While we'd been hoping to take a summer roadtrip with the pooches, we finally found our chance. We had a newly born nephew, so we packed up the pooches to drive down to St. Louis for the weekend.
Ms. M needed to enjoy her last few moments of Chicago air, before we set off on I-55 for the next several hours. Because of Reggie's great road tripping post and all the informative comments, we felt fairly prepared for this road trip. All the rest stops had this dog friendly area for the pooches to stretch, have dinner and take a restroom break.
This was our first time staying in a hotel with the pooches, and we were a bit nervous there might be breed restrictions. Luckily, Go Pet Friendly.com had this great post write up about the pet friendly Drury Hotels. We gave the Drury Plaza Hotel in Chesterfield a call and asked if there were any breed restrictions and to our surprise, they were excited to have our two pit bulls stay at their hotel. The hotel was great and very accommodating. They had free wifi, free hot breakfast, free drinks and food in the evening and even poop bags out in their large outdoor area. All of the staff was very friendly and most of the other patrons were excited to meet the pooches, probably because Mr. B decided to carry his big red stuffed bone on all his potty breaks.
And newly-adopted Neptune (Tuna!) who is completely goofy and laid back:
It was funny meeting a blog friend in person, because I felt like I already knew so much about their family and the pooches. And as they're expecting a baby in October, I'm looking forward to reading more about balancing dogs and kids in the city. She is very inspirational! The pooches too hit it off right away, even sharing a drink at one of the many doggie water fountains:
Levi and Neptune continued the tour of their amazing park: a Victorian gem commissioned in the 1800's complete with fountains, pavilions, wading pools, and even a Clydesdale.
The pooches walked very nicely together as a pack as if they were long-lost friends.
Luckily for us, Miss M and Mr. B were exhausted for the ride home, here they are sharing either side of the pillow.
P.S. We're very excited to have dog walking club back this week, with a new process to help out my inbox.
1) Please RSVP by Thursday whether you will be coming to dog club. Even if you did tell me before, I might not remember. When you email put "Dog Walking Club" in the header.
2) We've been thinking of switching up the locations, and this weekend we will be trying Skokie Sculpture Park.
3) New attendees, I will need your photos and bios by Thursday morning.
We're looking forward to Sunday's walk!
27 comments:
Congrats to A's sister! So exciting!
I've never stayed in a hotel with any of my dogs either, I'm glad you guys had such a good experience. Levi and Tuna are adorable!!
What a fun weekend!! I'm glad your first hotel experience was a success! We'll have ours in a couple of months and it's making me nervous already. I'm glad to know Drury's are good hotels. I might have to see if there are some on our way to Florida. And, Levi and Tuna are awfully cute!
i have met a couple of blog readers in real life, but not any other bloggers who i follow. i am sure it will happen at some point, i just wonder when and who will be first.
this looks like a successful trip, and also confirms my suspicion: the only thing cuter than two pitties is four pitties :)
Sounds like a grand adventure. Rod and Amy of GoPetFriendly are amazing, and the site is such a great resource. They travel with Buster, a GSD, so they are particularly sensitive to potential breed restrictions.
Looks like the pups had a blast!
What a fun trip! Glad to see you were able to take the dogs with you fairly easily! I am so excited for when I can meet the people behind a blog I read someday - that would be so cool! I know the first time you guys wrote on my blog (when I felt like I was writing to crickets), I felt like a celebrity had just stepped into my home - it was awesome....and yes, the only thing cuter than two pitties is four! :)
That picture of M with her head out the window is the best.
How exciting to take a road trip and meet a blogger buddy. The trip sure looked fun and successful. Glad you guys got to go
Benny & Lily
Road Trip! Looks like fun. I have been bugging my husband to take a blogger road trip and meet some of our pals. Mr B. looked like he had a blast with his furiend.
We are curious about the hotel stay..Were there rules about not leaving the dogs in the room alone? I have heard that.
Sounds like a fun trip! And it looks like Ms. M. and Mr. B. took the whole thing in stride - not that I'd have expected anything less!
This trip looks like so much fun! The pics were awesome and congrats on the new two legged family member!
How cool that you got to meet up. Next roadtrip should be to Vegas ;)
Kari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com
omg the picutre of Miss M's jowels flapping in the wind is to die for! What a lovely trip!
We like the dog walking club idea - we might have to try it here!
Mom remembers fondly those early days of blogging - how far we've come, and how many good friends we've made!
Sam
I LOVE the picture of Miss M with her head out the window! ahahahha
Looks like a fun and successful weekend road trip!
Congrats on the new addition to the extended family! Sounds like a fun road trip -and always fun to see fellow bloggers in person!
-Corbin
I'm so glad we were able to contribute in some small way to your family adventure! There are a lot of hotels out there that would be happy to have your dogs. Let us know which direction you want to head next, and we'll be happy to make a suggestion. :-)
In response to Kitty and Coco: Different hotels have different rules for leaving your pet in the room unattended. Some simply don't allow it, some will but only if your pet is in a carrier or crate while you're away, and some have no restrictions at all. We've called nearly 30,000 hotels and campgrounds so you can review all the rules before you book at the GoPetFriendly.com website.
Also, it's always a good idea to leave your cell phone number with the front desk staff anytime you leave you pet in a hotel room. Some dogs get frightened when they're left in an unfamiliar place, and it's good to be just a quick phone call away if that happens. Happy travels!
We had so much fun meeting you! I only wish that we had more time to chat. I love meeting like-minded dog people, especially when they are wonderful pittie parents. The pooches look so cozy in the hotel-they know how to travel in style!
Saint Louis is a beautiful city and I'm hoping we'll get to go down there with the dogs one of these days. That park is really beautiful!
What a nice get-a-way! Looks like everybody was on their best behavior :)
Wyatt and Stanzie
The photo of Ms. M's face out the window is Epic. Truly, epic! Your blog's come such a long way and I have to say you've done really wonderfully artful things with it. Good job!
I wish we had doggie water fountains at our local dog park. Anouk would adore them. She insists on drinking straight out of the tap, even though the water goes straight up her nose and makes her sneeze and splutter.
How could you not love Mr. B when he carries his very own bone/pillow everywhere he goes?
I was just at that hotel in June! Amazing hotel! I was not able to bring my dogs for this trip, but I will have to remember that for next time! Thanks for posting the info about it.
Y'all packed a lot into a short trip! Walkies in the park with bloggy furiends, a family gathering (Congrats on the new addition!) and a lovely doggy friendly hotel. Wow! Looks like a great time had by all :D
Waggin at ya,
Roo
Mary is awesome and I heart the Drury!
I always say that I wanna take Havi to a hotel! Whenever I stay at a Kimpton Im jealous!
www.twogradstudentsandapittie.blogspot.com
It looks like you had the perfect road trip: pet friendly hotel, walks, friends. Ms. M looks right at home on her pillow and Mr. B with his stuffie they are just too cute.
Emma
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