Christmas Wrap Up

We went away for Christmas to a beach motel on the Gulf Coast. I hadn't been on Anna Maria Island in at about 5-6 years. We spent 3 nights and 4 days wandering around and Tug had some brand new adventures!!

When we went to Tarpon Springs a few weeks ago he went to a restaurant. A great Greek place with outdoor seating allows dogs on the patio. He was a very good boy and they brought him a bowl of water which was much appreciated. He ate Greek bread with butter, pita and a bit of my gyro meat. We walked him around until we found a patch of grass not on the main thoroughfare but he didn't feel the need.

So, at the beach, my sister had found this great dockside restaurant. It has it's own fishing fleet and the seafood is truly fresh! There's a dozen picnic tables and a bar- all actually on the dock itself. Mama and my sister snagged a table, finally, while I waited in line at the bar to order. It was lunchtime so it took an hour for our food to be served and we're huddling under the umbrella at the table due to the pounding sun. Bless the inventor of anti-persperant/deodorant!

Tug ate some scraps he found under the table which concerned us but his tummy was fine. I had a cup of ice I kept holding at his level. He licked & ate the ice until some melted and he drank the ice water. I think he would've had heat stroke otherwise. He stared at big, brown pelicans and came nose-to-nose with a dock cat. We were worried the cat might start something as it was clearly a tough, outdoorsy type but it wandered off. When the food arrived Tug got some hushpuppy bits so he was happy.

That night, for dinner, we drove around trying to find a place he could sit outside but the options we found weren't working. We finally settled on a diner near the motel with outdoor seating and I asked if Tug was welcome. They were so dog friendly they had dog bowls and put ice water in it for him- plus, the whole wait staff trooped outside to meet him. He felt like a star! The one fly in the ointment was he hadn't had dinner yet so was hungry. I fed him some of Mama's dinner roll and parts of my hamburger bun & bacon off my cheeseburger. It wasn't enough. When a waitress would come out with food to serve another table he'd start barking to get her attention- it would have been funny if we weren't so anxious not to be the owners of one of "those" kinds of dogs. Barkers ruin it for everyone else.

He had a great time and power napped a lot. He tried to sleep the whole way home but when we'd slow in traffic he'd get up to see if something interesting was happening- and you know how holiday traffic can be!

Tonight, my sister and I head to a campground nearby for two nights. Tug and Mama join us tomorrow.