Another Dirty Little Secret
We’ve been sneaky. No, not living-a-double-life sneaky… secret-vacation sneaky. That’s right. John and I quietly slipped away to a tiny series of islands off the west coast of Florida and have spent the past seven days swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, eating boatloads of seafood, blogging from the beach, and working on our tans (or in my case, sunburning my left ear).
We’ve had mucho fun celebrating what we affectionately refer to as “Honeymoon Part Two” (since our actual honeymoon nine months ago was spent in the far northwest: Alaska, we thought it was fitting to continue our celebration of newlywedism in the far southeast this time). And just like “Honeymoon Part One,” our little Hamburguesa came along for the ride. He had his fair share of beach adventures as well as some pretty hysterical lizard run-ins at the pool.
Stay tuned for pics of some gorge beach houses we discovered along with a few of our new favorite home decor havens as well as our entire flickr gallery of travel pics (so you can vacation vicariously through us). In the meantime, you might wanna grab some sunscreen and a nice salt-rimmed margarita and get ready for beach week This Young House-style.
(Post by Sherry, who’s rocking one red ear)
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Comments
i’m jealous too!! we are heading to that part of FL in August and it seems like too long to wait. hope you had a great trip!
Hey guys~
Happy vacation!! Just a quick question….I’m wondering how you arranged to bring Burger along with you on both vacations. We have a Maltese and we really don’t want to leave her at home if we go away. Any details you could provide…. (accomodations, plane ride, etc) would be most helpful!!
Thanks
Roxy
Hey Roxy,
Burger’s our pride and joy. And your Maltese sounds like she’d be the life of the vacay par-tay as well. We actually drove to our latest island getaway, but we flew to Alaska and learned a lot about traveling with the Burgmeister. So here are some hopefully helpful hints:
Always check the “pet friendly” advanced search option on Expedia or Travelocity when searching for lodging and if you’re flying be sure to call the airline after you purchase the tickets to note that you’ll be bringing a pet aboard since there are a limited number of pets that can be on a flight (usually one per plane) and you’ll want first dibs.
You can also just call your favorite airline directly to purchase tickets and mention you’ll be bringing your dog and get all their requirements. You’ll probably need to get a health certificate from your vet to ensure that your dog is safe enough to travel and you’ll be asked to pay a pet fee. Be sure to ask about what size/type of travel container they allow. We love a soft padded bag with breathing holes on both ends. Burger just sleeps the whole time. It’s miraculous.
There is usually a weight limit for dogs that can travel in the cabin but we’re thinking that your pup will be small enough to ride with you (dogs who are over 20 lbs usually have to travel underneath the cabin near the luggage which scares us since it’s not temperature controlled).
Beyond the “pet friendly” button on Travelocity or Expedia, you can always google “pet friendly hotel” and the location that you’re visiting to hopefully find some dog friendly places to stay. We rented a cottage from a private owner at the beach this trip and loved it since it was pet friendly and it felt so private (we didn’t worry if Burger barked or scampered around). You can also check out this link for help locating some more mainstream pet friendly lodging like hotels and motels: http://www.petfriendly.com/
It always helps to call a hotel even if it’s listed as “pet friendly” because there can still be some extra fees associated with bringing them along and it’s much better to know about them before you book.
Oh and taking dogs out of the country is super complicated and often requires leaving your dog in quarantine for several days. We’re way too nervous to attempt that so we’re sticking to trips in the good ol’ USA- which haven’t let us down yet.
Happy travels!
xo,
Sherry
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I am so jealous! I used to live right where you were visiting and would spend hours on the same beaches. Seeing your photos makes me miss the beach and my old dog. That does it…we gettin’ a dog!
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so totally jealous right now!
can’t wait to see the beach houses.