One of the biggest and best places to go for New Year’s Eve is often thought of to be New York City to experience New York City’s Times Square as the clock strikes midnight. However, several New Year’s Eve ball drops have been ranked as having a better experience than Times Square by travel experts.
Of course, nothing replaces the New York experience, but it’s awesome to think that a spot close to home offers a better time to ring in the New Year than New York City. So, if you want to celebrate the New Year starting without having to make a big trip to New York City, then check out this roster of destinations.
America’s Most Popular New Year’s Eve Ball Drop
USA Today has a new feature out with the best places to celebrate New Year’s Eve and see the ball drop in the country.
“Welcoming a new year means reflection, anticipation, and, most often, celebration for many people across the country,” USA Today notes in the story. “And one of the most popular traditions for this festive event is the New Year’s Eve drop, which sees a large object descend with the stroke of midnight.”
As for methodology, the top 10 New Year’s Eve drops were nominated by USA Today’s travel editors and experts and voted on by readers as the best in the United States. So, these are based on real experiences from real people.
The top five best places to see the ball drop in the U.S. are Ludington New Year’s Eve Ball Drop in Michigan; the Idaho Potato Drop in Boise, Idaho; the New Year’s Eve Shrimp Drop in Amelia Island, Florida; the Pierogi Drop in Whiting, Indiana; and the Great Pinecone Drop in Flagstaff, Arizona.
What Makes the Best Ball Drop the Greatest?
So, what set Ludington, Michigan, apart and made it the best place in the country to see the ball drop?
“Michigan embraces the holiday spirit each year with Ludington’s New Year’s Eve Ball Drop, an event that takes place on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan,” USA Today notes in the feature, published December 13. “This festival invites Michiganders and visitors alike to kick back and enjoy wine and local craft beer as they marvel at colorful fireworks and a ball drop stage that’s clad in thousands of flashing lights.”
As for the history of that ball drop, according to CNN, “The Times Square ball began thanks to a Ukrainian immigrant and metalworker, named Jacob Starr, and the former New York Times publisher, Adolph Ochs,” they note. CNN adds, “The latter had successfully drawn crowds to the newspaper’s new skyscraper home in Times Square through pyrotechnics and fireworks to celebrate the forthcoming year, but city officials banned explosives from being used after just a few years.”
BallDrop.com also has some details on the history of the ball drop, noting that, “An electrician was hired to construct a lighted Ball to be lowered from the flagpole on the roof of One Times Square.” So, the ball drop is a longstanding tradition and isn’t going anywhere.