YOUR WEEKEND: Post-Thanksgiving Survival Guide

By Steven Froias

Whether you ate too much, traveled too far or fought over politics at the dinner table, Black Friday doesn’t have to be a day of consumer excess. It can be the start of a weekend of renewal and return to an enhanced (re: holiday season) reality. Here’s a few things to get you into the post giblet groove over the long weekend.

HIKE

SATURDAY, NOV. 25 – With forecast temps predicted to be a balmy 50 degrees, it’s a good chance to get outside before New England starts living up to its winter reputation. Today from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust provides the opportunity with a Post-Thanksgiving Day hike through Destruction Brook Woods at 205 Slades Corner Road in South Dartmouth. Free, no reservations required.

CRAFTS

Beginning SATURDAY, NOV. 25 – There’s lots of craft fairs happening from now until Christmas at city schools, churches and other organizations. One of the biggest takes place on Saturday, November 25 and Sunday, November 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. each day at the awesome Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School. (Whew – thank God we can just call it “Voke” from now on!) Voke goes all out for their annual craft fair, inviting over 150 vendors in for the weekend. Skip the big box stores and at all costs avoid the mall and head here for inspired Christmas gifts. (Pictured above – hats by Keeper in Stitches.) Oh – and you get to eat in the Voke cafeteria, too! This writer still fondly recalls the Creamed Turkey over Mashed Potatoes from his early High School daze…

SHOP

SATURDAY, NOV. 25 – It’s not consumer excess if you SHOP SMALL – as in Small Business Saturday. Two hour free parking in New Bedford means you get stroll stress-free through the historic downtown – and can even grab lunch at Destination Soups between purchases. The best way to chart your course over the cobblestones is the Groundwork! Gift Guide compiled by co-founder Sarah Athanas; find it here.

BINGE

ANYTIME – I would point out that Stranger Things 2 is now streaming on Netflix, but in my last binge-worthy round-up, Groundwork!’s Shelley Cardoos pointed out that comedy was nowhere to be found on my dark matters queue. Since a Louis C.K. marathon would bring us back to a bad place, here are some series selections with outstanding female comic performances…

AMAZON PRIME brings us back to the Mad Men era – but with a twist. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” charts the journey of housewife-turned-comic Midge Maisel. Slate magazine calls it a knock-out, and after seeing the pilot, this writer agrees. The finale on a Greenwich Village stage was a dangerous scream. Only the pilot is up now; full series arrives when your turkey leftovers run dry on Nov. 29. But whet your appetite this weekend. Feature photo above: Rachel Brosnahan as Maisel.

ACORNTV: British humor is in a class be itself – and has often been the genesis for many an American sitcom. “Cradle To Grave” – like “Shameless” – will probably get a States-side treatment soon. But you can catch the original if you have an ACORN TV subscription. Based on the memoirs of British comedian Danny Baker, it stars Peter Kay as the lovable, loud-mouthed, and larcenous patriarch of an eccentric South London family in the 1970s – but mom Lucy Speed steals the show and gives the series its heart and funniest moments, in my opinion. Bonus – great period tunes, too.

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Steven Froias

Mad Man at Groundwork!

Steven Froias is Groundwork!'s resident blogger. He sleeps in the boiler room at 1213 Purchase Street.