ohmidog!
09-28-2010, 10:10 AM
http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass2-0021.jpg (http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass2-0021.jpg)
I’m not sure if it was an overdose of dog friendliness (http://travelswithace.com/?p=25427), or the camping experience (http://travelswithace.com/?p=25484), but Provincetown wore Ace out.
After a full day of doggie activities Saturday — part of Pet Appreciation Week in the Cape Cod community — we returned to our campsite and turned in early, as in 8 p.m.
Ace, though he was spooked by everything — a car door closing, headlights casting shadows on the tent walls — eventually fell asleep, at least I think he did, because I conked right out and slept through the night.
http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass-2521.jpg (http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass-2521.jpg)We were up bright an early Sunday, and*the first thing we did, after coffee, of course, was head down to town, score a parking space and hit one of the town beaches — all of which permit dogs and, from 6 to 9 a.m., allow them to be off leash.
Ace sniffed around for a while, then broke into full frolic mode, kicking up sand as he ran in circles, stopping every now and then to crouch into a play stance and bite into the sand. He tested the water briefly, then decided running around in the sand was more fun — especially if I was chasing him.
We play this little game — perhaps it horrifies onlookers — where I double up the leash, making sure the clip part is in my hand, and act like I’m going to give him a whipping. I even say “You’re gonna get a whippin’* … You better watch out … ” When I do that he runs toward me, veering to the side at the last possible moment and I gently swat his hiney with the leash when he goes by. Then he circles and comes back again.
After*an hour of that, we got some water and walked into town,*stopping at the Governor Bradford, which, like most restaurants with patios in Provincetown — proclaimed America’s dog friendliest city by Dog Fancy magazine –* allows dogs.http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass-2563.jpg (http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass-2563.jpg)
Breakfast finished, we headed to the pier, where Ace seemed most fascinated with the old working fishing boats — to the extent that there were one or two he wanted to hop aboard. He was intrigued, too, by the plastic lobsters on the bench/display above. It will be interesting, once we hit Maine, to see how he reacts to a real one.
He did get to sniff a starfish that a charter boat employee was showing some children, and fortunately didn’t gobble it up.
With a dog parade scheduled to take place at 2, sponsored by the Carrie A. Seamen Animal Shelter, we had an hour to kill. Ace was dragging a bit. Possibly I was too. So we walked back to the car. I opened the tailgate and Ace jumped right in and settled down. I joined him, sitting at the end of the tailgate. He shifted around so he could lay his head on my leg and, within seconds, was sleeping. The parking space was $2.50 an hour — so it was a pricey nap — but too nice a moment to interrupt. I think I fell asleep, too.
We awoke in plenty of time to get a good seat for the parade, which only lasted a couple of minutes, but we sat there for another hour with people coming up to meet Ace, compliment him on his handsomeness,*and ask what kind of dog he was.
While that happens everywhere, Provincetown really does seem a place where dogs are appreciated more than most — and not just during Pet Appreciation Week.
Worn out by running on the beach and being sociable, we went back to the campsite for what would turn out to be a soggy night.
http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass3-023.jpg (http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass3-023.jpg)Mainly to get out of the rain, we jumped into the car about 6 a.m. Monday morning. I stopped for coffee and we drove out to Race Point — part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, 40 miles of pristine shoreline, marshes, dunes, cranberry bogs and ponds.
“A man may stand there and put all*America behind him,” Henry David Thoreau once said of the spot we stood in. The rain turned to a gentle, but just as soaking,*mist, and Ace went into frolic mode again. I wasn’t in the mood for the whipping game, though. Instead, I stared out into the water, only to see something staring back.
http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass3-017.jpg (http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass3-017.jpg)To me, that sealed the deal: I love this place.
Ace’s coat was drenched, and so was my sweatshirt. There was a soggy tent to drain, pack up and hoist atop my car — and I was already cold and tired to the bone. The skies showed no hint of any sunshine ahead. Nevertheless, it was time to get rolling — for while when I looked at the ocean the whole country may have been at my back, when I turned around the other way, the whole country was ahead.
More... (http://www.ohmidog.com/2010/09/28/another-place-thats-hard-to-leave/)
I’m not sure if it was an overdose of dog friendliness (http://travelswithace.com/?p=25427), or the camping experience (http://travelswithace.com/?p=25484), but Provincetown wore Ace out.
After a full day of doggie activities Saturday — part of Pet Appreciation Week in the Cape Cod community — we returned to our campsite and turned in early, as in 8 p.m.
Ace, though he was spooked by everything — a car door closing, headlights casting shadows on the tent walls — eventually fell asleep, at least I think he did, because I conked right out and slept through the night.
http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass-2521.jpg (http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass-2521.jpg)We were up bright an early Sunday, and*the first thing we did, after coffee, of course, was head down to town, score a parking space and hit one of the town beaches — all of which permit dogs and, from 6 to 9 a.m., allow them to be off leash.
Ace sniffed around for a while, then broke into full frolic mode, kicking up sand as he ran in circles, stopping every now and then to crouch into a play stance and bite into the sand. He tested the water briefly, then decided running around in the sand was more fun — especially if I was chasing him.
We play this little game — perhaps it horrifies onlookers — where I double up the leash, making sure the clip part is in my hand, and act like I’m going to give him a whipping. I even say “You’re gonna get a whippin’* … You better watch out … ” When I do that he runs toward me, veering to the side at the last possible moment and I gently swat his hiney with the leash when he goes by. Then he circles and comes back again.
After*an hour of that, we got some water and walked into town,*stopping at the Governor Bradford, which, like most restaurants with patios in Provincetown — proclaimed America’s dog friendliest city by Dog Fancy magazine –* allows dogs.http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass-2563.jpg (http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass-2563.jpg)
Breakfast finished, we headed to the pier, where Ace seemed most fascinated with the old working fishing boats — to the extent that there were one or two he wanted to hop aboard. He was intrigued, too, by the plastic lobsters on the bench/display above. It will be interesting, once we hit Maine, to see how he reacts to a real one.
He did get to sniff a starfish that a charter boat employee was showing some children, and fortunately didn’t gobble it up.
With a dog parade scheduled to take place at 2, sponsored by the Carrie A. Seamen Animal Shelter, we had an hour to kill. Ace was dragging a bit. Possibly I was too. So we walked back to the car. I opened the tailgate and Ace jumped right in and settled down. I joined him, sitting at the end of the tailgate. He shifted around so he could lay his head on my leg and, within seconds, was sleeping. The parking space was $2.50 an hour — so it was a pricey nap — but too nice a moment to interrupt. I think I fell asleep, too.
We awoke in plenty of time to get a good seat for the parade, which only lasted a couple of minutes, but we sat there for another hour with people coming up to meet Ace, compliment him on his handsomeness,*and ask what kind of dog he was.
While that happens everywhere, Provincetown really does seem a place where dogs are appreciated more than most — and not just during Pet Appreciation Week.
Worn out by running on the beach and being sociable, we went back to the campsite for what would turn out to be a soggy night.
http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass3-023.jpg (http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass3-023.jpg)Mainly to get out of the rain, we jumped into the car about 6 a.m. Monday morning. I stopped for coffee and we drove out to Race Point — part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, 40 miles of pristine shoreline, marshes, dunes, cranberry bogs and ponds.
“A man may stand there and put all*America behind him,” Henry David Thoreau once said of the spot we stood in. The rain turned to a gentle, but just as soaking,*mist, and Ace went into frolic mode again. I wasn’t in the mood for the whipping game, though. Instead, I stared out into the water, only to see something staring back.
http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass3-017.jpg (http://travelswithace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/roadmass3-017.jpg)To me, that sealed the deal: I love this place.
Ace’s coat was drenched, and so was my sweatshirt. There was a soggy tent to drain, pack up and hoist atop my car — and I was already cold and tired to the bone. The skies showed no hint of any sunshine ahead. Nevertheless, it was time to get rolling — for while when I looked at the ocean the whole country may have been at my back, when I turned around the other way, the whole country was ahead.
More... (http://www.ohmidog.com/2010/09/28/another-place-thats-hard-to-leave/)