Everyone knows about the ball that gets dropped on New Year's Eve in Times Square. Maybe you've even heard about the 800-pound peach that gets dropped in Atlanta at midnight on Dec. 31.
But you may not have heard about the dropping of the sausage, or the gumbo pot, or the giant Peep, a 25-pound fiberglass replica of the famed marshmallowy candy made in Pennsylvania.
TripAdvisor.com has assembled a list of these and other quirky New Year's Eve events to create a top 10 list of wacky things that get lowered on Dec. 31 around the country to mark the arrival of the new year.
The Peep show is in Bethlehem, Pa., marking the third time the city has dropped the illuminated treat from a crane at midnight as part of a family-friendly First Night celebration.
Also in Pennsylvania, in the town of Lebanon, a 7 1/2-foot edible bologna made by the Weaver-Kutztown Bologna Company is lowered at midnight and then donated to area charities.
In Key West, Fla., there are three such countdown celebrations: a conch shell lowered on a pole to the roof of Sloppy Joe's Bar, the lowering of "Drag Queen Sushi" in a 6-foot-tall shoe at the Bourbon Street Pub, and the descent of a costumed pirate "wench" from a schooner in the harbor.
In Port Clinton, Ohio, the self-proclaimed "Walleye Capital of the World" drops a 20-foot, 600-pound fiberglass walleye fish at midnight.
In Elmore, Ohio, there's a sausage fest, inspired by a local business, Tank's Meats. A lit-up 18-foot sausage drops to welcome in the New Year, but there's also a sausage toss and a sausage-eating contest.
Mount Olive, N.C., has a pickle drop with a 3-foot-high glowing pickle plunging down the Mount Olive Pickle Company's flagpole into a tank.
Raleigh, N.C., lowers a massive copper acorn weighing 1,250 pounds from atop the city's civic center as part of a First Night event.
A giant gumbo pot is lowered in New Orleans to mark the New Year, along with fireworks on the Mississippi.
In Easton, Md., a giant crab is what gets lowered as part of a First Night celebration, and in Plymouth, Wis., it's a great big hunk of cheese -- though not an edible hunk. - AP
Robbie Knievel to jump cycle over manmade Vegas volcano
Robbie Knievel plans to jump his motorcycle over a manmade volcano in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve.
Knievel, the 46-year-old son of the late daredevil Evel Knievel, will jump the refurbished volcano at The Mirage hotel-casino on a motorcycle as part of a television special.
Knievel said the stunt will likely be his last in the United States.
Mirage officials unveiled a $25 million facelift for the casino's iconic erupting volcano earlier in December. The 5-minute fire and water spectacle has a custom soundtrack co-written by former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.
The rupturing rock joins the likes of other Strip sidewalk acts including the fountains at the Bellagio and the coed pirate show at Treasure Island.
"This volcano is our crowning jewel," said Scott Sibella, president and chief operating officer of The Mirage. "It's the final piece of the puzzle."
Sibella said the premiere eruption marked the end of more than three years the company has spent overhauling the 19-year-old megaresort. During that time, MGM Mirage Inc. has spent $110 million upgrading rooms and suites at the hotel.
The Mirage was developed by casino mogul Steve Wynn and opened in November 1989. The city's first megaresort, it kicked off a wave of billion-dollar projects on the Strip.
Sibella said he believed the overhaul at The Mirage would be the last major improvements to a Strip resort for a few years, as casino companies struggle to get financing for capital projects.
Mayor Oscar Goodman said the volcano was a reminder of how Las Vegas continually reinvents itself.
"We don't implode ourselves anymore. ... We recreate ourselves," he said. - AP
