Our Dog’s Sunday
We’d been saving newspaper for about six weeks, and it was time to take it to the shelter. Sometimes the stack of newspaper gets large enough that you worry about the perceptions that visitors might have. The shelter always wants newspaper to line the puppy cages with, so we loaded up the dog (because she loves to ride in the car) and the giant pile of newspaper and rode out to the Montgomery Humane Society to drop it off. While we were there, we cruised around the puppy rooms and immersed ourselves in squirming, barking cuteness. We also saw the adult dogs, which are also awesome, but adopted at a much slower rate than their younger counterparts. We’re not quite ready for a second dog, so we left and reassured the dog that she’s still our main squeeze.
Then we decided to check out the new dog park downtown. We’d read that there was one somewhere, and we cruised around unsuccessfully for a little while before finding an Advertiser story on our phone telling us that the park was at the corner of Coosa and Bibb. It turns out it’s next to a parking deck in a corner lot where there’s a forgettable water fountain. You could drive by it a dozen times and miss it every time, but we eventually found it. There’s a nice fence there, a separate area for small dogs, drinking fountains, and some benches in a nice bit of shade. And the grass is nice. It’s not nearly the size of the park out at the Shakespeare Festival, but it’s perfectly great as a dog park (about twice as big as our back yard) and probably a wonderful amenity for folks who choose to live downtown with their pets. The dog had a wonderful time smelling everything and even rolled in the grass.
Then it was home for a few hours before our next adventure – the year’s last Bark in the Park, which is when the Montgomery Biscuits allow you to bring your dog to the baseball stadium. We’d been to the game on Friday night (lots of fun except for losing a pair of sunglasses) and we resolved to come back with the dog while we still could, for this last dog-friendly night at Riverwalk Stadium. She loves to go to a game, though she doesn’t care a bit for baseball – she’s more in it for the stray french fries and the occasional sniff at the other dogs.
The game was fun and the weather was really nice. One small complaint is that we ordered veggie burgers and waited for them for almost two full innings before being told that they didn’t have any. That’s a lot of baseball to miss leaning against the wall at the concession stand. We’ve raved before about how good the veggie burgers are at the Biscuits games. But they’re also pretty much the only vegetarian entree at the stadium, so when they don’t have them and we’ve planned to eat dinner at the game, we had to leave to get some food. Good ol’ downtown Waffle House hit the spot.
All in all, between the visit to the shelter from whence she came, the downtown dog park, and the baseball game, the dog had a great Sunday. We did too.
Kate and Stephen are Midtown residents with one cat, a dog, fifteen fish, a garden, an old house and a sense of adventure. They write about life in Midtown here and about life in Montgomery at their blog Lost in Montgomery.
Just a couple of notes to provide more context for readers. As the photos in the article show, this park is Rotary Park and has been partially funded over the years by the city’s four Rotary clubs. The dog park, as well, was a collaboration between the Rotary clubs and the city. Eventually, when it is fully unveiled, it will include obstacles and play equipment for the dogs. We are also commissioning a Cloverdale artist to paint a nice mural on the bottom two levels of the parking deck, to make the area more aesthetically pleasing. In short, the park isn’t complete. Hopefully it will be a nice addition to those downtown.