{"id":1718,"date":"2014-12-12T11:01:25","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T11:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.whataboutwatermelon.com\/?p=1718"},"modified":"2018-04-13T14:24:59","modified_gmt":"2018-04-13T14:24:59","slug":"second-slice-dropping-new-years-eve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.whataboutwatermelon.com\/index.php\/2014\/12\/second-slice-dropping-new-years-eve\/","title":{"rendered":"SECOND SLICE: WHAT ARE YOU DROPPING ON NEW YEAR\u2019S EVE?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve started planning my New Year\u2019s Eve celebration menu (which includes lots of dip), and it reminded me of this blog entry from 2012. And yes, I\u2019ll be celebrating from the comfort and warmth of my couch at home!<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know how you know when you\u2019re getting old? When you stop thinking that spending New Year\u2019s Eve in Times Square would be \u201ca really awesome experience.\u201d\"pic\"<\/p>\n

I got smart and gave up that dream around the age of 32. That\u2019s when I realized that spending eight hours in freezing weather surrounded by a drunken mob of tens of thousands of people might not be such an awesome experience after all.<\/p>\n

Today, I\u2019m quite content to spend New Year\u2019s Eve on the couch with my wife, in the warmth of my own home. We still enjoy watching the ball drop on TV, though. I\u2019m not sure how the tradition of dropping a ball started, but it\u2019s inspired hundreds of towns of all sizes to drop all sorts of weird things<\/span> to ring in the New Year.<\/p>\n

In Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, they drop a dead carp seated in a throne. Honolulu drops a pineapple (no surprise there). In my hometown of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, they drop a giant strawberry. Fruit seems to be a popular choice for many cities. Peaches, oranges, apples, lemons \u2013 they\u2019re all dropped in towns across the nation.<\/p>\n

Only one town that I know of drops a watermelon. That takes place in Vincennes, Indiana. The town (pop. 18,449) grows watermelon and hosts the annual Vincennes Watermelon Festival, so their New Year\u2019s Eve choice kind of makes sense.<\/p>\n

But the townsfolk in Vincennes don\u2019t just raise a watermelon to the top of a building in the center of town. No, no. They use a crane to raise a minivan-sized watermelon about 100 feet into the air and then, at the stroke of midnight, ten real watermelons fall from the belly of the big one and smash to bits on the ground. Check out the festivities in the video below.<\/p>\n

Is it weird? Sure, but it\u2019s no weirder than freezing your butt off in Times Square, hoping only to catch a glimpse of the ball because you\u2019re three blocks away from the action.<\/p>\n