Well, got an OEM Thermostat for $20, and a gallon of Honda pre-mix coolant,
and headed south for an hour drive to my son's college.

When I got there, the book threw me a curve, as the lower hose actually went
to the thermostat housing, so when I had him check the hose temp, he was
checking the wrong one.

Opened the radiator cap, and it was wet, but no coolant in site.

Removed the coupler going into the thermostat housing and jumpered with a
paperclip and the fan ran (whew!). Still looking like thermostat, so
removed the housing (didn't even have to remove the hose). Popped the new
thermostat in and put about 1/2 gallon of coolant in the radiator. Started
car and let idle. Temp held steady. Had him take a five minute drive, and
when he came back, let it idle for 10+ minutes. Never got hotter than mid
guage. Never got hot enough to kick the fan on so not sure if that switch
has a problem, but he said the heat jumped up in a matter of minutes last
night.

So, new thermostat and coolant top-off stopped the over heating. What
bothers me is there was coolant all over the ground from the night before
when he said it got to the red line. Is this possibly just the blow off
from over heating? We checked again and again and could see no leaks. We
drove it into town, had dinner and then back to the house and no problems.

I left him the other 1/2 gallon of coolant just in case. I'm keeping my
fingers crossed :-)

Thanks for all the input from everyone.