Five Ways to Celebrate the New Year (Without Heading North)

You don't have to be in downtown Chicago to have fun on New Years Eve. There are plenty of fun ways to celebrate the much anticpated arrival of 2011. Here is a list of fun ways to spend Dec. 31.

1. Carlo's Restaurant, located at 560 W 14th Place, will be ringing in the new year at their back bar, with specials on crab legs and lobster tail. Customers are welcome to stay as late as they want.

2. Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra will be helping the Olympia Fields Country Club say hello to 2011 giving guests an opportunity to tango until midnight. Guests will also get dinner, dancing, champagne and a trip to the open bar. Tickets to this shindig are $150 per person.

3. The self-proclaimed Rock-n-Roll McDonalds will be celebrating the new year a little early, providing entertainment in the form of AC and the Sunshine Band from 4pm to 7pm. Customers will also get a value meal with the $10 purchase of a ticket to the event.

4. Here's a little something for the kids. The Park Forest Public Library will welcome 2011 at noon today with "Ring in the New," a midday countdown to the new year. 

5. If you're looking for a more grown-up celebration there's alwys the local bars, such as Linda's Place, Baps Tap and Prisco's. Their all open late as usual, and they'll all be serving up drinks as customers cap off another year in the Heights.