This working replica -- opened in 1996 with original equipment and stools from Jordan's Drug Store -- has all your frozen favorites (made with Tillamook ice cream) served up by friendly soda jerks dressed in white, neat and clean period uniforms.

* When it comes to grabbing a drive-through ice cream cone, skip the McWimpy ones and head straight to Ron's Tacos & Burgers at the corner of North 16th and West Lincoln avenues.

This red, white and blue-festooned, cash-only food joint is known for its giant soft-serve cones.

Available in your standard vanilla, chocolate or swirl, the large cones here stand a good 6 inches tall. Which makes it a marvel of ice cream engineering that comes with instructions for proper handling: "Hold that straight up and down," the drive-through window woman says while handing over the towering treat.

Otherwise, your soft serve could take a tumble.

* Sorry mint fans, but mojitos are so 2007.

It's the caipirinha (pronounced kai-pur-EEN-ya), the national cocktail of Brazil, that's now getting the booze buzz. (Plus, it's simpler for bartenders to make.)

How it's made: Muddle sugar and lime wedges in an old-fashioned glass, then fill with ice and pour, lovingly, with cachaça (pronounced ka-SHA-sa), a Brazilian rum made from fresh sugarcane juice. Stir well.

After extensive research, it appears the only rum joint in town to muddle up a caipirinha is the Italian restaurant Zesta Cucina in Glenwood Square, 5110 Tieton Drive.

Here, you can get an original lime one, or choose from passion fruit-cilantro, mango-basil or white peach-mint.

And, for the retro fans, Zesta also makes mojitos.

* For the best homemade ice cream in Central Washington, you can't beat Winegar's at 608 N. Main St. in Ellensburg.

The original Winegar Dairy was founded in 1949 by Truman and Phoebe Winegar, but it was their granddaughter, Richelle, who suggested in the early 1990s that the family go into the ice cream business.

The rest, as they say, is Holstein history.

In 1997, the family made the decision to sell its milk cows, but continues to expand its herd of scrumptious ice cream flavors with fun names that celebrate the Winegar family, their friends and their hometown.

* Everything at Miner's is big -- and that includes the shakes, which at this local landmark, go from the small (a mere 16 ounces) to the extra-large 44-ounce mega milkshake.

At this famous family-owned drive-through, 2415 S. First St. (you can't miss the sign), the shake menu is a lengthy one. It features flavors that range from chocolate to berry to piña colada, pistachio, chocolate mocha chip, Oreo, spumoni, guava and Snickers.

But beware: These bad boys are ultra thick, so take your time.

* Cold beer and baseball go together like presents at Christmas, like peanut butter and jelly, like pepperoni on pizza, like rock and roll, like ... well, you get the idea.

And it doesn't matter if it's only a light domestic beer out of a plastic cup, if you're slamming suds while watching America's pastime, then it's all good.

So whether it be at Safeco Field while cheering on Ichiro, or right here at home at Yakima County Stadium boosting the Bears, beer always tastes a little better at the ballpark -- especially when your team is winning.

* Sure, you can get ice cream just about anywhere, but when you want it served up with an extra scoop of nostalgia, head to the Yakima Valley Museum's authentic late-1930s art deco soda fountain at 2105 Tieton Drive.

This working replica -- opened in 1996 with original equipment and stools from Jordan's Drug Store -- has all your frozen favorites (made with Tillamook ice cream) served up by friendly soda jerks dressed in white, neat and clean period uniforms.