A Trip Home ...

For most of us 315ers from Oswego County, summer would not be complete without at least 1 trip to "The Loop," where we would go to Rudy's for the best fish sandwich, hamburger hot or Hoffman's coney that you can find. In fact, folks who used to live there (myself included) like to stop by Rudy's when they go back to visit, as we did today.

More than 60 years ago, Rudy's started out as a tiny little lakeside stand that had a small menu but a big following. Over the years, Rudy's has expanded and is now much larger than when they first opened. Located on the shores of Lake Ontario, Rudy's is just on the edge of the SUNY Oswego campus. Actually, the easiest way to get to Rudy's is to go through the campus itself, but watch out for those campus police because they enforce their campus speed limit with an iron fist!

Inside Rudy's, the atmosphere is controlled chaos. You go up to the counter to place your order, which they write down on the back of a paper plate. You're given a slip of paper with a number on it, then you wait (and watch) while they make your food. And there really aren't any lines to the counter per se, you just kind of join the throng of people and somehow, everyone eventually makes it up there. When you finally get your food, it's loaded into a cardboard box tray. Your soda comes in a can, your beer in a bottle and your milk is the kind you got with your school lunch. There really aren't very many places to sit down inside Rudy's, but that's OK since you don't go there to eat inside. There are dozens of picnic tables lakeside and that is where you really want to eat (if you don't mind an occasional stinky dead fish) because the view is just extraordinary.

After dinner, it's down to the water to skip a few rocks into the lake. You would think that after more than 60 years of people skipping rocks into Lake Ontario that the lakeside would be devoid of rocks but somehow, they're still there year after year. I would imagine that several of those rocks have made it into the homes and aquariums of many central New Yorkers. In fact, I can attest that at least 1 has made it to Rochester.

After skipping rocks, it's time for dessert. Rudy's serves dessert, but those "in-the-know" never go to Rudy's for dessert. After dinner and rock-skipping, walk on down to the little ice cream stand called "Bev's" and get your ice cream there. Then sit on a bench or at a picnic table and eat your ice cream while the sun sets over the lake. It is just so beautiful, and I've always experienced a sense of peace and contentment there. Maybe it's because it's a memory my parents gave to me. And maybe it's a memory that we can give to our daughters.