Jasmine does Asheville NC
A beautiful city, great healthy food, wonderful dog friendly atmosphere, just a perfect setting for our three day weeeknd. And that is what it was.
While we were packing, Jasmine became really concerned as she sat by the back door and watched us haul her crate out of the sun room. What thoughts might have been going through her little head. But when she saw it in the back of the car, she knew she was part of the family trip, wherever that might be.
Asheville is a wonderfully friendly city as much to dogs as to people. We stayed in a delightful dog friendly bed and breakfast in the downtown area. Jasmine soon found that we positioned her crate intact and with her favorite toys in the living area next to the kitchen.
Saturday morning, we left Jasmine in her crate while we went to breakfast. Our plan was to scout out the downtown area to see where we could and could not take her. To our pleasant surprise, she was welcome in almost all stores, and at outside areas of some restaurants. We went back to the B&B and found Jasmine half awake waiting for us to take her for a morning walk. Little did she know the walk she was about to have.
The three of us left the B&B around 11:30 for a walk downtown. Jasmine soon found absolutely nothing familiar, and about went into overload with all the new sites and smells. We always carry DoggieBags with us when Jasmine is on a long walk, and again, she made use glad we did. We passed several people, kids, strollers, and other dogs along the way, and Jasmine was quite the lady through it all. I wanted to go into Tops shoe store, and wasn’t sure what their policy was, so I asked if dogs were permitted. “Sure, bring her in”, was the response, so we did exactly that. It was like we were at the in-laws with a newborn baby, “Oh, isn’t she adorable”, “Can she have a treat?”, “Let me pet you little girl..”, and even more. She was certainly the center of attention, and loving it. I browsed the mens department, and jasmine just curled up on the carpet by my chair enjoying the air conditioning. The store clerks and other patrons moved around without any concern that there was a dog laying there. I tried on and purchased a very nice pare of shoes and we moved on.
In and out of a number of other stores we went, and in each instance, store clerks and patrons alike were very friendly, and unconcerned by a dog in their presence. Asheville is known for it’s abundance of healthy restaurants featuring locally grown produce and herbs. Since Jasmine was with us, we stopped at The Green Sage restaurant and coffee house where dogs can accompany their owners in the outside “picnic” area. There menu consists of a variety of selections ranging from sausage and eggs to totally Vegan entres. The restaurant is also very sustainable making “greeen” more than part of it’s name. We sat outside with Jasmine laying at our feet. She was distracted a couple times by motorcycles in the street traffic, but overall did very well. We noticed that while laying next to us outside, she had actually mentally transformed the area into her “den” and was very protective of anyone coming really close. Dog instincts are strong and can be very interesting.
We completed our walk with a stop at the Battery Park Book Exchange where Jasmine found a very friendly store owner who also had a rescue dog, and loved to pass out doggie bacon snacks. But the look on her face showed that we were soon approaching the bewitching hour when fun would turn to Grrr’s, so we decided to head back to the B&B. Debbie had said that dogs and 2 year old children are alike in a lot of ways, and getting tired is certainly one. But it was approaching 2:00pm, we had been out walking for over 2 1/2 hours, so it was time. Jasmine was really quite a lady through most of it, and we all certainly enjoyed the great dog friendly hospitality of Asheville. It is certainly a place where you can go Waggin’ Delightfully.
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