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| How California Couples Plan Romantic Getaways With Their Dogs |
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How California Couples Plan Romantic Getaways With Their Dogs
but they're all enchanting, relaxing, and first-rate.
The rooms come with extras not offered by most hotels, including fresh flowers,
bottled water, fresh fruit, your very own decanter of sherry, and occasional chocolates.
In addition, for an extra fee you can partake in a delightful afternoon tea in the inns
gorgeous library bar. Dogs are even welcome to join you for cocktails there.
? Mendocino: Mendocino Seaside Cottage:
Don?t be fooled by the name: This is no little cottage, but a large ocean side inn with four spacious suites and a separate cottage that?s almost exclusively for pets and their people. How?s this for a rule reversal: ?People without pets may be able to stay, with only by special arrangement,? says inn owner Linda. Dogs wag their tails hard when stay here: They get a gift basket with treats, a food, and other goodies. Is it your dog?s birthday? You get a 10 percent discount on your stay. (Now you can wag your tail.)
Perhaps the best feature for dogs is that Mendocino Headlands State Park is pretty much the front yard here. It?s a terrific place to explore with your leashed dog.
If you like an inn that caters to Romance (yes, with a capital R), this is the place for you: ?You are a Special Valentine 365 Days a Year,? touts the inn?s aptly named web site, romancebythesea.com. The phone number even has the word ?heart? in it. The suites have a honeymoon bent and a pretty feel that might not go well with a certain large yellow lab I know (I shall mention no names, Jake), but dogs of the toy variety look perfect here. Actually, any size well-behaved dog is welcome at the inn. ?We love all pets,? says Linda. ?As long as their people are well behaved.?
Humans also get the royal treatment, with chocolates, fresh flowers, and champagne or sparkling cider waiting in the guest rooms. Suites and the cottage have a featherbed, fireplace/wood stove, spa tubs, and ocean or park views.
Norm:
You have also indicated that there are wedding chapels in California where your dog can be at your side when you get hitched. Have you ever attended one of these weddings and could you describe how this works in practice? Where are these chapels situated?
Maria:
Not only have I attend one, I?ve been the bride in one! My husband (Craig Hanson) and I met through our dogs. He was taping a piece on my Bay Area book for the local NBC TV affiliate, and he brought along his dog and I brought along mine. The dogs hit it off, and so did we. When the afternoon of shooting the segment was done, he asked if I?d be interested in going for a dog walk sometime. That was one dog walk I really looked forward to!
Many dog walks (and a couple of years) later, we married on our old fishing boat, in San Francisco Bay. The Golden Gate Bridge was behind us, San Francisco sparkled in the distance. The dogs who started all this were a big part of the wedding. His dog, Nisha, was flower girl and wore a wreath of flowers around her neck. Joe was the ring bearer, with the ring tied to his collar in a purple velvet pouch. He was never one for boating, and he ended up hiding under my wedding dress, which was very amusing. That?s the photo I sent you. Our daughter, Laura, loves thumbing through our little wedding album to see this photo of Joe peeking out from under mom?s dress.
Not everyone wants to get married on an old fishing boat. Many wedding chapels around the state welcome dogs to participate in weddings, or at least witness them. The Tahoe area has several, as does Monterey and the Big Bear Lake area in San Bernardino County. Dog-friendly wedding chapels actually dot the state, but we can?t list many in the book because of space constraints. I?ve noticed that generally where you have horse and carriage rides that allow dogs (and many do), there?s a dog-friendly wedding chapel not far away.
In addition to chapels, there are countless other locales where your dog can be at your side on your wedding day. Outdoor weddings, boat/yacht weddings, and weddings at a house or a dog-friendly hotel are a few options.
Dogs in weddings are so common these days that all it takes is a Google of ?dogs? and ?weddings? and you?ll come up with plenty of advice and ideas. Here?s a link to a fun, informative article on the do?s and don?ts of letting your dog be your ring bearer.
Norm:
I understand there have been several celebrities who have had their dogs as best man, flower girl etc, could you name some of these celebrities and perhaps describe some of these ceremonies?
Maria:
This all started ages ago. Kitty Carlisle?s wedding to playwright Moss Hart in the 1940s had many dogs in attendance, to the dismay of her mother. Various celebs have had their dogs at their side since, but probably the most well-reported canine ring bearer in the new millennium has been Adam Sandler?s bulldog, Meatball. At Sandler?s 2003 nuptials to model-actress Jackie Titone, Meatball dressed in a tux and yarmulke and trotted down the aisle with the ring on a pillow on his back. (Sadly, Meatball died of a heart attack the following year, at the young age of 4.)
Norm:
If you had to choose five of the most unique and romantic destinations in California where you can bring your dog, which ones would you choose and why?
Maria:
The reasons I chose the following five are pretty similar: An abundance of exquisite, dog-friendly accommodations, restaurants, and walks, and drop-dead gorgeous surroundings. Four of my top five are on the coast, which works out well for those romantic walks on the beach. And all are spectacular year round.
From north to south:
?Mendocino
?Napa Valley
? Carmel
? Santa Barbara
? San Diego/Coronado area
Napa isn?t on the coast, but the wine makes up for that, don?t you think?
Norm:
Are there any other places in the world that you know of where dogs are as welcomed in resorts and inns as California?
Maria:
From what many of my readers have told me, France is a close contender, but I?ve never traveled there with my dogs (they don?t speak the language), so I don?t speak from experience.
The US is coming along nicely in the dog-friendly department. My books have launched a nationwide series of Dog Lover?s Companions on great doggy destinations, including Florida, New England, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York. These books all feature many wonderful inns that welcome dogs.
I hope this trend of dog-friendliness continues, but if it does, Californians could have a 2,000-page edition of my book on their hands in a few years, and that will just never do in the glove compartment.
Thanks once again Maria for your most interesting perspective on romantic getaways with our doggies
And thank you, Norm. It?s been fun!
About the Author: Norm Goldman is editor of www.sketchandtravel.com and www.bookpleasures.com.
Norm and his artist wife Lily are a unique couple in that they meld words with art focusing on romantic and wedding destinations.
You can read more about them on their site, sketchandtravel.com
Norm and Lily are always open to receive invitations to romantic destinations in the New England states and Florida Source: www.isnare.com
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| Category
Holiday events and flying |
Author
David Gabbitas |
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