Thomas Bull Memorial Park

Donna slipped and fell last night just before bed, and so this morning she was stiff and sore, with a bruise on her side roughly the size of the state of Connecticut. That meant that our activities were curtailed a bit today, so the day became devoted to "The Dog".

Fourteen miles northwest of Florida (NY), near the village of Montgomery, is a huge park called the Thomas Bull Memorial Park. This park includes a golf course, baseball and soccer fields, equestrian paddocks and competition areas, and a dog park.

Figuring that there would be other dogs on a Saturday, we set sail for Montgomery. On the way we passed the Orange County Airport, with an unusual visitor.

At the dog park, Sasha immediately met and made friends with Cora, a medium sized Labradoodle of about the same age. They played for hours!

They even rested together!

While Sasha was playing and Donna was socializing, I went into Montgomery and stopped at Mike's Pizza and Deli for a couple of sandwiches. I came out with two huge subs, each with enough meat (Donna=turkey, Gary=italian stuff) to sink the proverbial ship. A couple of Cannelloni's for dessert and two soda's to go led me back to the park and a bench overlooking the small lake. It was a nice, quiet, cool place for lunch!

With a stop at a roadside vegetable stand for some corn, tomatoes, onions and peaches, we headed home to begin to pack up. The park staff invited all campers to the pavilion for an ice cream social after dinner, and we joined the group. What a nice way to say good-by to Florida, New York!

On second thought, there's one more thing: Dan Lemire is the owner and chef at Chumley's BBQ Hut in Florida, NY. I have to give him and his staff a huge thumbs up for their wonderful food. Donna and I stopped in for lunch one day and enjoyed a couple of sandwiches. The "Downstate Brisket" was extremely good, D told me, and the "Uncle Eddie" that I had was to die for. Considering the salt content, that phrase may not be as funny as it could be. But the "Uncle Eddie" includes Sliced Tri Tip topped with caramelized onions and mushrooms and swiss cheese on a Ciabatta roll. Ok, it's good. So back we went for two more sandwiches on Thursday on our way home from NYC. This time we had a "Cousin Tex", with Brisket, braised red cabbage, swiss cheese, 1000 island chipotle dressing on garlic toasted ry bread. The other sandwich was a "Tailgate Steak" sandwich, with basil, garlic, and grilled onions on a garlic toasted roll.

Chef Dan was nicknamed Chumley by a high school buddy in 1978, after the chubby sidekick of Tennessee Tuxedo (look it up). Dan has been in the restaurant business since his graduation from the Culinary Institute of America, and his attention to detail shows in every meal he serves. If you're ever in the area, check it out.