Although most students look forward to traveling home for Thanksgiving to enjoy homemade casseroles and sweet pumpkin pies, others envision Thanksgiving dinner differently.
For some, it is an opportunity to create their own meals and enjoy this special time with friends.
Jenny Meyer, junior in prepharmacy, said she and her friends made a potluck dinner last year.
"I have friends who are from other states, like Texas and stuff like that," Meyer said. "Me and my parents had Thanksgiving lunch--we always have Thanksgiving lunch--and so afterwards my friends were having a Thanksgiving dinner in Auburn.
"So what I did was I brought some of the turkey that my family made to that dinner, and we all just kind of had a big Thanksgiving potluck kind of thing."
Meyer said people contributed items like turkey, mashed potatoes, peas and several other Thanksgiving-themed dishes.
She said they wanted to contribute food that was easy to make and inexpensive.
Hannah Yon, sophomore in interior design, said she plans to stay in Auburn for Thanksgiving so she can attend the Iron Bowl game in Tuscaloosa.
"Basically, I'm going home and coming back on the day before Thanksgiving because we wanted to go to the Iron Bowl," Yon said.
"So we're going to one of my boyfriend's friends' apartments, and I'm going to cook Thanksgiving lunch that day, and then we are going to head down to Tuscaloosa for the Iron Bowl game."
Yon hasn't decided exactly what she plans to cook, but anticipates having Thanksgiving classics, including turkey and stuffing.
Yon said she plans to have the turkey made at home beforehand to avoid the hassle.
Restaurants also take measures to prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday.
"This Thanksgiving is a little bit different than last year," said Arif Kor, executive assistant manager at Ariccia in the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center.
"If you remember, the Alabama game was actually on Thanksgiving weekend, so Thanksgiving is going to be a lot quieter because last year actually all the businesses downtown were asked to stay open."
Kor said hosting the Iron Bowl allowed for more activities last year than are planned for this year.
However, Ariccia will host two Thanksgiving activities despite the amount of students returning home or attending the Iron Bowl.
They are offering a brunch buffet and the traditional, three-course Thanksgiving Dinner.
"We will have, obviously, carving stations, fried turkey with all the trimmings," Kor said. "We will have a pork-carving station, omelet station and waffle station."
Kor said they look at the city's historical data from past years before they make their decisions.
They looked at their business rate for the last several years when Auburn played away, and they had enough business on the holiday to justify staying open again.
"Typically in hotels, we find out that these special religious holidays--like Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving--we are always the busiest because most people are closed," Kor said. "We always find out that we are usually the social center when it comes to restaurants in the community, so it's a pretty easy decision for us."
Although the option is there for a college-style Thanksgiving, not everyone has the best luck attempting it.
"The first year I stayed home, it was just me and a buddy, and we ended up ordering Little Caesars on Thanksgiving Day," said John Burleson, senior in architecture. "That was kind of depressing. Now, I stay here and work up till Thursday."
Burleson said this year he plans to travel to Tuscaloosa Thanksgiving Day because he has family there.
He also plans to attend the Iron Bowl game.
This year, various restaurants around Auburn also plan to incorporate Thanksgiving-themed items into their menu before and after the holiday.
For example, Mike and Ed's will have smoked boneless turkeys and hams before they close for the holiday, and Niffer's Place will have a turkey burger.
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