Dog Day at the Beach

Yesterday Meghan and I took a 20-minute ride south of Long Beach to Huntington Beach where there's a special stretch devoted just to dogs and their owners.  It was amazing, really.  I've never seen so many dogs in one place, and they all got along beautifully.  There were dogs of every breed and many mixes, and all were so well-behaved!  Calvin (Chocolate Lab) and Apple (little Black Lab mix) were so happy to be there.

We had stopped at Whole Foods to pick up a couple of sandwiches and root beers to go, and were ready for our ocean-side picnic on a quilt that was once Meghan's blanket as a child.  To see it completely worn and battered made me smile.  It has been well-loved and now it is her beach blanket.  Its nautical stars on a navy-blue background somehow seemed fitting as we had lunch on the sandy beach.

Sunday proved to be a very popular day at the dog beach, and Calvin and Apple knew we were near before we even arrived.  We had to wait in line to park, and once out of the car, Calvin pulled Meghan in energetic enthusiasm to get down to the water.  We climbed down a rocky path and settled ourselves in a cove where the rising tide made it obvious we had to move or we'd be stuck in there on the rocks!  Further down the beach we found a wide-open space with lots of people and dogs.  Meghan had a "Chuck It," one of those tennis-ball-flinging wands that send the ball a good distance out into the ocean.  Calvin spent the entire two hours there retrieving his ball, often flipping over in the waves and searching in the foam for his ball.  Apple was happy to play defense but never actually went into the waves to get the ball.  She's nine now and is happy with a little less exertion. 

We had a really great day.  Before the beach excursion, Meghan and I walked all around downtown Long Beach, going in and out of shops and just having fun seeing the sights.  She said she hadn't yet discovered so much of Long Beach, and it was good to take a walking tour of her new town.  She and Mark moved here just before the new year.

We ended the day with a barbeque of grilled shimp kabobs (with red peppers, fresh pineapple, baby red onions, and grape tomatoes), a confetti rice and broccoli.  We had dinner out on the courtyard.  Love it.

Mark and I are off to see the Queen Mary while Meghan is working the lunch shift at Parker's Lighthouse.  It's going to be another beautiful day in Long Beach.