The shopping madness that follows Thanksgiving Day is a boon for some, a bummer for others. It offers not-to-be-missed price reductions on much needed consumer goods, or represents just one more indication of our society's inevitable downfall. There are always alternatives, though. Here are a few. more ›

Good morning, Washington, and Happy Thanksgiving. All of us at DCist hope you have an enjoyable day of food, football and relaxation, especially those of you who are enjoying a rare moment of tranquility inside the District of Columbia. more ›

If you're at work, your office is likely pretty empty. If you're on the Metro, there's probably not too many over-crowded trains. If you're walking home, you're surely thankful you're not stuck in a car right now -- because everyone's trying to get the heck out of the city. more ›

Here it is, video footage of the traditional Presidential turkey pardon. more ›

While traveling out of town is the story of the day for most people, those of you who are sticking around town for the Thanksgiving holiday will want to keep in mind that Metro will be operating on a Sunday schedule this Thursday. more ›

To avoid the mad Black Friday rush (or perhaps extend it), some large retailers have come up with a brilliant solution: just open at midnight on Thanksgiving Thursday and let people start shopping then! more ›

Whether you're celebrating the holiday with friends and family, by devouring some tax meat instead of giving it to the homeless or simply taking some alone time to catch up with the couch, we hope you have an enjoyable day of food, football and relaxation. But if you find yourself needing to get out and about, there are several available options -- keep reading for DCist's list of Thanksgiving Day recommendations. more ›

Trying to pull together the materials for a last minute Thanksgiving meal this afternoon? We tried to lend a hand -- but it's going to be tough sledding if you need to buy anything from the Whole Foods at 1440 P Street NW this afternoon. The power went out at the grocery around 2:30 this afternoon, and has come back on...kind of. According to an employee at the store, all the registers are still down as of 2:45 -- so you are more than welcome to shop, but you'll need to wait to actually pay for your goods and leave. The employee we spoke with was not sure when the power would be fully restored, but said that the store is still planning on staying open until 11 p.m. tonight. more ›

This morning, President Barack Obama, standing alongside his daughters, Sasha and Malia, delivered the traditional pardon to National Thanksgiving turkeys "Apple" and "Cider." Of course, the turkeys have been living the life of late -- even though the fowl won't get the traditional trip to Disneyland. more ›

Cooking on Thanksgiving sure can be a hassle, even if you aren't hosting anyone or need to keep a whole bunch of picky children satiated. Do you go the traditional route and prepare a turkey? What's going to taste good? Where does one even start? Should you just go completely insane? Well, it's pretty late for you to be asking these questions -- but DCist is here to help. Our staff has a few ideas for the overwhelmed home chef's Thanksgiving meal, no matter the size. more ›

Adventures in Craigslist is a whenever-we-find-something-interesting series in which we dive headfirst into the vast complexities of the Washington region's Craigslist. Today: it sure beats buying one at the grocery store! more ›

Marion Barry was scheduled to hand out turkeys at Union Temple Baptist Church today; but when Barry arrived to the church, there was nary a bird to be found. In response, Barry's office sent out a scathing release, accusing Giant -- who was supposed to supply the turkeys -- of "corporate inflexibility." The release quotes Barry thusly: "It’s simply pathetic and incomprehensible to me that a multi-billion dollar corporation, like Giant, would take a position that would deprive children, seniors and other adults of food for the Thanksgiving holiday." more ›

There has been a lot of debate about airport security over the last few weeks. But as any holiday traveler knows, actually getting to the airport can be just as much of a hassle as any full body scan -- especially if you don't have a car, a friend with a car that owes you a favor or a bunch of cash to drop on a cab ride. Here are some methods that will (eventually) get you where you need to go. more ›

I know, it's a month away. But, if you want a sustainable, free-range turkey from your local farmers market for Thanksgiving: now is the time to order. Florida Girl in DC and Borderstan's Alejandra Owens have both put up handy guides of where to get your local turkey. more ›

President Barack Obama pardoned his first White House turkey, Courage, a little while ago. The White House has since released video of the ceremony (see below), during which Obama called Courage "a good looking bird." The president was in a joking mood, noting that "there are days when I'm reminded why I ran for this office ... and then there are days like this, when you pardon a turkey and send it Disneyland." more ›

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend will see a number of changes to Metrorail and Metrobus schedules, so be sure to make a note of them as you try to get around the city over the next few days. more ›

Dish of the Week: Bacon-Balsamic Brussels Sprouts more ›

Everyone's freaking out about this video of Sarah Palin being interviewed in front of a live turkey slaughter immediately after pardoning a turkey for Thanksgiving. Should her aides have moved her away from the killing machine before she started talking to reporters? Of course. Has Palin just further confirmed that she's a ridiculous person? Uh huh. Does it make the fact that "pardoning" a turkey for Thanksgiving is a meaningless, treacly tradition meant to make us feel a little less guilty about the largesse of America's fattest holiday somehow less real? Nope. more ›

There are few foods not improved by a little dip in hot oil, but no one has capitalized on this cooking method with as much gusto as the American South. Chicken, steak, okra, oysters, and hush puppies are just a few of the foods Southerners love to fry. Over the last few years, their Thanksgiving tradition of deep frying a whole turkey has become popular across the country, thanks to its quick cooking time, crisp skin, and moist meat. more ›

Happy Almost Holidays, Washington. With both Monday and Tuesday counting as a holiday for the federal government this year, most of D.C. is staring down a nice, long holiday break today. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, federal holidays are great for a lot of other reasons besides a day off - you don't have to feed parking meters, for instance. But The Examiner reports that that fact isn't stopping people from shoveling coins into meters on holidays anyway, especially those fancy new multispace meters: last Veterans Day, the city collected nearly $1,500 from multispace meters. DDOT says it is going to put stickers on the new meters along K Street to remind people that they don't have to pay on holidays. more ›

Straight women and gay men all across D.C. were presumably disappointed by the news that came out over the Thanksgiving holiday that Brad Pitt had dropped out of the production of State of Play, a big-budget political thriller set to begin filming here in Washington this winter. You may recall that Pitt had stopped by the Washington Post newsroom in September to do some research on the character he was slated to play in the... more ›

>> A gas main break closed Route 1 in Alexandria this afternoon. Expect delays. [WaPo] >> The suspicious death of a two-year-old Silver Spring boy has been ruled a homicide. [WTOP] >> Authorities have arrested and charged a Clinton, Md., woman with attempted murder and other arson-related charges for her involvement starting fire in a Gaithersburg apartment building on Thanksgiving morning. [NBC4] >> An Oak Hill Thanksgiving: "Just days before, a riot broke out... more ›

George Mason capped a successful holiday week by beating South Carolina yesterday to take third-place in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. Will Thomas paced the Patriots with 22 points and 11 rebounds, solidifying his place on the All-Tournament team. George Mason kicked off their tournament with an 87-77 win over 18th-ranked Kansas State. John Vaughan's 21 points led the team, which put all five starters in double figures. Folarin Campbell's 25 points made... more ›

After a long holiday weekend it's always nice to check out the DCist pool to see where our regular contributors have been off to, cameras always in tow. Though we'll no doubt hear a "it's not in D.C.!" complaint from someone, it's nice to see what our readers find outside the Beltway on occasion, especially for those of us who were stuck in the city over Thanksgiving. Chip py the photo guy took this wonderful shot of an old barn in Calvert County, Md. How did you spend your weekend? EXIF.
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Good morning, Washington, and welcome back to work after a nice long holiday away. We hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving vacation as much as we did ours. That is if you can take a long enough break from all the online shopping you'll supposedly be doing from your desk today to tell us about it. Stay tuned until the week before Christmas for your next update on the holiday shopping habits of Americans -- we... more ›

In Los Angeles, LAist most definitely celebrated Thanksgiving like no other. After all, one has to keep up all the energy to keep on walking the line at the Writers Strike and fighting the unfortunate return of the wildfires in Malibu, which single handedly destroyed over fifty homes within the first 24 hours. National outlets may be covering the fires, but CNN also found it is easier to buy a gun than fruit and... more ›

As we are still recovering from the gluttony that was Thanksgiving, and since it was pretty slow news week in, well, everything, we are light on the transit news, too. But first, which D.C. Council Member likes to ignore laws? You get one guess and the answer is after the jump. Photo by AlbinoFlea... more ›

Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving, D.C. Normally we like to get you your headlines in the a.m., so we hope you'll forgive us for rounding up the news later in the day today -- we needed to spend the morning rolling our much fatter selves out of bed and calling our doctors for a new Lipitor prescription. What do you mean, it isn't necessarily a good idea to put gravy on pumpkin pie? Breaking News: People are Shopping!:... more ›

Word of mouth is considered an important marketing tool these days; call it what you will, but it's still a great way to hear about new music, movies, TV, whatever. Usually the best way to find the good stuff is to talk to somebody whose opinions you respect, but sometimes just random folks can tell you about neat new stuff — some person at a party, a friend of a friend, or whoever. And sometimes... more ›

Happy Thanksgiving, Washington. The streets are quiet this morning in the capital; one cab driver remarked to this writer that it was his favorite day to drive in the city -- no traffic, no tourists, and everyone he picks up tends to be cheery and a big tipper. The forecast in D.C. today is calling for an unseasonably warm high of 72 degrees, with a solid chance of afternoon showers and gastrointestinal distress. What's the... more ›