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There are lots of hotels and motels that say they are dog friendly, but there are few so RoadDog friendly as where we stayed in Boothbay Harbor. Having told you about the town a few weeks ago, let me now tell you about where we stayed.

The Flagship Inn deserves a special mention. It really was a home away from home for us during part of our August vacation.

From the time we rolled in until the time we pulled out a few days later, Jake was pretty much a happy dog. First of all, the staff were friendly and accommodating. Not once did it feel like a motel that allowed dogs. Instead, it was a motel that welcomed dogs. And believe me, when you travel with a dog you very quickly learn the difference.

The staff welcomed all three of us when we arrived. We weren’t given a long list of rules. We weren’t told that we couldn’t leave Jake alone in the room, which can be truly problematic. That left Jake opportunities to nap — while we went to the pool for a swim or relaxed in the hot tub in the late afternoon, one evening when we went to the theatre next door (more about that another week) and in the mornings when we went for breakfast. (Our boy is not an early riser when travelling and likes that extra hour of sleep while we get organized and fed.)

Staff at the Flagship Inn even left Jake a little care package in our room. We arrived to find two different types of locally-made doggie treats and, are you ready for this, a stuffed toy. Jake loved the little brown moose, which immediately made him happy and playful and is now part of our living room collection (I may soon have to get a third basket – oh my!)

But there was a whole other dimension to RoadDog’s stay at the Flagship and that was all about the location. The inn is tremendously conveniently located with an ice cream shop and veggie stand on one side and a trail and parkland behind.

Within an hour of arriving, we were enjoying ice cream at a picnic table. Even better, Jake not only got his own ice cream, but the girl sprinkled it with several tiny Milkbones. He was one seriously happy dog.

I then ducked into the veggie stand (where ironically the employee had just returned from a visit to Nova Scotia) and bought some wonderfully fresh green beans. They make an excellent snack, both for me and for Jake. (A dog really needs something more nutritious than ice cream from time to time and Jake does love green beans. Steve is less convinced about veggies as a snack or in general for that matter.)

Our little motorcycle trio then went for a walk along the trail behind the inn, discovering the wonderful Penny Lake Preserve. It’s a wetland and wildlife habitat, which provided both a chance to stretch our legs (especially Jake’s) and enjoy some quiet solitude.

Yes, the Flagship Inn was a wonderful experience. One we hope to repeat someday down the road when we return to the wonderful Boothbay Harbor.

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If there’s one thing about this time of year that helps our RoadDog get over the fact that he can’t ride around on a motorcycle, it has to be snow.

Jake loves to play in the snow. He loves to stick his nose in it. He loves to rub his face in it. Sometimes he even lies down and rolls around in it. But what has to be his absolute favourite thing is playing ball in it.

That seems a little odd, I know. We find it odd too, but that’s our boy. He does like to be different.

He likes me to throw his ball and he’ll dive into the snow after it. If it’s icy at all, we have this little bank behind our house that he’ll climb up and roll the ball down so he can chase after it and jump on it. If the snow is fluffy, like it was this weekend, he takes his ball up to the top of the bank and drops it, then sticks his face down in the snow and digs through the snow to get to his ball. Once he gets it – which he really doesn’t try very hard to do, the game is clearly about the digging – he drops the ball in a fresh snowy spot and does it all over again. Sometimes he’ll “dig” the ball all the way down the bank. Sometimes he just digs and digs and digs.

Jake’s paws get so cold playing in the snow that he’ll stop and lift them one at a time, standing on three legs, and look at Steve and I as if to ask, “What’s wrong with them? Why do they hurt?”

Then we know it’s time to force our boy inside to warm up by the wood stove. But as long as the sun is shining, we know that once he gets warm, he’ll be begging to go outside to play ball again. It’s a winter ritual.

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I seem to have an uncanny ability to pick out great places to visit. Actually, that’s not entirely true. I guess, it might be that I take the time to do a little research before we head out on the road so we end up at places well suited to our little motorcycle trio.

So it was last summer with Boothbay.

It is a fantastic area on the coast of Maine. Neither Steve nor I had ever been there so it was wonderful to be able to explore it together for the first time and I believe I can speak for both of us when I say we look forward to returning there again sometime soon.

First of all, it is breathtakingly beautiful — the views, the vistas, everywhere you look is just outstanding. Secondly, it’s very dog-friendly which always enhances our travels so much.

Our motel was fantastic, so much so that I’ll write more about it another week. The town itself was one of the best places we’ve ever visited. There were lots of dog-friendly shops and restaurants. Our first night we ate at a lobster place that had picnic tables designated solely for the use of people with pets. Nice! Jake, of course, shared our lobster, which was so fresh and so delicious.

The next day we took a trolley into town (I’ll tell you more about that later too) and explored, finding a wonderful doggie shop where the proprietor told us about several more places where we could eat with our RoadDog. We ended up at a fantastic tapas restaurant for lunch, eating on an outdoor patio three stories up with views of the harbour and town. Wow!

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Boothbay Harbor also boasts a 1,000-foot footbridge across the harbour, so we took a wonderful stroll as well. Jake, being all about his belly and not so enamoured of bridges, was more excited about lunch than the walkway, particularly when we walked across, turned around and went back again. That got us some looks that clearly said, “Just what was the point of that?”

But he trotted along anyway, content to be on vacation on a warm summer day with us having new adventures. We all love new adventures. And warm summer days.

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Jake may like lobster, but apparently only when it’s cooked, shelled and being offered up as a feast.

Over the holidays, Steve and I decided we should enjoy a lovely lobster dinner at home one evening. The prices have been great, the lobsters apparently plentiful and sellers everywhere you drive in town, making me crave those crustaceans.

We absolutely knew we were going to have to share our shellfish bounty with our RoadDog. Jake can smell a lobster sandwich at a picnic table in the great outdoors with the wind blowing at 40 kilometres an hour. There was no way he was going to miss the smell of them cooking right there in the kitchen.

We picked up the lobsters early in the afternoon and Steve left them in a container in the cold garage for a couple of hours. I’m not sure if that had anything to do with how lively they became when we brought them in the house — it might have been the warmth, maybe they were just fresh and energetic, or maybe they had an idea that a pot of boiling water awaited them (I hate that part). Regardless, these lobsters were swinging their claws around and flapping their tails rather wildly.

Being the loving doggie parents we are (and since the lobsters were still banded), we decided to see how Jake would react when introduced to one of his favourite foods in the raw. It seemed like a good idea, harmless fun, really, and we’re always curious about how that Cairn terrier mind works.

It didn’t take long to find out.

As you can see from the photo, Jake was less than thrilled to meet a live lobster up close and personal. What you can’t see (there really should be video) is what led up to that shot. Steve was holding Jake and picked up a lobster. Jake stuck out his nose to sniff it. The lobster swung his claw towards Jake and flapped his tail rather defensively and that was enough for our boy. I’m pretty sure he decided then and there that he’ll take his lobster cooked, shelled and delivered, thank you very much.

Kind of makes me want to do it all over again this weekend, maybe without the up-close introductions.
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Happy New Year everyone!

Sorry I didn’t post last week. I honestly don’t have an excuse beyond being busy and wanting a little break. Rest assured, all is well in our little Brown household.

We all had a really great Christmas, including Jake. Santa finally came, filled his stocking and left gifts under the tree, much to the delight of our beloved Cairn terrier.

Jake began smiling around December 22 when we put some gifts under the tree. None of his, of course, because he would have been in them right away, but the sight of gifts seemed to perk him up quite a bit. It was as if he realized something was finally going to happen.

He got even more excited on Christmas Eve when Steve and I filled each other’s stockings, with the extras in gift bags on the stairs. You can see that in the photos. Our boy is looking pretty happy. When he came in from his early-morning trip outside on Christmas morning and found that his stocking was also filled, he was even more excited.

From there, it went to gifts under the tree and, as the photo shows, Jake got right into the thick of things. He had his stocking emptied and gifts opened before Steve and I finished our first cup of coffee.

It was an exciting day for our boy, followed by another exciting day when my stepchildren Alan and Kim arrived on Boxing Day and we did the whole Christmas thing again with a house filled with people.

By about December 28, Jake was exhausted and crashed for a couple of days of much-needed rest. That left him ready to greet the new year with a happy smile again — although that didn’t last long thanks to the sounds of nearby fireworks. He definitely does not like fireworks, even of the smallish neighbourhood variety.

A walk in the park on New Years Day followed by a Timbit that night and Jake seems to think 2012 is off to a pretty good start. And we’ve already started planning our summer bike excursions.

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