Maybe you have a deep aversion to turkey and cranberries. Or your guests decided last minute they wanted to visit family in LA after all. Or the last thing you want to do is sit around arguing politics with your crazy republican uncle on your first holiday off since labor day.

Take heart, there are plenty of fun and interesting things you can do on Thanksgiving day (and weekend) that don’t involve eating turkey in tense family environments. And because everyone else is ensconced in said traditional activity, you can have your choice of alternate activity in the Bay Area to yourself. Here are a few suggestions:

California Academy of Sciences
I’ve been to the Academy a half-dozen times, and I’ve yet to get inside Morrison Planetarium. Why? Because tickets (yes, you need a separate ticket) are always snapped up by the time I get around to asking. Because I’ve yet to visit the Academy when you’re not standing three deep behind a crowd of people trying to get a peek of the jellyfish tank. A new ’Tis the Season for Science exhibit opens the day before, complete with snow and live reindeer. The museum is open from 10am to 3pm on Thanksgiving day, which is prime turkey binging/football watching time.

Muir Woods National Monument
You know where else is insanely crowded, all the time? Muir Woods, one of the most popular outdoor attractions in the Bay Area, which means if you don’t get there early to snag one of the limited parking spaces, you end up walking something like two miles to the entrance. So while everyone else is mixing up their cranberry sauce (I guess if you add enough sugar, anything is edible), you can simply stroll through front gate and enjoy a hike through majestic old growth coast redwoods of this spectacular primeval forest. Open 8am – 5pm.

Thanksgiving Sunrise Celebration
Didn’t the Thanksgiving story they told us in school involve Indians? To honor what we were taught about that day, join with our Native American brothers and sisters for the Indigenous Peoples’ Annual Thanksgiving Sunrise Gathering on Alcatraz Island, which is part of San Francisco Ohlone Territory. The event marks 524 years of Indigenous resistance, with presenters, drummers and dancers. It starts early, like 4am early, but how often do you get to see the sunrise on Alcatraz?

Volunteer
This is what the holiday is, or should be, about: giving thanks for what we have, and sharing what we have with others, even if it’s just our time and goodwill. There’s seemingly no shortage of people in need in the Bay Area, unfortunately, and Thanksgiving is a big day in the nonprofit community, who rely on volunteers for help. Here are just a few opportunities for volunteering: Meals on Wheels delivers food to seniors, a Thanksgiving Day Block Party is planned for the Tenderloin, the San Francisco Food Bank is giving out food, Glide Thanksgiving Meals, Little Brothers: Friends of the Elderly, Salvation Army Meal Delivery, Project Open Hand, and SPCA Holiday Windows at Macy’s.

Monterey Bay Aquarium
When’s the last time you made it to Monterey for a visit to one of the world’s premier aquariums? Thanksgiving is a great time for a local road trip down south on lightly trafficked roads, avoiding both weekday commuters and weekend beach-goers that normally clog up Hwy 17 to Santa Cruz. You also won’t have to elbow your way to a glimpse of the sea otters during feeding time. Open 9:30am – 6pm.

The Movies
Take your pick. There’s the Kabuki in Japantown, or the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland, and all the other cineplexes sprinkled around the Bay Area that are open on Thanksgiving. The blockbusters showing now include Arrival, Doctor Strange, and the Harry Potter-ish Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. You might want to avoid evening showtimes, since the turkey eaters start to venture out of their houses at that time looking for something to do.