Just a note for me...BBQ...<p><center><img src="images/2005d/BBQithaca.JPG" vspace="20"></center><p>One blogger writes:<blockquote class="smalltext">Despite having a disproportionate number of restaurants, my favorite places to eat list in Ithaca is woefully short. Maxies for fun and overall top pick (can't beat the food, service, or atmosphere), Boatyard for formal (great balance between wow factor and price), Kayuga for Japanese (better service and consistency than Kyushu or Plum Tree), Viva Taqueria for Mexican (Coyote Loco is too fu-fu), Ithaca Bakery for sandwiches and the like, and Billy Bob Jacks for cheap BBQ.</blockquote>Is there no frozen custard in Ithaca?!?

Another note...the road to Purity Ice Cream:<p><center><img src="images/2005d/icecreamithaca.JPG" vspace="20"></center>

One of my colleagues went to university in Ithaca; here's what he suggests:

Wineries: http://www.cayugawinetrail.com/. I’ve been to some of these, but not in close to 20 years (oh god I’m old), so I know not which ones to recommend. Some look like they might be pretty far from Ithaca, so I’d recommend doing a Map Quest type search to see which are a reasonable distance.

Parks:

Buttermilk Falls State Park

Taughannock Falls: http://www.taughannock.com/info.html (I highly recommend this one). The restaurant out there was good, but it's been years since I’ve been there http://www.t-farms.com/

Robert H. Treman State Park (I highly recommend this one)(and not to be confused with Allan H. Treman State Marine Park which is also in Ithaca).

Cornell Plantations: http://www.plantations.cornell.edu/

It has been far too long for me to recommend any restaurants, though I will say that the Moosewood of Moosewood cookbook fame is in Ithaca; the Nines (in an old Firehouse that housed engine no. 9) had such good pizza that a few years back I made a friend from Ithaca bring Nine’s pizza with him if he wanted a place to stay in Portland; Simeons and Ragmanns were both good for soup, sandwiches and other food; the Tower Club at the top of one of the Tower dormitories at Ithaca College has great views of Ithaca and the surrounding area; and, Cornell has a top notch restaurant and hotel school, so plenty of places there.

Thanks for making me homesick *LOL* Now I really realize how much I need to get back to my old stomping grounds for a few days?

Thanks P2 - you are so dubbed. [BTW: who was "Pit'ou" or however that character might have spelled the name? I now have that name seared in my skull like a Huey Lewis tune that strikes you on a Tuesday and doesn't leave until the following Monday.]

I am under a spousal edict on the Moosewood as the basis for the trip in the first place but I think Sunday morning may see us wandering in those parks after breakfast.

Hotel feature least loved ever - a flashing light on the smoke detector. On the upside Purity Ice Cream is probably the best ice cream joint I have ever visited. Coconut ice cream. Not overly sweet. Like the best coconut cream pie filling frozen.