Survey says: The No. 1 answer to what is Thanksgiving about? Family. Overwhelmingly the majority of people answered “family” when we asked them what Thanksgiving was about to them. We give you facts and stats about this Holiday. And maybe a couple of things you didn't know about this great family gathering.

For starters, 53 percent of people surveyed across America said they did not want to talk politics around the table. Another 46 percent said they dreaded the thought that conversation would turn that way.

Thanksgiving is a time we overeat and it's the starting point for all those extra pounds we put on over the Holidays. Here are a few simple statistics to give you hope for weight control.

THANKSGIVING DAY WITHOUT THE GUILT

• Carrying a 20-pound turkey from your car to the kitchen burns 25 calories.
• Baking an apple pie burns 114 calories.
• Tidying up the house for guests for 30 minutes burns 126 calories.
• Chopping, stirring and cooking for 2 hours burns 360 calories.

And it gets better. Say you bake six apple pies instead of one? Clean for three hours instead of 30 minutes, or carry that turkey in and out of the house 25 times. You're really racking up calories burned now and you'll be healthier than ever when turkey time rolls around.

If you're single, studies show that Thanksgiving is a perfect time to find a mate.

We all know Thanksgiving is about going to your hometown, opening a bottle of your parents' wine and sitting through hours of random stories from random relatives. Turns out it's also a good time to find love. A new Tinder study found that the social app experiences a huge spike in users over the holiday. In 2015, there were more than 2.3 billion swipes in the U.S. over Thanksgiving. Of those swipes, more than 17 million matches were made, which is a 23 percent increase compared to non-holiday weekends.

... The reason's pretty simple: Individuals who grow up in the same areas are more likely to have shared experiences, making home a great place for singles with similar values to connect.

... The study also found that your success on the app hinges on what city you're in. In 2015, the city with the most matches was Baltimore, followed by New York, Provo, Salt Lake City, Chicago and Boston.

Now how about the turkey itself? After the big meal we all want to take a nap before football starts on TV. No Thanksgiving is complete without a turkey at the table — and a nap right after it's eaten.

The meat has a bad reputation for making eaters sleepy, but is there really science to back that up? Here's the lowdown: turkey contains the amino acid L-tryptophan, which produces sleep-promoting serotonin and melatonin. But turkey has about the same amount of tryptophan as other meats. It may even have a built-in secret weapon against sleepiness: an abundance of protein, which can regulate insulin levels and actually combat fatigue.

So don't blame the turkey for your tiredness; the heavy load of carbs that made up the rest of the meal are likely the culprits.

TONS AND TONS OF TURKEY FACTS!

• Ben Franklin, in a letter to his daughter, proposed the turkey as the official United States bird.
• The heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds.
• The male turkey is called a tom. The female turkey is called a hen.
• Wild turkeys can fly for short distances up to 55 miles per hour. They can run 20 miles per hour.
• Commercially raised turkeys cannot fly.
• Turkeys can see movement almost a hundred yards away.
• Turkeys lived almost 10 million years ago.
• Turkey feathers were used by Native Americans to stabilize arrows.
• Turkey eggs are tan with brown specks and are larger than chicken eggs.
• United States turkey growers raise 234 million turkeys each year. Roughly 46 million are eaten on Thanksgiving.
• Male turkeys gobble. Hens do not. They make a clicking noise.
• A 16-week-old turkey is called a fryer. A five- to seven-month-old turkey is called a young roaster and a yearling is a year old. Any turkey 15 months or older is called mature.
• The ballroom dance the "turkey trot" was named for the short, jerky steps that turkeys take.
• Turkeys have heart attacks. The United States Air Force was doing test runs and breaking the sound barrier. Nearby turkeys dropped dead from heart attacks.
• There are wild turkeys in every state except Alaska.
• June is National Turkey Lover's Month.
• For their first meal on the moon, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin ate roast turkey in foil packets.
• Turkeys will have 3,500 feathers at maturity.
• Places in the United States named after the holiday's traditional main course: Turkey, Texas; Turkey Creek, La.; and Turkey, N.C.; There also are nine townships around the country named Turkey.

There will be a test at the end of the meal.

Here are some interesting facts that you can use to quiz your fellow diners around the table.
• The first official Thanksgiving was held in the Virginia Colony on Dec. 4, 1619.
• In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October.
• The first Mickey Mouse balloon entered the Macy's Parade in 1934.
• The Cat in the Hat balloon put a woman in a coma in 1997. (It struck a lampost, which fell on the woman. She came out of the coma a month later.)

From me and everyone at Penobscot Bay Pilot, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving Day. It was a tradition in our family that we all go to the movies after dinner. This year I think I'll see Fantastic Beasts and How to Cook Them. (YUM).