lake forest shores

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 24, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone at Lake Forest Shores! Yes, it is that time of the year when many will be spending time with family, feasting and watching football. By the end of the day, most will be rushing out the door to get the best Black Friday deals by fighting the crowds for the last "must have" toy of the year, or getting an early start on Christmas shopping.

Now, before getting into what to do after the feasting and family fun time, let's get right into a little bit of history of how Thanksgiving came to be:

Thanksgiving Day first started in New England. It was a way to thank God for the abundance of harvested crops. In truth, people from many parts of the world have been holding some kind of harvest festival for thousands of years, but called it by a different name. Anyways, the first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in Plymouth in 1621 by the Pilgrims and 91 Indians. The Pilgrims first set foot at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. The first winter in Massachusetts was really bad and 46 out of the original 102 Pilgrims died. It is believed that the Indians helped the Pilgrims through that difficult period and without them, the Pilgrims would not have survived.

In the following Spring of 1621, the Indians taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn/maize and other crops, plus hunt and fish. Due to a bountiful harvest, the Pilgrims and Indians celebrated for 3-days, but it was not for many years later that Thanksgiving was celebrated again or recognized as a holiday. It wasn't until 1789 that President George Washington issued a general proclaimation naming November 26 a day of National Thanksgiving.

There is a lot more about the history of Thanksgiving, but to simplify, it is a family reunion dinner celebration with roast turkey, mashed potatos, cranberry, sweet potato, corn and pumpkin pie being the favorite dishes.

So what to do when your done filling your belly and fighting over politics? Well, go see a movie or browse the shops at the Irvine Spectrum. This year, the stores open at midnight - 8:00am for the Black Friday Frenzy, plus the family can have fun at all of the attraction spots: ferris wheel, ice skating rink, carrousel and the Edwards Irvine Spectrum 21 IMAX & RPX. There is plenty to do and if you get hungry again, you will have access to delicious foods!

The ferris wheel is capable of projecting a dazzling 16 million color schemes and is fascinating to watch from below, or go for a ride and get a birds eye view of Orange County at $5 per ticket.

There are plenty of quality retail stores, coffee shops, restaurants and attractions at this outdoor contemporary shopping mall. A great place for adults, teens and families to come spend the day.