My Marathon Weekend: Part 1

As you know, I have been in serious marathon training mode. I have trained to be the perfect spectator, and I have trained for the post-marathon celebration. I am happy to report that all of my intense training paid off when I joined my humans in the Crescent City last weekend to help my human daddy run the Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon. We loaded my chariot and set off on our big adventure early Friday afternoon. I wish I could tell you a little about the drive, but I’m afraid I can’t because I tend to get slightly sleepy on road trips. That’s why I leave the driving to my humans.

It seemed as if I had just drifted off when suddenly we reached our destination. Look at me in the hotel room: in New Orleans less that 20 minutes and I already have voodoo eyes. We stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn New Orleans Downtown. They are super pet friendly. It turns out that they are also human friendly. When the nice lady at the reception desk found out my daddy would be running in the marathon Sunday morning, she put us in a quiet courtyard room so my daddy could get a good night’s sleep before the big day. I love it when people treat my humans well!

The hotel is in an area of New Orleans called the Warehouse District, which is home to lots of restaurants, bars, and loft living. Our first stop, Ernst Cafe, was established in 1902 and welcomes pups like me.

My humans enjoyed an appetizer and I had a little taste of the NOLA Blonde Ale. Doesn’t that just seem like a perfect beverage for a Golden Retriever? By this time, I was feeling extremely comfortable in my new surroundings. My humans explained to me that they would be going out that evening to grab a quick dinner and watch the New Orleans Hornets play a basketball game. I would be home alone in the hotel room for a little while.

PARTY!! Home alone for the evening in a nice hotel room with a nice bed all to myself? What’s not to like about that? Actually, I was a very good girl. I stayed in my new travel crate, because those are the house rules, and I was very, very quiet. If you must know the truth, I actually welcomed the time to myself for a little rest and relaxation because I knew that the next two days would be action packed.

After a night of really loud thunderstorms (I slept through it all, but my humans apparently heard everything), we jumped into my chariot Saturday morning for a short drive to the Garden District, a beautiful area of New Orleans and home to Cafe Freret. I perused the A La Collar Menu and settled on the Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits . . .

 . . . which I thoroughly enjoyed as my humans ate their brunch. We had planned on a nice walk in nearby Audubon Park, but unfortunately the thunder and rain returned just as we were finishing our lovely meal. So we stopped to visit with a couple of other dogs who had accompanied their humans to brunch and then quickly hopped into my chariot for a drizzly ride back to the hotel.

They say every cloud has a silver lining. In this case that silver lining was a much-deserved afternoon nap as the raindrops fell outside.

After my nap, feeling completely refreshed and ready for a big night on the town, I joined my humans at Herbsaint Bar and Restaurant for an early dinner. Herbsaint is one of those odd restaurants that only has a menu for humans, but they are happy to seat dogs outside and they are generous with their containers of water. I think dining outside at Herbsaint is fascinating because I get to watch the St. Charles Avenue streetcar rumble up the street ever so often. My humans really seemed to enjoy their meal; they all but ignored me and I had a nice rest under the table.When we got up to leave, the man at the table next to us said, “Oh, I had no idea there was a dog over there.” That’s what my humans like to hear!

As we made our way back to the hotel, we walked by an establishment called The District. We had passed this place several times over the last couple of days, and each time I had pulled in a very uncharacteristic manner to go into its open doors. My humans were under the impression that I would not be allowed inside, so they had discouraged me each time. This time my human mommy suggested that my daddy ask the bartender if I might just walk in for a second to get this desire out of my system. That’s when the bartender informed my humans that I was more than welcome in The District. Obviously . . . I knew this all along. Once inside, I had a grand time meeting and greeting so many nice people. As much fun as my humans and I were having, though, we knew that we needed to call it an early night and get a little rest before the big marathon. Little did I know what fun awaited me the next day.

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