Here are some of the more interesting events, deals, websites and other travel tidbits that have come across our desk recently:
*First Night Springfield will welcome in the new year to Illinois’ capital city. This is the 30th year for this family-friendly event, which begins with hands-on activities and entertainment for kids 1-4 p.m. New Year’s Eve. There will be 40 performances on 10 stages downtown 6-11:15 p.m., and there are fireworks at 8 p.m.. http://tinyurl.com/ho7ockv
*Indianapolis will hold its third annual New Year’s Eve Celebration on Georgia Street 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Jump Smokers will be providing the music to get participants dancing, and there will be plenty of food and drink. At midnight, an Indy race car will be lowered to mark the beginning of the new year. http://tinyurl.com/hprvl86
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*In Vincennes, Ind., they’ll be celebrating the new year with the ninth annual Watermelon Drop. A 500-pound watermelon will be lifted skyward and at midnight, 17 locally grown watermelons will be dropped onto the splatform. Beforehand there will be live music in a heated tent, and afterward there will be fireworks. http://tinyurl.com/jjdrlu6
*In true Wisconsin fashion, New Year’s Eve in Plymouth will find revelers counting down when a giant cheese wedge will drop from a 100-foot crane. There will also be free cheese and live bluegrass and blues music. http://tinyurl.com/jdft7b9
*Wisconsinites aren’t about to let the cold weather keep them out of the water. Polar Bear Plunges are a tradition in this state full of lakes and snow. Among the places where you can dive into icy water or just watch others do it are Tomahawk (http://tinyurl.com/z4krodt), Phillips (http://tinyurl.com/zta5rkq), Sheboygan (http://tinyurl.com/zpkjrm4), Jacksonport (http://tinyurl.com/jhnc2ka) and St. Germain (http://tinyurl.com/jcgaumq).
*Wisconsin is home to more than 200 supper clubs, and the tourism folks there have them listed at http://tinyurl.com/zgytm6v.
*See a roster of 21 places in Iowa that you can rent cabins year-round at http://tinyurl.com/zt9w627. Among the options is Backbone State Park, popular for cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.
*The Missouri tourism folks have suggestions on finding comfort food in their state at http://tinyurl.com/gujtlb9.
*Enrichment Journeys is offering a 22-day trip that spends six days/five nights in Dublin before a 16-day trans-Atlantic cruise that visits Boston, New York, Bermuda and the Bahamas, ending in Miami. It’s priced from $3,699 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air from Miami. Air add-on from other airports in Chicago, New York and Boston, $300. http://tinyurl.com/hbckazf
*There will be 10 free-entrance days for National Park Service sites in 2017. Dates are Jan. 16, Martin Luther King Jr. Day; Feb. 20, Presidents Day; April 15-16 and 22-23, weekends of National Park Week; Aug. 25, National Park Service birthday; Sept. 30, National Public Lands Day, and Nov. 11-12, Veterans Day weekend. http://tinyurl.com/go82aan
*The 2017 Quebec Winter Carnival will be Jan. 27 to Feb. 12 in Quebec City. www.carnaval.qc.ca/home
*Fairbanks, Alaska, has its 2017 Visitor Guide available online, or you can order a printed version at http://tinyurl.com/hfoxlk6.
Deals and websites have been checked for availability as of press time. Listings are not endorsements. Send tips at least a month in advance to ChicagoTribTravel@gmail.com.
Phil Marty is a freelancer.
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