MATT BARTON Kernel staff		DON'T MISS THE FLIGHT Many students and faculty will be going to Lexington Airport (above) en route to their homes for the holiday.

Well, maybe not trains, but definitely planes and automobiles.

The last two words signify the forms of transportation that UK students eager to leave campus will be taking advantage of over the next several days as the rush to get home for Thanksgiving hits full swing.

As we speak, most UK students are packing their bags and plotting their trips to every corner of the Bluegrass and beyond for a weekend of relaxing and stuffing their faces.

To most, the Thanksgiving holiday weekend allows families a chance to spend time together and catch up on their busy lives while chowing down on pounds upon pounds of turkey, stuffing, cranberries and pumpkin pie.

While this holds true for many UK students as well, most said they are also looking forward to rekindling their relationships with friends who chose to attend other schools.

Broadcast journalism freshman Shaun Knox, who hails from Mayfield, Ky., said he can't wait to catch up on old times with friends from back home.

"I'm leaving Wednesday at noon, but I still wish I could leave earlier," Knox said. "I plan to spend a lot of time with family and friends who I haven't seen in a while."

Despite Mayfield's relative proximity to UK, Knox hasn't been able to get home often, so like many others on campus, this is his first real opportunity to visit his hometown. For others, such as Kristen Gedney, the wait to go home has been even longer.

"Being from Boston, it is not easy to get home often," said Gedney, a mechanical engineering freshman who will fly out of Lexington's Bluegrass Airport tonight. "I've only seen my family once since coming down here last August, so I'm really looking forward to it."

Still, for other students, such as athletes like freshman diver Carrie Knoeber, the break is a welcome opportunity to relax and get away from the rigors of Division I-A athletics and the demands it places on them.

"I can't wait to get home and just rest and reflect back on everything that has happened to me thus far this semester," said Knoeber, an English major who lives in Raleigh, N.C. "I plan to eat, sleep, shop and hang out with friends. It's just a great chance to get away from the everyday grind."

For those students who live around the state, Thanksgiving break will be more of an extended weekend where they can get away from school and have no deadlines or responsibilities hanging over their heads.

"Being from Louisville, I am able to go home more than others," pre-veterinary sophomore Nathan Paine said. "But I will probably do the same thing as everyone else, just relax, eat and spend time with family and friends."

With the large number of students leaving Lexington this week for cities all around the country, Kentucky's three major airports, Bluegrass Airport, Louisville International Airport and the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport in Boone County, will likely see a sharp increase in departing flights, while UK classrooms will resemble ghost towns as Thursday draws nearer.

And students head home in planes and automobiles to enjoy their Thanksgiving break.