Last weekend was a good time to take the pulse of the nation. With gas prices high and rising, the dollar tumbling to historic lows against many foreign currencies, consumer confidence at a two-year low, and the housing market sagging like a dilapidated roof, everyone was wondering what Americans would do. Would they stay close to home, husbanding their savings for tougher times to come, or would they board their SUVs, sail the interstates, and rush the doors of Wal-Mart before dawn like the Visigoths sacking Rome?

The answer, of course, was the latter. Americans traveled in record numbers this Thanksgiving. Some 38.7 million U.S. residents were predicted to travel at least 50 miles, and 80 percent of those planned on driving. Americans also shelled out in record numbers on Black Friday. Total retail sales across the nation rose 8.3 percent to $10.3 billion on Friday compared with $9.5 billion on the same day a year ago, according to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets nationwide. Industry analysts were expecting an increase of only half that.

It could be argued that people haven't yet accepted that the boom is over. But it could also be argued that traveling and shopping have simply become Thanksgiving traditions so deeply ingrained in our collective culture that failing to observe them is like failing to put up a tree for Christmas.

If that's the case, small retailers should do a better job of capitalizing on the Black Friday weekend, rather than just conceding it to the big-boxers. After all, if the economy worsens to the point where people are forced to make a choice between travel and shopping, they will likely sacrifice travel, which in the age of congested roads and endless flight delays has become a headache as well as a financial burden. That would mean more people shopping closer to home.

Smaller shops could get some of that Thanksgiving weekend business by advertising their own sales and creating special events to dovetail with the pre-dawn siege of the big-boxers. They can also compete by showing what they can sell that the big-boxers can't: personal service and a more leisurely shopping experience. Why not offer hot chocolate or cider to customers, or set up video games for kids to play while their moms try on clothes? You won't find that at Wal-Mart.

For smaller merchants to continue to concede Thanksgiving weekend to the large retailers will only hasten their demise.