A Place at Our Table: Thanksgiving at Pere Marquette Lodge

🍂 A Place at Our Table: Thanksgiving at Pere Marquette Lodge 🍂

For more than 10 years, I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving at Pere Marquette Lodge in Grafton, Illinois. Over the past few years, I’ve opened additional seats to Dudes Dining & Destinations members, and it has grown into a wonderful Friendsgiving tradition.

This gathering is open to D-3 members and the good people in their lives. Bring your brother, sister, an uncle who has no plans, your hairdresser or a close friend—as long as they are an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, they are welcome at our table.

My family started going to Pere Marquette after my mom passed away. I still miss her and that comforting Thanksgiving-at-home experience, but celebrating at the lodge gave me time to reflect and enjoy the day without worrying about cooking, cleaning or getting everything just right. To me, Pere Marquette is the closest thing to Thanksgiving at home—only someone else cooks the turkey and washes the dishes!

And what a Thanksgiving dinner it is! The lodge serves turkey carved right before your eyes, cornbread and traditional stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, ham, prime rib, salmon and a dessert table overflowing with pies, cakes and more. The cost is $49.95 per person, and yes, you may go back for seconds—or thirds!

We will sit down for dinner sometime between 1:00 and 1:30 PM, so please arrive early enough for our group to be seated together. Some of us arrive earlier to relax in the lodge, enjoy a glass of wine and socialize before dinner begins.

If you would like to attend, please RSVP and send me a private message with your phone number. Because reservations are made well in advance, please RSVP only if you are committed to joining us.

Come hungry, bring someone you enjoy and celebrate Friendsgiving with us—the closest thing to home, with a lot fewer dishes!