Please let me come back as a dog that lives in Carmel.
I just got back from a most wonderful mini-trip to see a friend (if you read this blog from day one you would remember my mention of Candie from vet school) who is now an emergency vet up in Northern California. She mentioned that she has been to Carmel a few times and suggested we go grab dinner there one night and try to spot Clint Eastwood.
While I didn’t see Dirty Harry, I spotted a good 50 dogs in a one block radius- in and out of stores, wandering into cafes and boutiques, and generally living the good life. Doris Day owns a hotel up here- dog friendly, of course- and several of the restaurants not only welcome dogs, they have special menu items for them. Dogs in Carmel live better than my human kids. People up there probably spend more on them, too. 
I haven’t ever really entertained the idea of vacationing with my pets, mostly because I don’t think big hairy Goldens are received the same way as, say, a Yorkie in a Gucci bag, but being up there made me think that maybe it can be done. I know pets are generally accepted more readily in Europe, but here in California seeing them out and about to this extent was a real rarity.
Anyone here ever vacation with their pet? How hard was it to be accomodated? Would you do it again?