Happy Birthday, Adam!

Twenty-two years ago, I got two of the best gifts a 5-year-old girl could ever receive: a My Little Pony dream castle, and a little brother.

I don't know what became of the dream castle, but I'm sure it was well-used and well loved. And it stands as a testament that I was, in fact, slightly girly as a kid.

In the end, my brother was a better gift. He's a nice guy and a good friend, and I wish I could see him more often.

And to that end, I'd like to remind him that Ithaca and the Finger Lakes region features the following perks:

• Ithaca Beer Company, whose beers have received accolades from the NYT Beers of the Times folks.
• The package store near Kinkos, which features hundreds of beers from around the world.
• Wegmans and the Wegmans beertropolis.
• Three great wine stores.
• The Ithaca Coffee Company, which sells wonderful coffee and has a very knowlegable staff. They even sell Chemex devices and filters!
• Purity Ice Cream and the Cornell Dairy.
• Wineries!
• Great hiking trails
• A small but committed group of libertarians who stand in front of CVS every Friday morning with signs.
• The Short Stop Deli and the Hot Truck. Mmm... pizza subs.
• Hal's Deli, whose pastrami on rye rivals any NYC deli.
• And much, much more!