Get Excited: Thanksgiving at Harvard

With classmates leaving campus en masse and holiday cheer leaving you homesick, staying on campus during Thanksgiving break may not seem like the most enticing option. But don’t fret—there are lots of ways to have fun during break that don't involve leaving the Boston area.

On Campus

Except for on Thanksgiving Day, you can go visit any of Harvard’s museums. At the Museum of Natural History, literature buffs can seek out "Thoreau’s Maine Woods: A Journey in Photographs with Scot Miller," featuring photographs of Maine accompanied by excerpts from the seminal American author.

You can also check out the Peabody Museum’s "Translating Encounters," which profiles responses of groups across the globe to the Age of Exploration in the early seventeenth century, or for a more modern event, head to a seminar by OEB professor Kaare H. Jensen at Dean Donald H. Pfister’s beloved Herbaria at noon on Nov. 28.

In the Square

For students with some extra spending money, several restaurants in the Square are serving Thanksgiving dinner this week. Uno Chicago Grill will be open for at least part of Thanksgiving Day and should provide a respite from the usual Tasty Burger and Noch’s. More upscale dining options include Rialto’s three-course Thanksgiving dinner Thursday evening and UpStairs on the Square, which will feature both vegan and traditional Thanksgiving feasts on Thursday afternoon and evening.

Boston and Beyond

With no classes and little urgent homework, you have zero excuses not to get out of the Harvard bubble. In addition to the usual options like walking the Freedom Trail or visiting museums in the city (any day except Thursday, that is), you could try to get a ticket to one of the Boston Ballet’s annual performances of "The Nutcracker," which opens on Friday, or go ice skating at Frog Pond. Students get half-off admission on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m., paying only $2 with a college ID.

Your best option, however, would be to experience Thanksgiving where it happened in the first place: Plymouth. Plimoth Plantation, a living museum of the original settlement of the Pilgrims, will be open on Thanksgiving Day and is accessible by Commuter Rail or bus.