help serve Thanksgiving meals is a popular holiday tradition. Homeless shelters like People Serving People, in Minneapolis, and the Catholic Charities Dorothy Day Shelter in St. Paul, need volunteers during the holidays, and all year round too.
Donating food is another way to help out needy families this holiday season. Second Harvest Heartland accept donations of non-perishable food items at their St. Paul and Minneapolis locations. Also in Minneapolis, Emergency Food Shelf Network accepts donations of non=perishable food to distribute to local families.
Benefiting several food banks in the Twin Cities, the Walk to End Hunger 5K Walk and food drive is at the Mall of America on Thanksgiving morning.
