Chris Hansen ‘Caught’ Spending New Years In Traverse City

The holidays are among the busiest travel times in the United States, with both Christmas and New Year's leading to an estimated record-high travel season, with 122.4 million people making trips around the country.

Thousands flock to places like New York to watch the ball drop in Times Square. Still, there are plenty of other places to ring in the new year in a similar fashion, like in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where a 400-pound marshmallow Peep is dropped at the nearby Peeps factory every year.

But Michigan has its own New Year's Eve tradition, and one of NBC Dateline's most recognizable faces was in attendance.

Chris Hansen "Caught" In Traverse City

Each year, Traverse City hosts the CherryT Ball Drop, where a large illuminated cherry slowly descends from the sky, a fitting event for the Cherry Capital of the World. Thousands attend the celebration each year, and this year, Chris Hansen, known for hosting "To Catch A Predator" and its many spinoffs, posted himself in attendance along with his wife to watch the cherry drop.

While he didn't tag a location on his post, there aren't many other places where a red cherry is just floating in the sky on New Year's Eve. He was in town on a family holiday.

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It's always cool to see well-known figures make their way up to spots that aren't as easily accessible as, say, Grand Rapids or Detroit. Plus, this was a bit of a homecoming for Hansen as he is a former Michigan State University alumnus. His two step-children are also MSU grads.

Chris Hansen currently hosts a twice-weekly podcast titled "Have A Seat with Chris Hansen," where he revisits past sting operations and conducts interviews with "the biggest names in law enforcement."