Add a dash of healthy to Thanksgiving

If you're reading this, it's probably Thanksgiving morning or afternoon. You're anticipating the big feast, lots of laughs with friends and family, watching some football on TV, and either you or some of your family members are hatching plans to hit the stores in the morning.

Ahh, the long Thanksgiving weekend. Barring the hassles of travel, it's really the best holiday of all, don't you think?

But it can be even better if you mix in some healthy activities. And the Lowcountry has plenty to do. Check out some of the ideas we and some of our contacts have and be sure to Get Out this weekend.

Call of the wild

Tyrone Walker
The Post and Courier

The Sewee Visitor and Environmental Education Center offers many activities, including a live red wolf display.

There are nearly 315,000 acres of nature at your doorstep.

That's a lot. So where do you start?

The Sewee Visitor and Environmental Education Center on U.S. Highway 17 in Awendaw is a window to the Francis Marion National Forest and Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. There's no better place to whet your appetite for the region's heritage and natural history and pick up maps for all the trails.

The center, which will be open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, features an interactive information center, exhibits about ecosystems, orientation film and auditorium, live red wolf display and impressive variety of events and programs (more at 928-3368 or www.fws.gov/seweecenter).

The wildlife refuge includes a 64,000-acre stretch of barrier islands and salt marsh runs for more than 20 miles along the coast south of Georgetown and north of Charleston and is home to nesting loggerhead sea turtles, countless shorebirds, canvasbacks, ring-necked ducks and migratory songbirds. Every day from sunrise to sunset, the refuge is open for activities that include saltwater fishing, shelling, hiking, and limited hunting, though the only facilities accessible by automobile are at the Sewee Center and Garris Landing.

Francis Marion is a 250,000-acre forest, portions of which served as sites of Revolutionary War battles. The forest represents one of the largest remaining concentrations of longleaf pines in the nation and contains extensive hardwood bottomland forest lands, which together harbor 18 threatened or endangered animal species,.

Play a game

David Quick
The Post and Courier

Bocce has its roots in Italy, but there’s no reason you can’t engage the family in a game this weekend.

Build camaraderie with your newly introduced in-laws or that distant cousin you see once a year by playing a friendly, team-oriented game.

"Yard" games have withstood the test of time and have brought people together across the globe. A favorite in the Charleston area that has swiftly gained popularity in recent years is Italian-rooted bocce. Bocce traditionally is played on an oyster shell court, but it most often is seen in the Lowcountry being played on sand. If you don't feel you can round everyone up and head to the beach, this game can be played in your backyard.

Other family favorites may include horseshoes, croquet, and a variety of emerging games such as cornhole (if you haven't heard of this one, just keep your eye out for people tossing bean bags into wooden platforms with holes).

Playing a game is a great way to engage in quality family time before everyone retreats to their corners of the house to nap.

Kayaking, horseback riding at Middleton

Middleton Place

Horseback riding is available at Middleton Place. The plantation is open today and is featuring holiday admission prices.

Middleton Place is open on Thanksgiving Day and we will be offering special holiday admission rates.

With more than 65 acres of formal landscaped gardens, what a great way to walk off that dinner you've eaten at home. In addition to touring the gardens and plantation stableyards, we will have both house tours and carriage rides available.

Here's the skinny on Thanksgiving Day at Middleton Place: Holiday admission is $10 adults, $5 children ages 6-17 and free for ages 5 and under.

For the rest of the weekend, I'd like to suggest guided Ashley River kayak tours, offered daily 1:30-3:30 p.m. and guided nature walks offered daily at Middleton Place at 10 a.m. Call the Outdoor Center at Middleton Place at 266-7492.

A guided horseback trail ride is an exceptional way to experience the natural beauty of Middleton Place. Take a trip back in time to Henry Middleton's day by touring the plantation on horseback and explore miles of trails.

Riders are treated to an hour tour of the woodlands, riverbank and the rice fields of one of South Carolina's most dramatic landscapes. All experience levels welcome. Protective headgear and riding instruction are provided. For ages 10 and up. Age 10-18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Trail Rides are offered daily at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The cost is $45 per person and reservations required.

Call 556-8137 for booking information and availability. Leave a message and the call will be returned.

Run Turkey Day (if it’s not too late)

Daily newspaper people — just like nurses, police officers and Wal-mart employees — often can't evacuate the workplace at holidays as many do. The paper has to come out every day. I'm not complaining. I love the business.

But that, in combination with my absolute abhorrence of holiday traffic, tends to keep me here, at least on Thanksgiving Day morning. That's fine because I love running in the Knights of Columbus Turkey Day Run in downtown Charleston. Of the two races each year that most runners bring their best game to, it's Turkey Day and the Cooper River Bridge Run.

I go. I run. I hang out. And then I grab a Starbucks venti-sized black coffee, get in the car and head to North Carolina to be with family.

That's been the first half of my Thanksgiving for most of the last half dozen years.

This year is different. It will be spent in Duke University Medical Center with my dad, but come around 8:58 a.m., my mind certainly will drift to thinking about the corner of Meeting and Calhoun streets. I most certainly will ache to be there among all that nervous energy.

Good luck runners and walkers. Sip a cold one for me.

Play touch football

Once I arrive at my family's house, we usually eat, finishing just in time to slip in a game of two-hand touch football with my nephews, brother, brother-in-law and any assortment of the following — a sister, neighorhood kids and even a dog (the latter just for the sake of chaos).

Football really cranks up on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving when several football games are held, punctuated by an "injury" (stubbed finger, twisted ankle or late hit), spat between nephews or meal of leftovers.

I have such fond memories of football — playing it not watching it — on Thanksgiving weekend and often wonder why I don't see more people doing it. The flushed cheeks, the hot-dogging, the fake complaining, spiking the ball, the grass stains. That's all good stuff. Nothing in the mall can beat it.

Don't find excuses not to play, either. No yard? No good space for a game? Head to a local park or even vacant football field. Just remember two-hand touch and keep it real (fun).

Check out surf contest

A team surf contest can burn that turkey right off. The Liquid Shredder Team Challenge has been going on for more than 20 years, but not always on Thanksgiving weekend.

The challenge will start at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Washout on Folly Beach. Anyone is welcome to form a team and come out. Entry information can be found at http://ssc.surfesa.org. (Call 343-4047 for questions.)

This is known as a "braggin' rights" contest. The perpetual trophy is extremely gnarly, but they won't let me buy a new one. It has been known to mysteriously disappear, too, it's THAT coveted.

The best of the best surfers in this area turn out for the contest. They're all experienced and competitive rippers.

Tradition also mandates Bert's hot dogs.

Festival of Lights is open, even tonight

Make plans today to visit the Holiday Festival of Lights at James Island County Park (the only county park open today).

The festival opens at 5:30 p.m. and offers a memorable family outing. In addition to taking the three-mile driving tour, stretch your legs as you see the sights exploring Santa's Village and Winter Wonderland, two areas within the park. Walk off dinner as you stroll along the enchanted walking trail, stopping to check out the 50-ton sand sculpture, giant greeting cards, carousel and portable climbing wall.

The Friday after Thanksgiving brings even more opportunities to get out and get active. You can be thankful for the paved walking trails, playgrounds, and bicycle, pedal boat and kayak rentals at James Island, Wannamaker and Palmetto Islands county parks. The three beach parks also are nice settings for outdoor play. With fewer people around, the beach parks are the perfect places to fly kites or start a game of touch football.

Caw Caw Interpretive Center boasts seven miles of interpretive trails, while the Folly Beach Fishing Pier offers fishing and great views.

Whatever your post-Thanksgiving Day craving, you can indulge in some outdoor activity at county parks. Visit www.ccprc.com.

Take a Hike

The Charleston peninsula abounds with one-of-a kind walking experiences. A personal favorite is parking the car by the Battery or Colonial Lake and getting lost in the narrow streets of historic Charleston.

Each intersection takes me back to my youth and the "Choose Your Own Adventure" book series, where the reader chose between two options, each providing an all-together separate adventure.

These days you can enjoy wrought-iron masterpieces, stained glass and secretive gardens that allow the imagination to run wild. Eventually, your sense of direction will take hold and you'll relocate your car.

If you are feeling more in the mood to connect with nature on your Thanksgiving Day, Charleston is also very fortunate to be bordered with wild places a short drive away. To our north, the Francis Marion National Forest offers an abundance of trails with highlights that include relics of Native American shell middens, Carolina Bays complete with carnivorous plants, and blackwater swamps boasting majestic cypress knees. You will see signs for some of these trailheads while driving along U.S. Highway 17 North. To our south lies the ACE Basin (Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto River Basin), an area wrought with opportunities for a person seeking to get their shoes dirty.

The primary "jumping off" places include the Caw Caw Interpretive Center, Dungannon Heritage Preserve, and Edisto Island State Park. All offer excellent opportunities to connect with nature including rice impoundments left largely untouched and upland forest with a touch of fall colors.

The opposite of mall: Be idler Forest

Although the Francis Beidler Forest is closed on Thanksgiving Day, we are open the rest of the week and weekend.

Thanksgiving weekend is a very busy time for us, as local folks bring their visiting family to a great local attraction that is as far away from the shopping mall as you can get.

Located in the heart of the Lowcountry between Columbia and Charleston, Four Holes Swamp is a 45,000-acre matrix of black water sloughs and lakes, shallow bottomland hardwoods, and deep Bald cypress and Tupelo Gum flats. Four Holes Swamp is a major tributary of the Edisto River.

More than 15,000 of those acres are owned by the National Audubon Society and make up what is known as the Francis Beidler Forest. The Beidler Forest is just north of I-26 outside the town of Harleyville. More at http://sc.audubon.org/Centers_FBF.html.

Walk before dessert

I'd suggest a pre- or post-meal walk on the beach or Cooper River bridge.

But no dessert until you and your group have walked a mile or two.

Or pick a restaurant or cafe within feasible walking distance that's open and that is willing to serve dessert only. Everyone walks there for dessert ... and back. Also saves people having to bake.