It seems fitting that the city of Raleigh should end the year on yet another “Best Of” list.
This month the travel Web site TripAdvisor named Raleigh’s New Year’s Eve acorn drop No. 10 on its list of America’s quirkiest New Year’s Eve events.
Raleigh has already been named to more than 20 “Best Of” lists this year, including the Best American City for Singles by Every Day with Rachael Ray, and the Healthiest City for Men by Men’s Health magazine. TripAdvisor’s list was compiled using the sort of subjective judgments behind most “Best Of” lists. The list is based on different New Year’s Eve events’ popularity among TripAdvisor users and the Web site editors.
The news that there are nine other New Year’s Eve events in America more quirky than the acorn drop is likely to shock and disappoint many. Look up “quirky” in the dictionary, and you should see a picture of an acorn dropping.
Many of the events deemed more quirky involved the dropping of other strange objects: a glowing pickle in Mount Olive, a giant piece of cheese in Plymouth, Wis., a giant sausage in Elmore, Ohio, and a giant edible bologna in Lebanon, Pa.
At this point, Raleigh’s only real option is to start a campaign to drop something next year that is so quirky it will dumbfound the connoisseurs of quirk. TriPol is now accepting suggestions.