When does a Lake Martin Thanksgiving actually get decided? If Catherine's Market is cooking your turkey this year, it's decided at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21. That is the cutoff for placing or canceling a carryout order, five days before Thanksgiving.
Most of the holiday stretch at Russell Crossroads follows from that one date. Orders go in by Saturday. Food comes home during a four-hour window on Wednesday. The market is closed Thanksgiving Day. Then on Friday, Nov. 27, Russell Crossroads holds three events at once. If you have family coming to the lake this month, plan backward from the Saturday deadline.
The Month at a Glance
From today through Black Friday, here is what's on the calendar in and around Russell Crossroads.
| Date | What | Where | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu., Nov. 12 | Russell Lands Oyster Social | SpringHouse | 5:30 p.m. | $120 per person before tax and gratuity |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | All-Terrain Splash and Ride | Russell Marine Boating & Outdoors, 19 Russell Marine Road | 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Not listed |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Let's Talk Turkey | Naturalist Cabin | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Free |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Catherine's Thanksgiving order deadline | Catherine's Market | 4 p.m. | Card on file |
| Wed., Nov. 25 | Catherine's order pickup | Catherine's Market | After 9 a.m., before 1 p.m. | |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Thanksgiving | Catherine's Market closed | ||
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Holiday Bazaar | Town Green | 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. | |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Christmas at Crossroads with Santa | Green Stage | Around 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Let's Talk Turkey | Naturalist Cabin | 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Free |
The Oyster Social is the first date to plan around. It's a collaboration between Fanny's and SpringHouse, and at $120 a head it works better as an evening for the hosts than as a family outing. It also falls two weeks before the house fills up. The Russell Lands events page lists every event through Nov. 27 and can be added to a phone calendar.
Saturday, Nov. 21, Does Two Jobs
On the same Saturday as the order deadline, the Naturalist Cabin runs "Let's Talk Turkey" from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Russell Lands lists it as a free program for all ages, led by Naturalist Marianne, with live domestic turkeys and wildlife items kids can handle. The kids' outing ends at 2 p.m., two hours before the 4 p.m. cutoff for finalizing the menu.
The order form has a few rules that matter if you're ordering for a crowd. Every order has to be held with a credit card on file. Senior discounts don't apply to catering orders. Canceling has the same 4 p.m. Saturday deadline as ordering, so if your guest count is still changing that week, Saturday afternoon is your last chance to adjust. The form lists Catherine's phone number as 256-215-7070. Russell Lands posted the carryout menu announcement in late October, with a link to the 2026 order form.
What the Order Form Actually Costs
The turkeys are Joyce Farms all-natural, free-range birds, and every turkey comes with a quart of stock and reheating instructions. A whole bird is $6.49 a pound raw or $8.49 a pound cooked. That $2-a-pound difference is the price of having Catherine's do the roasting. On the 16-to-20-pound size, the gap works out to about $32 to $40.
| Turkey option, 2026 menu | Raw | Cooked | 16 to 20 lb bird, raw | 16 to 20 lb bird, cooked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joyce Farms whole turkey | $6.49/lb | $8.49/lb | About $104 to $130 | About $136 to $170 |
| Bone-in turkey breast, 10 to 12 lb | $9.99/lb | $11.99/lb | ||
| Airline turkey breast | $10.49/lb, raw only, while supplies last | |||
| Whole beef tenderloin | Market price, Prime or Choice, trimmed or untrimmed |
The whole turkey also comes in 10-to-14 and 20-to-24-pound sizes. If you're hosting a big crowd, the tenderloin is the one item without a printed price.
The sides are easier to plan. Eight house-made trimmings are each $9.99 a pound, and the form says 2 pounds serves 4 to 6. A 2-pound order of any side comes to about $20. The eight are:
- Mac and cheese
- Broccoli au gratin
- Sweet potato casserole
- Squash casserole
- Green bean casserole
- Twice-baked mashed potatoes
- Cornbread dressing with chicken
- Corn casserole
The extras are priced by the unit. Giblet gravy is $10.99 a quart, cranberry sauce $9.99 for 16 ounces, chicken stock $6.99 a quart, and dinner rolls $7.99 a dozen.
Desserts cover a wide price range. Pumpkin pie is $16.99, apple pie $21.99 and pecan pie $25.99. New York-style cheesecake and pumpkin cheesecake are $56.99 each, and a key lime tart is $36.99. New Water Farms supplies the blackberry and blueberry cobblers, $19.99 each. The bakery side of the form also lists a 10-inch sourdough boule at $9.99, sour cream pound cake at $11.99, banana pudding at $10.99, and pumpkin bread and banana nut bread at $11.99 each. Those breads and the pound cake will still be good on Friday morning, when guests are heading out to the Green.
Wednesday's Window Is Four Hours
Pickup is Wednesday, Nov. 25, after 9 a.m. and before 1 p.m. Catherine's closes at 2 p.m. that day and stays closed on Thanksgiving. If someone in the family is driving in Wednesday afternoon, the food has to be picked up before they arrive. That makes the Wednesday run part of the travel plan, not something to fit in later.
By Thursday, most of the Crossroads area runs on holiday schedules. The Stables lists Thanksgiving Day among its yearly closures. SpringHouse, Kowaliga Restaurant, The Company Store, BRU 63 and Fanny's each set their own holiday-week hours. The schedules posted on their websites are regular hours, so call before promising anyone a Thanksgiving-weekend breakfast or dinner out.
Friday Belongs to the Town Green
The Friday after Thanksgiving is when the week's planning pays off. With the cooking finished, three events share Russell Crossroads on Nov. 27.
The Holiday Bazaar runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Town Green, with handmade jewelry, pottery, woodwork, soaps and paintings. The bazaar's application page calls it a rain-or-shine event and says it receives about 100 applications a year and selects about 80 artists. Those are yearly averages, not this year's lineup. Applications for 2026 are due Nov. 9, so any artisans in your house still have a few days.
Christmas at Crossroads brings Santa to the Green Stage by carriage around 10 a.m. Russell Lands says he'll stay until around 2 p.m. and that the Town Green will have arts and crafts and games for children alongside the bazaar.
Let's Talk Turkey returns to the Naturalist Cabin from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., free, and is scheduled to run alongside the bazaar. If your kids saw the turkeys on Nov. 21, their visiting cousins can see them on Friday.
Getting there before 10 catches the carriage, and because the Naturalist Cabin stays open until 4, the bazaar can come first. If you want to eat out, The Company Store's regular posted Friday hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Fanny's regular Friday hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., but check both for holiday-week changes before you go. The posted Christmas at Crossroads address is 19 Russell Farms Road in Alexander City.
The Dates to Set as Phone Alerts
- Nov. 9: Holiday Bazaar artisan applications due.
- Nov. 12, 5:30 p.m.: Oyster Social at SpringHouse.
- Nov. 21, by 4 p.m.: Catherine's orders placed or canceled. Let's Talk Turkey runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the same day.
- Nov. 25, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Catherine's pickup. The market closes at 2 p.m.
- Nov. 27, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Bazaar, Santa from around 10, and the Naturalist Cabin.
If this year's full guest room has you wondering whether a home closer to Russell Crossroads, or one with more space for family, makes sense before next Thanksgiving, Schedule a Free Consultation with Lake Area Realty and we'll talk through what's on the market around Lake Martin.
