By Sarah Mansheim
It’s time to ring in the new year, and for those who want to go out on the town to celebrate, entertainment abounds.
Many people like to start the evening with a nice dinner. As of press time, none of the local chefs we’ve spoken to have rested on a specific menu – that always depends on what’s fresh any given week – but all of them promise something special. Most dining establishments will offer something special, and many feature a multi-course, prix fixe menu in which diners can choose from a limited menu for a specific price.
For instance, both the Stardust Cafe and the General Lewis Inn will feature prix fixe menus. The Stardust’s menu will include a six-course dinner, including dessert, with wine pairings for every course. The General Lewis will also feature a multi-course, limited menu. Stardust and General Lewis owner Sparrow Huffman says while she hasn’t nailed down the menus’ specifics, she says that, as always, diners can count on the Stardust’s menu being more nouveau and the General Lewis featuring more classic fare.
The Livery Tavern, another fine dining establishment in downtown Lewisburg, will also feature a limited holiday menu. Its sister restaurant, Stella’s, will have dinner specials as well, along with other downtown Lewisburg restaurants Food and Friends and Del Sol. In White Sulphur Springs, 50 East will feature an ahi tuna special with complimentary champagne.
One thing is for sure: reservations are recommended.
For folks wanting to whoop it up past the dinner hour, several local watering holes are going to feature live music, including the Jarmovers at The Irish Pub, Bill Evans and the Nightriders at the American Heritage Music Hall, Switch at the Elk’s Country Club and, for those willing to travel, The Wild Rumpus at the Historic Fayette Theater in Fayetteville.
New Year’s Eve is also a great night for wannabe crooners: three local bars are featuring karaoke. The Sweet Shoppe will host DJ Penny C., Stuart’s Smokehouse will host DJ Drew, and Spa City Ultralounge is set to host KJ Sabrina.
Folks who just want to dance won’t feel left out either: both 50 East in White Sulphur and The Asylum in Lewisburg will feature DJs,
and The Asylum’s kitchen is open late.
Of course, not everyone wants to go out on New Year’s Eve. For those who’d rather ring in the new year at home, there is much to see on TV. ABC, Fox and NBC will fulfill your pop music needs with “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” (ABC), “Pitbull’s New Year’s Revolution” (Fox), and “Toast to New Year’s” and “New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” (NBC). The highbrow set can enjoy “Live from Lincoln Center” and “Michael Feinstein’s New Year’s at the Rainbow Room” on PBS. Ready to dance in the living room? FUSE channel will feature a New Year’s Eve dance party, the CW network is showing the iHeartRadio Festival and HBO is showing “Jennifer Lopez: Dance Again.”
Care for a movie? “Pretty Woman” is showing on ABC Family, “Talladega Nights” is airing on Encore and the Oxygen network is airing a “Magic Mike” marathon.
Not a “Magic Mike” fan? IFC is running a Three Stooges marathon, and the Syfy channel is showing a marathon of “The Twilight Zone.” Want to go even darker than “The Twilight Zone?” Check out “The Walking Dead” marathon on AMC, and then maybe switch over to FLIX for the classic dark comedy “Heathers.”
Finally, the rock and roll trifecta will be on hand on TCM beginning at 8 o’clock: “Elvis on Tour”, The Beatles’ “Hard Day’s Night” and The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” will all air back to back.
Add a bottle of bubbly, alcoholic or non-alcoholic, some noisemakers and sparklers, and you’ve got a party.
Whether you hit the hay at the stroke of midnight, or hours before or after, be ready to bundle up Thursday morning and head downtown Lewisburg for the annual Shanghai Parade. This year, Lewisburg Police Chief Tim Stover and Lewisburg Fire Department Chief Wayne Pennington will reprise their roles as Baby New Year and his nursemaid. The two are both nearing retirement age, so this may be the last year to check out two of our most important public servants in all their goofy glory.
The parade begins at 12 p.m., and everyone is invited to dress up and march through the streets. Contact Lewisburg City Hall at 304-647-5455 for more information.
