Grab a Seat

Join Ever Ready @sockfairies on a riverboat cruise along the Rhine and Mosel Rivers. Several regions will be explored as well as the cuisine of the area. Follow along using this map as your guide. We are starting the reverse route Basel, Switzerland to Antwerp, Belgium.

Enjoy some Turkey trivia while you wait.
Just in case you were wondering 10 Facts About Turkeys You’ll Gobble Right Up.
1. THEY CAN FLY
They’re not too bad at it, either. A wild turkey flying at full speed can reach 55 mph. This speediness is only a trait of wild turkeys, though.

2. THEY NEARLY WENT EXTINCT
Like the Galapagos tortoise and the bison, the turkey is just too delicious for its own good. By the early 20th century, the combination of overzealous hunting and habitat destruction had dwindled the turkey populations down to 30,000. With the help of conservationists, the turkey made a comeback. The birds are now so numerous that they’ve become a nuisance in some parts of the country.

3. THEY’VE GOT TWO STOMACHS
Like all birds, turkeys don’t have teeth, so they’ve got to enlist some extra help to break down their food. Each swallowed mouthful goes first into a chamber called a proventriculus, which uses stomach acid to start softening the food. From there, food travels to the gizzard, where specialized muscles smash it into smaller pieces.

4. FEMALE TURKEYS DON’T GOBBLE
Turkeys of both sexes purr, whistle, cackle, and yelp, but only the males gobble. A gobble is the male turkey’s version of a lion’s roar, announcing his presence to females and warning his rivals to stay away. To maximize the range of their calls, male turkeys often gobble from the treetops.

5. BOTH MALE AND FEMALE TURKEYS HAVE WATTLES.
The wattle is the red dangly bit under the turkey’s chin. The red thing on top of the beak is called a snood. Both sexes have those, too, but they’re more functional in male turkeys. Studies have shown that female turkeys prefer mates with longer snoods, which may indicate health and good genes.

6. THEY HAVE REALLY GOOD VISION
Turkey eyes are really, really sharp. On top of that, they’ve got a terrific peripheral vision. We humans can only see about 180 degrees, but given the placement of their eyes on the sides of their heads, turkeys can see 270 degrees. They’ve also got way better color vision than we do and can see ultraviolet light.

7. THEY SLEEP IN TREES

Due to their aforementioned deliciousness, turkeys have a lot of natural predators. As the sun goes down, the turkeys go up—into the trees. They start by flying onto a low branch, then clumsily hop their way upward, branch by branch, until they reach a safe height.

8. THEY’RE SMART … BUT NOT THAT SMART
Turkeys can recognize each other by sound, and they can visualize a map of their territory. They can also plan ahead and recognize patterns. In other ways, they’re very, very simple animals. Male turkeys will attack anything that looks remotely like a threat, including their own reflections in windows and car doors.

9. EATING TURKEY IS NOT GOING TO KNOCK YOU OUT
Turkey meat does contain the amino acid tryptophan, and tryptophan can have a calming effect. However, you’d have to eat a whole lot of turkey—and nothing else—to notice any effect. The sleepy feeling that you feel after the big meal is more likely caused by carbs, alcohol, and generally eating to excess.

10. THERE WAS NO TURKEY AT THE FIRST THANKSGIVING.
The written menu listed “fowl,” but this most likely meant duck, goose, or grouse. The pilgrims did have a taste for the bald eagle, however, so it’s possible the as-yet-undeclared national symbol was a central part of the feast.

And now you know 😁