New York tourism office makes surprising announcement to prospective visitors

ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) — The tourism office of Ithaca, New York, is waving the white flag on winter and advising visitors to its website to check out the Florida Keys instead.

VisitIthaca.com's home page displays Sunshine State vacation photos and provides links to the website for tourism information about the Florida Keys and Key West.

The top of the Ithaca page reads: "That's it. We surrender. Winter, you win. Key West anyone?"

Referring to "this ridiculously stupid winter," the Ithaca website suggests visiting the Florida Keys this week and returning "when things thaw out."

Ithaca and the rest of upstate New York have been in the grips of a snowy and brutally cold winter. The most recent cold snap sent temperatures plunging as low as 28 degrees below zero in the Adirondacks early Tuesday.