Thanksgiving is supposed to be fun, not perfect

Most of us hoped our Thanksgiving holiday weekend was filled with great food, perfect weather and zero drama.

Sadly, that only happens in Hallmark movies, while real life is closer to the Steve Martin and John Candy classic ’80s film, “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.”

For example, Ann and Wayne Antoniazzi traveled from their home outside of Richmond, Virginia, to her sister’s house in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.

During a stop at the rest area on Interstate 95 in Laurel, Maryland, she told WTOP what she won’t forget about Thanksgiving 2025.

“I let my niece color my hair,” Ann said. “It’s darker than I thought it was going to be.”

The color is a tie-dye combination of purple and blue, which highlights the color of Ann’s eyes.

When in doubt, you can always count on the kind words from your spouse to make you feel better.

“She looks like Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony,” Ann’s husband, Wayne, said.

Jokes like that will make the three-hour drive home fun.

The longtime married couple, who are originally from New Jersey, laughed as they got in the car and pulled away.

Walking up afterwards was a man who was moving around as if he was sore.

Theodore Pinkney took a pit stop from his 1,000-mile journey home to West Palm Beach, Florida.

Both of Pinkney’s parents have passed away and he and his siblings make sure they spend Thanksgiving together back home in Baltimore.

Pinkney said his parents would be proud of their tradition.

“Especially my dad. He loved this time of year,” Pinkney said.

The reason for the soreness: Pinkney said it was from the fun his family had on Friday.

“It was the old school against the new school in basketball,” Pinkney said. “Old school got their butts kicked.”

As cars, SUVs and 18-wheelers drove in and out of the rest area, a lot of folks headed straight to the area for pets.

Dressed in holiday plaid was Michele Tecco, who was stretching her legs along with her 4-year-old black-and-white border collie Geshem.

Tecco spent her holiday weekend with family in Philadelphia and friends in New York City.

During Tecco’s quick trip to the Big Apple, Geshem got to stay with grandma.

While Geshem was spoiled with treats by his grandma and Uncle Andrew, that didn’t stop him from going counter surfing.

“He actually knocked the container of leftovers onto the floor,” Tecco said. “I heard, I was not there.”

Grandma did acknowledge that her daughter warned her not to keep things on the counter.

“He ran away after it fell. He knew it was bad, but he didn’t get hurt and that’s all that mattered.”

As Tecco was getting Geshem situated in the back of the car for their ride back home to Richmond, the pup got a special treat in a red rubber dispenser.

“Whoever invented the Kong — thank you,” Tecco said.

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