From celebrities feeding the hungry in Los Angeles to children watching a giant Mickey Mouse waft over Manhattan, millions of Americans came together to giggle, gobble and gab this Thanksgiving holiday.
In New York, die-hard parade spectators braved frigid temperatures to enjoy 20 floats, dozens of clowns and bunches of colorful helium balloons in the 74th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
''If I don't do this, I get yelled at,'' said Michael Brady, who came to the parade with his eager offspring - Mikey.
Mikey, by the way, is 20 years old.
Parade-watching also was the order of the day in Philadelphia, where thousands of warmly dressed spectators lined the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to watch the 81-year-old event, the nation's oldest Thanksgiving parade.
''I wanted my kids to have the same memories I did when I was a child. My father brought us every year to the parade,'' said Henrietta Kershaw.
Thousands also flocked to the America's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Detroit, where a river of floats, marching bands and dancing acts made their way through downtown.
''I want to see the grand finale,'' said Eric Walden, 10, who was perched on a statue overlooking the parade. ''I don't know what it's going to be, but I know it's going to be big.''
The grand finale: The mayor gave Santa the keys to the city.
The crowds that gathered in Kansas City's Country Club Plaza were there for another Thanksgiving tradition: The lighting of more than 200,000 colored bulbs that decorated every tower, building and balcony in the ritzy shopping and dining area.
''It puts you in the Christmas spirit,'' said spectator Ron Forbes, a lifelong resident of the Kansas City area. ''It makes you enjoy Christmas more.''
For scores of volunteers, the holiday was a chance to feed the hungry.
In Atlanta, an estimated 30,000 meals were dished out at the annual Thanksgiving dinner sponsored by Hosea's Feed the Hungry and Homeless, an anti-hunger campaign founded by Hosea Williams. The 74-year-old civil rights veteran died last week of complications from kidney cancer.
''I just wanted to be a part of this,'' said rapper Sean ''Puffy'' Combs, who donated money for this year's seven-course dinner. Combs was joined by Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes and Olympian Gail Devers.
Some famous names also served meals to the hungry at the Fred Jordan Mission in Los Angeles, where about 1,000 people sat down to plates of turkey and potatoes. Edward James Olmos, Dick Van Dyke and Jennifer Love Hewitt were among the Hollywood actors lending a hand.
''The more you give, the more you will receive,'' said Olmos as he pitched in. ''This is food for the soul.''
In downtown Los Angeles, a Catholic priest handed out $15,000 to the needy and disabled. Most of the cash the Rev. Maurice Chase offered was in $1 bills, but a handful were lucky to receive $100.
''I was just passing by and saw they were giving something away,'' said Lisa Carr, 31. She planned to use the money to buy clothes for her 14-year-old son who has cerebral palsy.
In Houston, the annual Thanksgiving Houston Superfeast prepared 6,000 pounds of turkey for a crowd of more than 15,000.
Clothes that filled a 40-foot long tractor trailer were offered to the underprivileged at the event, in the culmination of a weeklong clothing drive by the Salvation Army.
For the first time at the 150-member Thomas Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., the men took on the challenge of cooking Thanksgiving dinner. More than 100 meals were served by noon.
''Last night was really fun with nothing but all men here in the church, and we're all putting our heads together to cook this and cook that. And it came out excellent,'' said Deacon Michael Booth, who headed a crew of about 20. ''But we're trying to keep it a secret from our wives.''
Many American Indians marked the holiday differently. In Massachusetts, about 250 Native Americans participated in the National Day of Mourning, an annual event commemorating crimes American Indians have endured since the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth in 1620.
''They think Thanksgiving is a happy thing, like New Year's or Christmas, but it's not for us Indians,'' said Sam Sapiel, 69.
After Wednesday's travel frenzy, a relative lull settled throughout most of the country.
United Airlines canceled just nine of its 2,300 flights, a significant drop from the number canceled earlier this week during the pre-holiday rush.
The next travel crush will be on Sunday, which is expected to be the busiest day in the history of U.S. airlines, with 2.24 million passengers, according to the Air Transport Association.