Anticlimactic Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving triplog #15
Camp Hill, PA · Thu, 27 Nov 2025. 10pm.

Thanksgiving, the event around which we organized this trip, a trip in which I'm already on my 15th journal entry, has come and passed. And frankly, it was anticlimactic. It was just a meal. Sure, if was a big meal, with family and friends, but this year it seemed subdued.

From my inlaws' house in central Pennsylvania we drove over to their family friends' house well east of town. It's the same tradition they've celebrated for decades— and which we've joined them on many times in the last several years. Most of the same people as always were there. But the energy of the evening I remember from past years was not. Maybe it's an aspect of us all getting older.

Another Visit with Relatives Fizzles

Thanksgiving triplog #16
Camp Hill, PA · Fri, 28 Nov 2025. 12pm.

When I visited my cousin Matt on Monday he mentioned having plans to visit our cousin, Rebecca, on Friday. "Do you think Rebecca would mind if I joined?" I asked him Tuesday morning. I figured it'd be great to see Matt again— a few hours once a year is not enough— and I looked forward to seeing my Rebecca, whom I think I've only seen maybe twice since she was 6 years old... and she's now in her 40s!

Matt and Rebecca both agreed it would be great to see us. And their agreed-up meeting location for today was Frederick, MD, which is only about 1.5 hours from up here near Harrisburg. I figured it'd be an easy day-trip down there for a late lunch today.

Alas, today's visit fizzled. Matt texted just as I was getting ready to leave. "Rebecca's really sorry but something came up," he explained. "She says today's not a good day."

Bummer. And especially bummer because it's not the first time this week a relative nope'd out of visiting with minimal explanation why. Three of my nieces basically ghosted us, leading to us leaving town a day and a half early on Tuesday.

Bored on Black Friday

Thanksgiving triplog #17
Mechanicsburg, PA · Fri, 28 Nov 2025. 2pm.

After my plans to see my cousins fell through today I was at wits' end for what to do with myself. Staying around the house with my pokey inlaws is stultifying. So I knew I wanted to go out. But... to do what? Today is Black Friday, so going shopping would be on brand... except there's nothing I want to buy. And trolling around stores on this supposedly busiest day of the year seems like it would be more frustrating. (I'm skeptical about whether it's the busiest day of the year anymore, but that doesn't change the equation that shopping today is likely to be more frustrating than enjoyable.)

Hawk seemed to be looking for an excuse to get out the house, too, because when I suggested I might go out to eat for lunch, she agreed to join me. She agreed to join me for pizza, even. We found a well rated pizzeria a few miles away and headed there first.

Getting pizza in central Pennsylvania was a bit of culture shock. The shocker wasn't the pizza itself. It was east coast style pizza, which is exactly what I expected... though maybe a bit bland compared to what I expected. (Pizza with my mom and sister a few days ago in Virginia was way richer.) The shocker was the price. A lunch combo with two slices and a drink was $8 for cheese slices, $9 for pepperoni. And the slices were huge. That kind of meal back home would be literally twice the price.

After stuffing ourself on more pizza than we believed we could eat we considered again going shopping somewhere. Hawk did have a bead shop in mind, so we drove over to that in Mechanicsburg's quaint downtown area. The old fashioned stores there were empty, and street parking was easy. We considered shopping somewhere again after that but decided just to go home instead. We'd had enough of a break from the house.