Ithaca, New York

Friday, December 5, 2008 - Saturday, December 6, 2008

Our anniversary weekend would take us to one of our favorite 'getaway' places in Upstate New York. We made reservations at La Tourelle in Ithaca for a nice overnight sneak away.

We arrived around 4:00 on Friday afternoon. I had made an appointment for Jill for a spa treatment at the August Moon Day Spa, so she went to that while I got settled into the room (a king size room, with bubbly tub and fireplace).

We had dinner at 'Just a Taste' in downtown Ithaca - a GREAT tappas restaurant! We had a few courses, which included: flatbread with smoked onions, sliced new potatoes, basil and garlic, and cheese; white and portabello mushrooms sauteed with garlic and thyme; housemade foccacia with EVOO and roasted garlic; Deep Fried Russet Potato Wedges with Chipotle Aioli; Spicy Shrimp Sauté with Tomato, Jalapeno, Onions, Lime and Cilantro; Balsamic Vinegar Braised Chicken with Garlic, Herbs, Mushrooms and Tomato; and Deep Fried Chicken Wings tossed in Sweet and Spicy Chili Sauce and Fresh Basil. YUMMO!! Add to that a pitcher of sangria, and wow what a meal we had! After dinner we went back to the resort to hang out.

On Saturday morning, we got up and had a very nice breakfast at Le Petit Cafe. Jill had waffles and bacon, and I had a couple of eggs and sausage, along with some french toast. We checked out of the resort after breakfast, and after making a quick stop at the Double D to get our tickets for the Cornell game that night, we made our way up the 'left' side of Cayuga Lake.

We started at Swedish Hill Vineyards, but didn't stay there for long (didn't even do a tasting) before leaving - WAY to crowded! From there, it was on to Knapp Winery, where we did a tasting (for $1.00 a person!), and ended up buying a bottle of 'Superstition'. Goose Watch Winery was the next winery down the road, and one of our favorites in the Finger Lakes. We did another tasting here (for FREE!!). This was our biggest take of the day - we left here with two bottles of Villard Blanc, and Diamond, Rose of Isabella and Red Fox.

Our last winery of the day (hey, you can only taste so much!) was Sheldrake Point, where we did another tasting and bought a bottle of their reserve Riesling. We had wanted to eat lunch at the 'Simply Red Bistro', but they were closed for the season, so the gent at the winery pointed us a couple of miles down the road to O'Malley's - perfect!

A 'rustic' looking restaurant and bar, it was just what we were looking for. A couple of Labatt Blue Lights for each of us (we needed a diversion from all of the wine); Jill had a turkey club sandwich and I had a "State Fair", which was a sausage, peppers, and onions sammie on chiabata bread.

We made one last, quick stop at Americana Winery to get a bottle of Crystal Lake for Patty (no tasting here, and we didn't buy one for ourselves, so I don't really 'count' this one). All wine-d out, we made our way to the Ithaca Mall to waste some time before heading to Cornell.

Ahhh...Big Red hockey!! As an 'exclamation point' on our experience at this game, I bought tickets right in the middle of the students section! We were right in the middle of all of the chants and noise and everything else for the entire game - awesome! Cornell could have played a better game, but they still one by a 1-0 tally. A great time for sure!

We headed back to Bingo-town after the game.

Cornell (7-1-2, 6-0-2 ECAC Hockey) remained unbeaten in ECAC Hockey, marking the first time since the 1969-70 undefeated, untied national championship team that the Big Red has gone its first eight league games without a defeat. Cornell last went seven league games without a loss in 2003-04, also opening that season 5-0-2 in league play before suffering a defeat in its eighth game, a 2-1 overtime loss at Brown.

Greening's game-winner came at the 4:34 mark as the Big Red wasted no time in capitalizing on a mental miscue by the Saints' Mike McKenzie. Following a whistle for a faceoff in the St. Lawrence end, McKenzie took a whack at a Cornell player just steps away from referee Dan Murphy, who immediately called the slash. Just eight seconds later, the Big Red made the Saints pay. Blake Gallagher sent a puck from the blue line to Riley Nash on the goal line to the right of goaltender Alex Petizian. Nash then laced a pass across the goal mouth to Greening, who was positioned alone on the back post for the easy tap-in.

That would be the only scoring the Big Red needed, as Cornell went 1-for-4 on the power play on the night. St. Lawrence (6-8-1, 2-5-1 ECAC Hockey) went 0-for-6 with the man advantage, including roughly 30 seconds of a 5-on-3 late in the third period that also saw Saints coach Joe Marsh pull Petizian for the extra skater, but St. Lawrence could not solve the Cornell defense. The Saints put 14 shots on the Cornell goal in the third period and had another 11 attempts blocked by Cornell defenders, but the Big Red held on for the 1-0 lead.

Petizian stopped 27 of the 28 shots he faced on the night, including making 14 saves in the first period as Cornell came out buzzing in the offensive end.

Cornell now is on a three-week hiatus for fall exams, returning to action on Dec. 27, in the first round of the Florida College Classic in Estero, Fla. The Big Red will take on the WCHA's St. Cloud State for the first time in program history in a 7:35 p.m. start.

Trip Notes: