Sleeping with sparky in carmel

dog in convertible in front of Cypess Inn

Cypress Inn. Photo by Cypress Inn.

Dog-friendly hotels are a dime a dozen these days, but dog-passionate ones don’t come along very often—except in Carmel, where more than 20 hotels and inns put out a welcome mat for canine guests. Read more.

Doris day animal foundation turns 35

Actress and animal advocate Doris Day celebrated her 88th birthday this year, and it will come as no surprise that her love of animals and highly practical commitment to their welfare in the Doris Day Animal Foundation, which turns 35 this year, is as strong as ever. (Or that Carmel's Cypress Inn, which she's co-owned for over two decades, remains legendary for its pet-friendly hospitality.) Indeed, this past spring she was helping out the SPCA for Monterey County with its annual telethon—and wound up adopting one of their foundlings. Read more.

Monterey meanderings

Monterey County is vast, stretching south through Big Sur and east through the winery-rich Carmel Valley and into the Santa Lucia Mountains. You and your four-legger are sure to have doggone good times no matter which part of Monterey Wine Country you visit. Suggestions for a yappy day: • Pick up a brochure or let the signs guide you along the River Road Wine Trail. Sniff out Pessagno Winery, where the vineyard dogs come out to greet you; or Wrath Winery, where you and yours can enjoy a picnic and great views of the Santa Lucia Highlands. Another memorable choice is the Hahn/Smith Hook tasting room, featuring an expansive deck with sweeping views of the mountain-rimmed Salinas Valley. Read more.

Dog-friendly campsites in northern California

Brynn & Tyn. (CC) Mark Totten We’re not claiming to be personally familiar with every campground in Northern California, but our experiences at these dog-friendly sites have been pawsitive enough to keep us coming back again and again. Read more.

Get inspired in big sur

Countless artists, mystics, poets, photographers, and happy dogs over the decades are not wrong: Big Sur is about as lovely as it gets. Starting with Pfeiffer Beach, where dogs have to stay on leash on the state-managed portions but can run free if under voice control on the US Forest Service-managed section. Once Rowdy's worked off that excess energy on the beach, the two of you might want to check out the area's artistic heritage at the Coast Gallery, home to six galleries housing works of American artists as well as the Gallery Café, which welcomes human-canine parties on its deck. Read more.