Guest Author - Marilyn Crain

It’s your choice. How will you spend New Year’s Eve? What will be your destination? The Southcentral USA offers the traveler many ways to ring in the New Year.

How about New Orleans? Visitors can always depend on the Big Easy to roll out the best parties around. Whether you’re looking for a quiet night of fine dining or music in the street, New Orleans has something for everyone. And when midnight arrives, so does the “Symphony in the Sky” fireworks celebration over the Mississippi River. You might want to reserve what some call the “best seat in the house” for this fiery display, on board the Creole Queen paddle wheeler. Or choose a luxurious buffet on the Steamboat Natchez.

If you favor Natchez, Mississippi, travel the Natchez Trace Parkway, walk the riverbank and then "Rock in the New Year" at Bowie’s Tavern. Maybe you would prefer a room with a balcony view of the Mississippi River. Then, celebrate in the historic atmosphere of the Natchez Eola Hotel just a step away from historic downtown or a horse-drawn carriage ride away from the city’s antebellum homes.

Perhaps you would like to spend an elegant New Year’s Eve at The Peabody Memphis, after you watch the Marching Ducks at 5 p.m. of course. Have a 4-star dinner at the Chez Philippe or a less formal meal in the Capriccio Grill. At midnight, the place to be is The Peabody Grand Lobby with its live music and overflowing refreshments.

"Celebrate San Antonio" offers a spicier New Year’s Eve in downtown San Antonio, Texas. It’s always a festival of live music, dozens of food and beverage booths and a “Midnight Spectacular Fireworks Extravaganza.”

For a New Year’s celebration built around the entire family, Oklahoma City’s Arts Council presents an Opening Night around downtown Oklahoma City that can’t be beat. It is a celebration of the arts, music, dance and theater, topped off with fireworks. This is an excellent family-friendly New Year’s Eve.

If you’re looking for a more romantic way to celebrate New Year’s Eve, perhaps “A Romantic Victorian Affair” at The Empress of Little Rock will be your perfect evening. This is billed as a wine dinner party package celebrating with “Auld Lang Syne” and champagne toasts after dinner at the ever impressive LuLav Restaurant. This getaway includes a night’s stay at the lovely Victorian-style Empress and private limo to and from dinner.

It seems our favorite word to describe the Southcentral USA is diverse. But, here again we have to say that the ways to ring in the New Year across the region are as diverse as the destinations themselves. Visitors can choose from the delicious Mexican food served at the festival in San Antonio, fireworks over the Mississippi River in New Orleans, Marching Ducks in Memphis, Victorian luxury in Little Rock, horse-drawn carriage rides in Natchez or a celebration of the arts in Oklahoma City.

Cheers to you and the New Year! May it bring a world of wonder and lots of travel around the Southcentral USA!