Gearhart, OR

Pacific Way Bakery

This charming bakery is located in the "heart" of Gearhart. It is bustling with customers all morning long, with freshly home-made pastries, espresso, and hot out of the oven bread! As you can see from these photos, you cannot go wrong with anything you order. The "veggie pizza tart" was to die for. I could eat one every morning. But they are only open Saturdays & Sundays!

Right next door, you will find Pacific Way Cafe. Open for lunch and dinner, this restaurant

offers delicious meals and reasonable prices. Lunch sandwiches are around $9, a large Pacific Way Combo Pizza is $27 (homemade dough of course!), and dinner entrees range from $9-$29 depending if you want their Cod Fish and Chips or their Halibut Parmesan. Keep in mind they are closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

Fitzgerald's

This is probably my favorite store. Ever. Take a close look at these photos. They have awesome furniture, artwork, mirrors, decor, blankets, pillows, etc. The front half of the store is owned by Fitzgerald's, while the back half is owned by Manor: Fine Ware, Curious Goods. Manor's main location is on NW 23rd in Portland.

The GEARHART GROCERY STORE is quaint but has everything you'll need on a vacation at the Oregon Coast. Be sure to try their freshly made salads back by the deli. My favorites have been their shrimp pasta salad, broccoli salad, black bean and corn salad, but these change on a daily basis. Their sandwiches are awesome! Perfect to take along on a picnic. Try "Dave's" bread, it's healthy and out of this world!

Poppa Al's Sweet Shop

You MUST try their scones. $3 each. Made batch by batch every morning, sometimes you arrive when the new batch is FRESH out of the oven. It comes with raspberry jam or blackberry jam and they absolutely melt in your mouth. People are lined up every morning to get their daily dose of these amazing buttery, flakey, chewy scones. I don't even like scones! But these are heavenly.

They also have Tillamook ice cream, taffy, other sweets, and ESPRESSO. In fact, the owner's son has won severalcappuccino-making competitions.

Dog-Friendly Getaway to Santa Barbara, CA

My husband and I took our golden retriever puppy to Santa Barbara for the night and had a blast. Here are thebest places we found to eat,stay,and play that are all PET-FRIENDLY.....
1. Ate lunch at Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro. The wait staff was very sweet and brought Finley a dog-dish of water and 4 strips of bacon! I ordered the Chicken Salad Sandwich and it was amazing! It had a kick of spice and was stuffed in a warm pita. They brought out bread and butter before the meal which is also a nice touch.

2. Played at Butterfly Beach. This beach is located right by the Four Seasons Resort. It was beautiful and quaint. There were no sand bugs, minimal seaweed, and white sand. Finley had a blast! Bring water and snacks, there are no restrooms or parking. You have to park on the street, but we had no problem on a Friday afternoon.

3. Lodged at Casa Del Mar. This was an awesome hotel that was very cute. It had everything that we needed. It was very clean (which I was worried about being a pet-firendly place), had modern and new furnishings, served a nice continental breakfast (bagels, fruit, cereals, croissants, coffee, juices, etc) AND a wine/cheese hour from 5-7pm! It was located right off of State Street off the beaten path but still walking distance to restaurants.

4. Ate dinner at the Union Ale Brewing Company. We walked there from our hotel and they let us sit on the patio with Finley. The manager was very friendly who gave us many ideas for pet-friendly places. They serve an extensive happy hour menu, with many beer selections, most notably, Mirror Pond Pale Ale from the Deschutes Brewery, my husband's fave. We shared a 14" vegetable pizza, wheat crust for $7! It was delicious!

5. Took an early morning walk. We went about 2 miles down the strand (Cabrillo Blvd.) that borders the beach. Dogs are allowed on the sidewalk, not on this beach.

6. Ate breakfast at Sambo's. They allow dogs to sit on the patio right at the table. They brought a to-go box for Finley's water because they are not allowed to use dishes that people eat out of. I thought that was probably a good idea. They serve mini muffins to your table,

chocolate chip & blueberry. We shared the Santa Barbara Omelette, that had avocado, bacon, cheddar, sour cream and salsa, served with toast or pancakes, and hashbrowns or potatoes. YUM! (FYI: We were also told that the Mesa Cafe was a great, super dog-friendly breakfast spot and on the way to the Douglas Reserve.)

7. Played at Arroyo Burro Beach, the Douglas Reserve. There was a steep staircase leading down to a beach filled with rocks, tide-pools, runners, and dogs. The waves are fairly mild here and we walked down and back. Beautiful scenery and fun for the dog as well! Bring your camera!