Here’s a look at how Americans celebrated:
At the big parade
Heavy security including bomb-sniffing dogs and police helicopters protected spectators of all ages who lined the route of the nationally televised Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which counted Thomas the Tank Engine, Paddington bear and the Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger among its six new giant balloons.
Before the parade was over, snow flurries had replaced drizzle as thousands of people discovered they could get no closer than a long block away from the colorful spectacle.
Shannon Hampton, a Lakeland, Fla., resident celebrating her 18th birthday with a friend, said the parade was exciting.
“My favorite part has to be the balloons because they are so much bigger in person than you think they would be,” she said.
At the White House
President Barack Obama spent a quiet Thanksgiving at the White House, where the belly-stuffing menu featured all the holiday’s basics. He also continued a tradition of telephoning members of the armed forces to thank them for their service.
The first family feasted on thyme-roasted turkey and honey-baked ham, cornbread stuffing and oyster stuffing, braised winter greens and macaroni and cheese. Don’t forget the green bean casserole, sweet potato gratin, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls and pies.
Obama said Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday “because, more than any other, it is uniquely American.”
In the dark
Power outages from a major snowstorm forced some in the Northeast to celebrate Thanksgiving much like the pilgrims and Native Americans did almost 400 years ago: in the dark.
The outages were particularly bad in northern New England, where about 200,000 customers remained without power in New Hampshire on Thursday and about 80,000 were without electricity in Maine.
More than 35,000 New York utility customers were without power and about 15,000 customers lacked power in New Jersey.
In Putney, Vt., Mike Mrowicki was in the middle of baking squash and making apple-cranberry crisp when his lights flickered off. Mrowicki said his family improvised on its meal for 10 people.
“We’ve got a gas stove, and we’ve got a woodstove we heat with,” Mrowicki said. “We’ve got plenty of lanterns and candles.”
At the mall
To the delight of some and consternation of others, it’ is increasingly become commonplace to see stores open on Thanksgiving, as retailers try to entice shoppers inside and kick off the holiday shopping season a day earlier than the traditional Black Friday.
Some of the stores open for at least part of the day on the holiday included Kmart, Target, Sears, Macy’s and Wal-Mart. There were 200 people in line at a Toys R Us store in New York’s Times Square when it opened at 5 p.m.
Other stores, like Neiman-Marcus, Nordstrom and Costco, were closed.
At a Manhattan Kmart, Pamala Hill went for the 2-for-1 shoe special.
“Yes, that’s why I’m here,” Hill said. “They are fitting, and they are comfortable. I’m wearing them out of the store. We are going to pay for them up front. Because I gotta get boots. My feet are freezing. I’m from Florida.”
Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, which tracks data at 70,000 stores globally, is expecting a sales increase of 3 percent to 5 percent to $2.57 billion to $2.62 billion on Thanksgiving. Last year’s figure grew two-fold from the year before.
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