Last night I met up with Stephen to attend the Bethlehem First Night celebration, the height of which was the dropping of a big fiberglass Peep at midnight.
It was cold last night, by the time we arrived and parked in Bethlehem it was shortly after 7, and already 20 degrees out. We wandered around looking for food for about an hour, finally settling on Rosanna’s Restaurant, a pizzeria on Broad street near where we parked for the evening. They closed at 9:30, so we headed back out into the cold at that time and went down to the plaza where the peep drop was taking place.
We mostly just hung out with other people huddled by the fire pits placed throughout the square, but the two hours down there were livened up by a few things, including a friendly crowd…
…ice sculptures!
…Peep roasting!
..for Peep smores! The Peep smore kits were being given away by the event organizers, very fun.
Shortly after 11 I was getting a bit too cold, so we flocked inside town hall with a lot of other people to huddle in the warmth. At around quarter to midnight we went back outside to celebrate the new year with the rest of the crowd.
And so, at midnight to much cheering we watched the big Peep be lowered from a crane in the corner of the square.
It was so cold, did I mention that? We skipped most of the fireworks and headed back to the car at that point. The crowd was actually not that bad, and getting out of the garage (which turned out to be free that night!) and the city of Bethlehem was trivial.
A very fun night! Happy 2009! :)
Friday, Jan 2nd, 2009 at 6:25
What’s a peep?
When I read that you had gone to Bethlehem I thought of that other one!
Friday, Jan 2nd, 2009 at 8:54
I was scratching my head about “peep” too. I thought it was slang for “people”, but found this entry in urbandictionary.com: “peep – a marshmallow candy treat, shaped like baby chicks, typically bought around the Easter holiday.” which seems to be the most appropriate definition here.
Friday, Jan 2nd, 2009 at 9:00
Yeah, Peeps are very popular Easter candies in the US. I think they’re loathsome, but roasting and making s’mores out of them was fun :) They were invented in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which is why they chose to do a Peep drop on New Years.
Friday, Jan 2nd, 2009 at 15:47
Ah, thank you both….
Thursday, Jun 17th, 2010 at 20:18
I love to eat Marshmallows every day he he he.””:
Sunday, Jul 25th, 2010 at 21:30
i like to fry marshmallow in an open fire, they taste really great.*~`