Here’s What Minnesotans Are Doing Over Thanksgiving

MINNESOTA — Outlet malls. Art centers. Home improvement stores. Cellphone retailers. Breweries. If history is any indicator, these are just some of the places people across the country will be headed over the Thanksgiving holiday this year.

That’s according to a new analysis by Google Maps and Google News Lab, which published a new report this week titled “Mapping Thanksgiving.”

The report looked at places people searched directions for over the holiday more often than at other times of the year. The top place people in Minnesota searched for over the holiday: state park.

Here’s a complete breakdown for our state:

WEDNESDAY

1. home goods store
2. game store
3. art center
4. dog park
5. electronics store

THANKSGIVING

1. state park
2. art center
3. dog park
4. tool store
5. tree farm

FRIDAY

1. business center
2. art center
3. tree farm
4. candy store
5. Airport

OVERALL

1. art center
2. business center
3. tool store
4. state park
5. tree farm

Your turn. Where are you heading for Thanksgiving? Tell us in the comment section or on Facebook.

Across the country, people searched for places in various industries, including restaurants, entertainment, religious organizations and even schools.

The research seemed to show that people geared up for Christmas early — the top search term overall from Wednesday to Friday was outlet mall, and the No. 1 place on the actual holiday was tree farm. Other top places included scenic overlook, electronics store and video-game store.

Several states had some particularly interesting trending search terms.

The top trending search term in Arizona was car-stereo store. In Colorado, it was swimming pool. Folks in Mississippi and Montana, meanwhile, looked for coffee shops, while Vermonters searched for pizza places. Nevadans seemed to be looking for parking garages.

Search trends were represented as general categories, rather than exact terms. Trending categories were determined by comparing the total number of direction requests during the three-day holiday period to the total number of direction requests two weeks before and two weeks after Thanksgiving week.

The categories that saw the highest ratio increase during Thanksgiving week were considered top trending categories. Those categories were then compared to the national rate.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images