We live in Gainesville, so we aimed to leave early on a Saturday morning. The packing... ohh the packing. Most likely the most annoying part of the whole trip. We packed a few suitcases of our clothes and crap, three large dog crates (that fortunately collapse), a layer of a bunch of dog blankets that would line their crates when in use, and top the crates in the car so they were more comfortable (oh and we have a hatchback by the way- probably the ONLY way we got all this crap to fit!), a big ole bag of dog food to last them a week, a large tote filled with dog supplies, dog bowls, supplements, dog meds, toys, treats, chew bones, some dog clothes and bandanas (think babies.. what kind of baby crap do people need when they bring their kids places? Things to keep them busy and from being bored, snacks, clothes, bibs etc.) a couple totes of camping stuff for the days we truly were "roughin' it" like canned foods, loaf of bread with PB&J jars, snacks, eating utensils, paper towels, TP, water, charcoal, fire starter, etc. a tent, sleeping bags, air mattress (hey if you're going to camp, may as well camp in comfort!) and whatever other crap managed to take up so much space in the car- but I think that was mostly it. We packed the car solid with stuff and dogs but I can't say we forgot anything which is good (and rare).
Drove towards the panhandle area which was a first for me.. Josh had been there for fieldwork for his work but I hadn't so I was very excited. I did a little searching of "dog friendly places" and also got a few suggestions from friends... so that in combination with us literally stopping anywhere that looked "neat" or had a brown state park sign (since we are proud owners of a FL state park pass and know that dogs are welcomed into most state parks but not on the beaches) .. we just drove and went along with it. Our goal has always been to one day hit every state park in the state. There's literally a ton.. so it isn't even possible to stop at all of them in the panhandle area (we will have to do the rest on future trips!) but did as many as we could this time around. We did not take the interstate but took the long scenic route along the coast so we could enjoy the coastal views the whole time.
Our first stop was Alligator Point; a small stretch of a barrier island town that reminded me a bit of LBI, NJ. All the beaches there are dog friendly. Actually, all of the beaches in Franklin Co. are dog friendly (except state parks). We got out and enjoyed the beach for a little. Here's Josh and the dogs soaking up the sun.
Had to move along, because we always have to make sure we have time to go everywhere and see EVERYTHING, so we hit the road and stopped at Bald Point State Park. Enjoyed some scenic wetland trails before packing up the (now exhausted dogs) to see what the road brought us next.
Next stop: Apalachicola. We all walked around the downtown area exploring the shops. We really loved this pet boutique, "Petunia" which even had a small fenced in dog park area out front. Josh took the dogs out here to roam while I did a little browsing inside. Since the store was cramped and left little space to escape if another dog came in, they were better off outside (in a pack they can get a little leash reactive to other dogs so we didn't want to risk it). Great store for pet accessories and pet lover gifts.
We continued on and took a little detour to George's Island State Park. This was one of my favorites! Tall thin pines graced the beach landscape which was backed by a colorful sunset shortly after our arrival. We did a nice long hike (there is just one trail that dogs are allowed on) that started in daylight and ended in the dark.. but something about the scenic beauty of this place at sunset has got me remembering the sights, smells, and feeling of the clean air so strongly and I may never forget it. These pictures are a visual reminder of the feeling nature can bring, and the beauty of it intertwined with our canine companions.
Sleep: we crashed at the Dixie Belle Motel near Port Saint Joe. None of the campsites in that area had any openings at the time of booking so we splurged on one hotel night and lucked out because it was pretty cold out that day. Pet friendly, and super nice owner. Was totally cool with us having three dogs with us and even waived the pet fee when we mentioned Manny is a CGC (they don't normally do this.. over the phone they said no, but when Josh mentioned it in person the woman who helped him was super nice and said no problem! The pet fee is only $5/ a pet normally anyway.. but we greatly appreciated the kindness <3 ) The dogs did too as you can see them totally enjoying the luxury of sleeping in their own comfy hotel bed together. Doggone tired after a long day of hikes.
Key thing here.. when traveling with dogs... TIRE THEM OUT! For their sanity and yours, a tired dog is a happy dog, and they will be more responsive to any training you've done with them when in public situations. This really helped us out as they were very well behaved when out and about for the duration of our trip. As far as dinner goes... we ate some Trader Joe's dolmas and veggie chili out of cans and made PB&J sandwiches for our next day's lunches (saving $$ so we can go crazy with all the vegan foods in NOLA!)
In the morning we took time to explore without the dogs since the hotel was fine with them staying there. We set up their crates so they wouldn't do any damage to the room and we could took off and headed to T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park. We enjoyed the windy and cool morning on the beach, picking up some shells and hiking along the sandy paths. On our drive back we found some other cool scenic spots to explore and got a little taste of the Port Saint Joe downtown area, where unfortunately on a Sunday morning everything was closed :(. I've been told the downtown area is super pet friendly, so if you bring your dog(s) here when the shops are open it's a nice place to walk around.
We checked out of the hotel and continued on our journey, stopping at funky gift shops along the way in Mexico Beach area, and then making it to Panama City Beach where we stopped at Pier Park which was EXTREMELY dog friendly. Some shops are even dog friendly, you just have to ask. We wandered the touristy shopping/restaurant areas where it was basically a huge outdoor mall and made it to the beach where we were told there is a "dog beach" area but we had a hard time finding it. The whole beach appeared to be dog friendly too. Our babies were so well behaved around others and even when passing other leashed dogs. Proud parent moment right here.
Before hitting up our campsite we had to just make one more stop (we had wanted to make several but ran out of time!) at another hiking area at Camp Helen State Park, aka land of the twisted trees. The trees were so twisty and turvy like something out of a storybook tale. We did our share of exploring then bolted to our campsite to just barely make it to check in.
We made it to Rocky Bayou State Park where we pitched our tent, and set up a fire as we raced against the dark. I think we had already gained an hour at this point, so it was getting darker even earlier. We ate out of more cans and made ourselves some delicious vegan S'mores (marshmallows were Dandies brand- can be found at most health food stores). Weather was in the 60's at night so it was very bearable to sleep in and just perfect. The dogs were a little confused the first night as to why we were all living inside a big tarp and why we didn't seem alarmed that there was a big fire and smoke nearby, but by the second night we turned them into real camping dogs. The coolest part was the array of compliments we got from other people staying in the campground on how well behaved our three big dogs were. Win for the pitbulls! (our goal whenever bringing them anywhere is for them to be ambassadors for the breed and show how wonderful pits are :) )
Tips for camping with dogs: dogs should already know "stay" and be content doing it. Have long leads that can easily hook onto/around a table and keep them stationed at picnic table at campsite when not sleeping in tent or hiking/exploring. Nylabones make great chew toys to give them something to do. Have their bowls and food easily accessible. Always keep treats in your pocket and treat them when they're being good (and if they're like ours, they'll continue to do so if they know there's any chance they may get a treat!). Don't forget a water bowl! Many campsites have a water spicket making it simple to refill for them as needed. If it's hot, keep an extra eye on the water as they'll drink it even more. Keep their sleep area in the tent super comfy with blankets or a dog bed so they don't wind up sleeping on you (even so, they may do it anyway). Unless your dog can be trusted, don't leave in tent unsupervised (many may tear through it to get out). Ours were good in it, but I didn't trust them alone for too long.
Morning brought some more hikes at Rocky Bayou State Park. The sandy trail was covered in reindeer moss (which is really a lichen that covers the ground in balls of "snow" looking stuff) and the Bayou trail brought some water access areas where we let the dogs off leash and they had the time of their lives.
Once we got back to our campsite we rinsed them off, finished packing the car and were off into the Destin area. We checked out Henderson Beach State Park which had some sloping and sandy trails (great work out!).
We found the Destin Dog Park which is absolutely beautiful.. and let them have a few minutes of enjoyment at the park while we waited for our Mellow Mushroom order around the corner to be ready for pick up! (Mellow mushroom also has dog-friendly outdoor seating, as can be seen by the plush couch).
We ate at a beachfront park area, and then continued west ward... stopping again at Yellow River Marsh Preserve, a secluded area with not much of a trail but a beautiful look out point of the whole marsh area and plenty of rare pitcher plants which were nice to observe.
We then arrived at Big Lagoon State Park right before check in ended, and now being experts at camping we pitched the tent in a few minutes, set up our stuff, ate pizza leftovers and took the dogs for a "moonlight hike" where we followed miles of beach paths and used the light of the moon alone to guide us. It was beautiful and I'll never forget that feeling... a cool night breeze, pitch black besides a cool blue glow from the moon, and the contrast of white sand and black everything else which helped us know where to go. Was a great way to wear out the dogs before bed where they then crashed on our air mattress and made themselves at home. By this point they were very used to living out of a tent and kinda liked the idea (you can see them enjoying the morning breeze the next day, just hanging out in the tent, peeking out).
We finished up exploring Big Lagoon State Park, by doing the trails we hadn't seen yet in the morning, and letting the dogs play and have a little more off leash fun.
We continued our journey west, and stopped at Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park. A BEAUTIFUL park with many more pitcher plants... but unfortunately some beer bottles were left at the end of the trail. Well, we at least got some use out of them by using them for a photo prop before carrying them back the whole trail and properly disposing of them (DON'T LITTER PEOPLE!)
Next we enjoyed a delicious lunch at The End of the Line Cafe in Pensacola a place Josh had raved about since he went during a work trip. The cafe is completely vegan and organic. We got two amazing sandwiches, and the pink potato salad on the side. (This was our first of many delicious vegan restaurants we ate at from Pensacola to NOLA.. if you'd like learn more about the awesome restaurants we ate at, check out my vegan friendly guide to NOLA!) End of the Line has outdoor dog friendly seating and our dogs took this opportunity to pass the hell out on the ground.
Onward we continued our drive... through Alabama, Mississippi, and finally Louisiana.
When we arrived in NOLA we checked into our Airbnb. Now.. camping is a perfect travel option for people with more than 2 dogs (most hotels do not allow more than 2) but in the city, options seem to be limited to the pet friendly hotels in the area (there are several pet friendly hotels in NOLA). But 1. if you want to save money and not spend over $100 per night on a hotel, 2. If you prefer something more spacious, like a whole house, 3. If you want to customize your staying needs, including having more dogs than a hotel may allow, then something like Airbnb is an amazing option for accommodations. You can search the site for homes/apartments/rooms in the area you'd like to stay and essentially rent the space from someone. It's like a very short term lease, and staying in a house offers more flexibility (and space!) if you have several people, pets, and also want to save $ (it's often cheaper than a hotel room to rent a whole house!) When we first planned our trip I had searched Airbnb and found a duplex in the Bywater area (outskirts of the French Quarter in NOLA.. so not in the heart of town, but off the beaten track in a much more affordable area). This whole house was cheaper than a hotel room, and was pet friendly with no pet fee and I communicated with the owner to make sure it was okay for our 3 large and well behaved dogs to stay with us in her home. We saved a lot of $ by staying there and it gave us the flexibility to do activities dog-free when we needed to since we brought their crates and felt confident leaving them in the house without them damaging anything. They were still worn out and slept the day away when we left them behind.
So when we first arrived we got settled and ran out to get food at Dreamy Weenies. Excellent vegan hot dogs! We then went home to plan our days ahead, do some laundry and get some sleep.
The next day we explored the French Quarter/Jackson square area by foot. We walked from our house so we wouldn't have to deal with parking. We probably walked up to 8 miles per day through the city and it felt amazing (plus burned off all the amazing vegan food we were enjoying!). We explored the inner areas of the city that often go unnoticed on our walk, including a cool gift shop and garden center! The colors, the art, the culture.. you could feel it. The city is very dog friendly but we wanted a chance to go into stores (without taking turns) and explore the French Market (which is one area of town that is NOT dog friendly). You definitely can explore with dogs though, we saw plenty of dogs around the city as we wandered. We did a lot of shopping and exploring and enjoyed vegan gumbo from the Gumbo Shop on the riverfront, a delicious pancake thing at Green Goddess restaurant, some poboy subs at Meals from the Heart Cafe, and incredible crepes from the crepe cart. (Check out our vegan restaurant picks and see more about the food we enjoyed in NOLA here!) The Greek Goddess had outdoor dog friendly seating right in the quarter and was quaint and nice. We explored the market, art galleries, and artsy shops before walking back in the dark along the riverfront in Cresent Park where we felt safe.
The next day we made a dog day since they didn't participate in activities the day before. We took them to City Park to explore some of the hiking trails, and the outside of the art museum and sculpture garden before getting kicked out. DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE SCULPTURE GARDEN.... whoops. I was pretty mad because we only got one good picture of them prior to getting kicked out because I wanted to get a series of photos of each of them with the Blue Dog sculpture series. At least they got to meet some statue people.
We then got some delicious wholesome food from Good Karma Cafe, which is actually a yoga studio as well! They had a fully vegan menu and some smoothie options to die for. They also have outdoor seating where we sat with the dogs while we enjoyed the scrumptious meal.
We then headed to Audubon Park, a big outdoor area to hang out. We visited the Tree of Life-- an excellent photo op. Highly recommend visiting this 300+ year old live oak that's amazing to sit beneath, climb, and explore.
After some tree hugging, we hit up Magazine street which is full of cool funky shops and restaurants. My favorite store was the No Fleas Market which is a thrift store that benefits the SCPA and local rescues in NOLA. Dogs are welcome in the store but there is an adoptable kitty that lives in there so explore with caution with dogs. I found some amazing finds in here (several options even right off my shopping list such as a nozzle you could hook up to your shower head to easily bathe dogs in your tub... I didn't even know if they existed and then who knew I'd find a brand new one in package that I could buy and donate to animals at the same time?! Plus a dish drying rack for the lab I manage which we have desperately needed. Win for me, win for the animals!) So many great shops, some may be dog friendly, but Josh and I just took turns going into shops which worked fine for us (and it's a usual routine we are used to when bringing the dogs with us). Another one they can go into is Petcetera, which is a dog store and boutique! We also grabbed some delicious wraps from The Superfood Bar which had outdoor seating for us and the dogs.
The dogs were absolutely wiped out, so we brought them to the house to feed them and let them rest, and we did some fine dining at Seed, a fully vegan sit down restaurant that was out of this world (I don't recall if they had outdoor seating-- so may not be dog friendly) and then went back to Frenchman Street to explore the Art Market which happens from Thursdays-Mondays from 7pm-1am (closes earlier on Sundays). The market is outside and should also be dog friendly, but it very close to Bourbon St. where the drunks hang out so it may be a little rowdy for a dog's liking.
The next day brought us more exploring on foot.. we checked out Dr. Bob, an artist's gallery which was located right nearby our house. We even met Dr. Bob himself and he introduced us to his catahoula mix, told us random stories, and we learned the true story of the boogeyman. He saw my pit bull tote bag and told us about the Villalobos Rescue from Pit bulls and Parolees and the Tayho bar/tavern and dog store in town which later wound up being one of my favorite stops! Cool "tourist trap" to check out and some nice art pieces to check out/purchase. Nothing is under $40 but his famous "be nice or leave" signs seem to be a hit. He even has bottle cap framed signs that say "Shalom y'all!"
We went back to the French Quarter to basically see everything we missed. This included more art, on the street of course (I was completely in love with some cool animal portraits in Jackson Square), and an awesome art gallery by Ally Burguires, "Cocoally" a compassionate vegan artist who advocates for animal welfare and conservation through her art. She has one gallery and two clothing boutiques in town. One is right next to Seed, and one is in the French Quarter on St. Anne St. around the corner from her gallery. Well worth checking out, she has adorable stuff! Here is the tank top and tote bag I bought from her shop!
We walked across town to eat at Carmo, a tropical cuisine cafe with some great vegan options. I think they had an outdoor table and therefore may be dog friendly. We went to the market.. AGAIN... Josh wanted to get some cool Voodoo dolls. We almost got crepes again but waited for the Sneaky Pickle which was our last vegan meal outing during our trip! The Sneaky Pickly was in Bywater near our house and had AMAZING vegan food. We are in love. There was also outdoor seating. They had not only incredible food but incredible homemade ice cream sandwiches!
The next and final day we got up super early to go explore Jean Lafitt National Park which is a little bit outside of NOLA. We did a few miles of hiking (dogs are not allowed). This park is a way to explore Louisiana swamps and see some cool wildlife. I absolutely loved this hike.
We then returned to town to check out the Tayho dog store we had missed the day before. Dogs are welcome but should be good with other dogs (they often have rescue dogs in the shop). ALL proceeds from the store go to Villalobos Dog Rescue, which is affiliated with Pit Bulls and Parolees. I was so obsessed I bought almost everything in the store and felt less guilty knowing that it was all a donation. They even have a doggy thrift bin with clothes, toys and items all $10 and under! This place is a must stop for all pit bull and dog lovers. This was our last stop before we got back to the house, finished cleaning up and checked out and hit the road to go home!
And.. the rest of the day was a super long trip back, losing an hour, and then losing another hour to daylight savings so it's been super tough to adjust! Our dogs have been very lazy and enjoying a break from their wonderful travels which (we) and them enjoyed very very much! Such a fun-filled and amazing trip.. and I hope the things we did and the plans we made will inspire dog parents, and those without dogs, how to plan an amazing and diverse road trip that's dog-friendly overall!
No comments:
Post a Comment