Thank you all so much for sharing in our excitement over Leslie and Ross’ engagement! Our family is obviously thrilled about their upcoming wedding and we loved reading your kind comments and well wishes. Thank you!
Dog Friendly Florida Beach Weekend
On Saturday, Ryan and I said goodbye to my family in Jacksonville and drove a little more than an hour south to kick off our own little beach weekend!
A little while ago, a blog reader reached out to me when I briefly blogged about Ponce Inlet dog beach. Amy, the tourism and marketing manager for Flagler County Chamber of Commerce & Affiliates, emailed me to tell me all about the Palm Coast and the fun, dog-friendly activities, restaurants and lodging in the area.
As you guys obviously know, Ryan and I are basically obsessed with Sadie and love to go on adventures with her whenever possible. A trip to dog-friendly Flagler Beach immediately went on our summer “must do” list!
Early Saturday afternoon, Ryan and I checked into Si Como No Inn, a family owned and operated quirky beach inn located right across the street from Beverly Beach.
Amy was kind enough to organize a complimentary one-night stay at the dog friendly inn for us and Sadie immediately felt at home!
I had such a nice time chatting with the owner of the inn who clearly loves living in Flagler County. She gave us tons of suggestions for dog-friendly restaurants and activities.
We wasted no time changing into our bathing suits, leashing up Sadie and grabbing some of the boogie boards that the inn has available for guests to use before heading across the street to the beach.
Beautiful cinnamon-colored sand!
We set up our chairs and read on the beach until it was playtime!
Ryan ran back to the inn to grab a surf board, determined to get Sadie to surf for the first time in her life!
After a few practice runs on the sand, they were ready to conquer the waves!
Sadie’s enthusiasm was absolutely adorable. She’s a water dog through and through!
Ryan tried to help her up onto the board but despite their best efforts, Sadie isn’t going to be a pro doggie surfer anytime in the foreseeable future.
At least they had fun!
Once Sadie was back on shore with me, we watched Ryan have fun with the surf board and the boogie board before it was my turn to hit the waves!
I love boogie boarding and if the waves are good enough, I could spend hours playing around in the ocean. It’s a blast!
Whenever Ryan or I are in the ocean and Sadie is on shore, she gets a little stressed out. She wants to be in the water at all times, but watching Sadie while also trying to catch some waves isn’t really feasible so she’s stuck with one of us on the beach while the other person plays in the ocean.
Doesn’t she look thrilled?
Once we were back on shore together, Sadie was much happier and enjoyed playing around in the sun and surf!
After our day on the beach, we worked up quite an appetite and walked back to our room to shower and get ready for dinner.
Dinner at Johnny D’s
Johnny D’s Beach Bar and Grill came highly recommended by both Amy and the owner of Si Como No Inn and since the outdoor restaurant was dog friendly, Sadie got to come along!
Sadie clearly wasted no time making herself right at home.
Her table manners could use some work.
But I love her anyway.
Once our waitress came to take our order, we made Sadie hang out in the grass beside our table. (Our waitress was kind enough to bring her a bowl of water!)
After reading reviews on Trip Advisor, Ryan and I knew that the pizza at Johnny D’s was a local favorite, so we ordered a pizza topped with olives, onion, garlic and Italian sausage to share.
We also shared a bowl of chili and a big chef’s salad.
Everything was delicious and we drove back to the inn feeling full and happy!
Before calling it a night, we made sure to take advantage of some of the yard games that were available for guests to use.
There were also tiki huts, grills and fire pits for bonfires on property that guests could use and Ryan and I agreed that a trip to the inn with a group of our friends would be so fun. Coming in from a day at the beach to sip drinks and grill outside by the tiki hut would be a blast!
Eventually our day in the sun caught up to us and we retreated to our room to sleep!
Kayaking and Stand Up Paddle Boarding
We didn’t sleep for too long and were up around 7:30 a.m. to take advantage of the kayaks and stand up paddle boards on site before the heat of the day set in.
We figured Sadie might be able to be still enough to come on a kayaking adventure with us, so I hopped in and Sadie jumped in with me before Ryan pushed us off the shore and started paddling.
Sadie served as our little captain and stayed at the front of the kayak, scoping out the little crabs on the beach. We tried to head out into more open waters, but the tide wasn’t high enough for our kayak to make it through, so we turned around and headed back.
Since we know Sadie well enough to know that she wouldn’t last one minute on a standup paddle board, we dropped her back off at our room before giving the paddle boards a go.
They were so much fun! I like stand up paddle boarding about 10 times more than kayaking. They require balance but not nearly as much balance as I anticipated and Ryan and I had a great time paddling out into the deeper waters where we saw manatees!!! It was so, so cool. We also saw a small gator, crabs and fish.
Ryan, Sadie and I all had a fabulous time during our fun, dog friendly beach weekend!
Questions of the Morning
- Do you ever travel with your pet?
- Any recommendations for fun pet friendly hotels or restaurants?
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That is really funny that she’s only 38 lbs! She really does look MUCH bigger than that in all your pictures!! The dog friendly trip looks like so much fun! Our dog would be in heaven..or hiding in the shade somewhere bless her heart! Too bad Sadie isn’t going to be a pro surfer..you could really cash in!
I wish I could jump into this post, it looks so fun. Your dog rocks by the way!
This whole post is adorable! I want a dog so badly right now that I almost forgot how allergic I am!
I love Florida beaches! They’re always so warm!
I think you need to start an official Sadie fan club! She’s so adorable! We went to Tennessee with family during Christmas and my mother-in-law brought her dog and it was crazy. At some point we bought some really fancy jerky and I don’t know how she did it but she managed to find it and eat it.
Oh wow Julie, you are making me crave a trip to the beach like crazy!!! We have lakes here but it just isn’t the same. I’ve always wanted to learn how to surf, and SUP is definitely on my bucket list. Glad you guys had a great time!
It’s pretty awesome to see dog-friendly restaurants. They are pretty rare in NYC. Looks like fun!
Vacations with the pups are the best!! We are going to Bald Head Island soon, which is incredibly dog friendly. It makes it so much more enjoyable that we can bring Koda and let her run on the beach. It warms my heart to see her so happy.
So glad you enjoyed your stay! 🙂
That sounds like such a fun little trip! I’ve always wanted to try stand up paddle boarding! Sadie reminds me so much of my pup, most lake michigan beaches allow dogs before 9 AM and all day before memorial day/ after labor day so we take advantage and she absolutely loves the water!
Fun trip!! I think it’s cool that it was dog friendly 🙂
Looks like a fun weekend!!
I wish we had dog friendly restaurants here! That is so awesome and Sadie looked like she loved every second of it.
I’ve never travelled with my dogs but now I want to. What a fun trip!
So great- I loved this entire post, especially Sadie’s adventurer photos! Flagler Beach sounds incredibly dog friendly.
We also love to take our dog with us as often as possible. His favourites are Jasper National Park, Canada for the hiking and wild animals (but no dog friendly restaurants) and Cannon Beach, Oregon for the expansive beach running and dog-friendly cottages and restaurants.
I tried taking him on my SUP once and he wanted off immediately!
Your dog is awesome! I only travel with mine when we are going camping or to our lake house. Sadie seems like the perfect dog to take on vacation!
Love, love dog friendly places!! Cooper went to a dog beach in WA when we lived there & had a riot plus tired himself out! Glad Sadie was included in your stay!!
That looks amazing. Also looks like the three of you had a blast! Maybe my fiance, our two dogs and I can visit that Inn one day 🙂
Sadie!! How adorable is she on the surf board!
Posts like this make me really want a dog. Then I remember how much work they are. Maybe someday!
We travel w our pointer, Trapper whenever we drive somewhere! I like having him with us more than boarding him (although camp bow wow is great) we always stay at La Quintas, and while I wouldn’t call them fun per se, they are always pet friendly with no extra fees which is awesome and unusual. We just took him to New Orleans with us this past weekend and he spent a day at doggy camp and another day on the beaches at the gulf with us.
In March, my Mom & I flew down to Orlando with my Maltese, Berklee and drove over to Melbourne Beach, FL and stayed at the Seashell Suites Resort (http://www.seashellsuites.com/) I can’t say enough about how accommodating they were for us and our doggie. I’m already itching to go back… traveling with your pet is so fun!
I love the turquoise bracelet you are wearing at dinner. Is that a recent item? Looks like Sadie had lots of fun!
Fun! What do you call that lawn game: Corn Hole or Bean Bag Toss?
I love seeing these Sadie pics! So cute! Looks like y’all had fun!
I’ve never traveled with my dog, Riley, but she would love that beach! Flagler is 2.5/3 hrs from Tampa, so maybe a trip there is in our future! Sadie seems like a pretty awesome dog. I bet her and Ry girl would get along great! Dogs are the best 🙂
What a neat little town! It looks so cute. And I’m sure Sadie was eating up every minute, getting to be the center of attention. I’ve always wanted to try stand up paddle boarding. We’re headed to the beach at the end of the month, I’m excited to give it a try!
Sounds like so much fun! I remember it being difficult for my parents to find places that would let our dog stay, since we didn’t want to leave him behind. It’s so nice that they offer this!
I always travel with my dog whenever possible. He has been to my daughters soccer away tournaments, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Raleigh, Wilmington, Asheville, numerous little cities aroind Charlotte … He is a lab so he was not able to go Mami so he stayed behind. So any car trip we go on he is with us. I love having him around and he loves going away with us. One of the ,it’s funa and dog friendly places is Asheville. A beautiful city, beautiful people, great local food, amazing hikes and EXTREMELY dog friendly. Which I love! The only thing is that I have never been able to have Dante off leash at the beach like I see Sadie is …. he runs like crazy and he is not fond of the come command. 😉
My boyfriend and I live in Daytona and take our pups to Flagler quite often; we love being able to let the dogs run around on the beach! I’ve never been to Johnny D’s, but always see it busy when we drive by, so we’ll have to check it out next time. The Java Joint and High Tides are both dog friendly, quite yummy restaurants, if you’re ever back in the area!
I’ve never traveled with my dogs but its so nice to hear that hotels/inns, restaurants, etc. are making it feasible and helping to accommodate for the pups!
SO cool that Sadie could be included! It looks like you had an absolute blast!!
Thanks for this blog. Its sounds like so much fun that we can travel with our pets.
I actually live in Palm Coast. I have 2 yorkies that adore running around on our beach. I never realized that most beaches DIDN’T allow dogs. I never though to take them kayaking with me. I think I’ll give them a ride next time I go.