12 Legs Travel

I like Phoenix. I like its grit. Same reason I like great cities like Milwaukee, Chicago and San Francisco. I want some diversity, some authenticity, some signs of aging.

The only grit I found in Carmel-by-the-Sea was the puddle of coastal sand collecting in our car’s floorboard. This town is one of the cleanest, meticulously maintained cities I’ve ever been in. And the only thing that seems to be aging is its populace — the median age is 54.

Carmel-by-the-Sea is beautiful and charming, but it seems a little self conscious about just how beautiful and charming it is. I guess this vibe is to be expected from a city that feels the need to add a hyphenated prepositional phrase to its name. Carmel-by-the-Sea. Did former mayor Clint Eastwood approve of this?

Being a Californian who grew up near dairy farms and cotton fields instead of the coast, maybe I’m just a little bitter. But what makes Carmel different from other upscale California beach towns is not its hyphens; it’s the city’s absolute devotion to dogs. And I mean all dogs — not just ones that fit inside Louis Vuitton bags.

Scott and I probably aren’t the kind of dog-loving guests the Carmel tourism board prefers. Unable to afford a hotel by the sea, we camped at a Veteran’s Memorial Park in neighboring Monterey. Unable to afford lunch by the sea, we picnicked on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But one thing in Carmel is free, and we drove 5.3 miles from Monterey every day to enjoy it: Carmel City Beach.

At nearly any time of day, Carmel City Beach is full of off-leash dogs. They play in the sand, fetch sticks in the ocean and trot along the surf. This beach is all about dogs, and I’ve never seen so many dogs so happy.

Carmel City Beach is a great example of how responsible dog owners and a committed city can maintain a clean beach that is fun for dogs and dog owners alike. And this is not just any beach — it’s extraordinarily beautiful. The northward shoreline parallels Pebble Beach Golf Links and affords a view of the course’s much-photographed Lone Cypress Tree. If only managers of other California beaches, many of which don’t allow dogs at all, were as dedicated as Carmel’s city fathers.

This was Jack and Isabel’s first (legal) taste of off-leash beach life, and they loved it. But it would be a stretch to say they fit right in. Carmel City Beach is the ultimate dog pageant. Awards could be handed out for best coat, most fit and longest swim into the ocean for a stick. If, like me, you are fascinated by pure-breed dogs, then this is the place to see the best of them — Great Pyrenees, Bernese Mountain Dogs, German Shorthairs, Basenjis and more. Introducing our mutts into such a blue-blood playground was a bit like taking shoeless bumpkins to a private school. I was worried Jack and Isabel might develop a complex, but they were recklessly oblivious. Isabel chased sticks into the sea while Jack chased toy poodles along the shore.

At one point, Jack climbed the steep inland bank and squatted above the green, grassy rough along a Pebble Beach fairway. Scott now can forever say he picked up dog poop on one of America’s greatest golf courses.

Tired dogs are well-behaved dogs, which made it possible for us to peacefully relax at one of Carmel’s many dog-friendly, outdoor patios after our first visit to the beach. We chose Cypress Inn.

Owned by Doris Day and located a few blocks from the beach, Cypress Inn is not only pet-friendly — its patio provides an area to rinse off your dogs after a day of playing in the sand. The Garden Courtyard is a great place to nosh on a cheese platter and have a cocktail while the dogs relax by the outdoor fire. We even caught a glimpse of a Cocker Spaniel joining its owner for dinner inside the restaurant.

Downtown Carmel is doggie heaven. Owners walk their dogs, sip coffee with their dogs, shop for their dogs. The Forge in the Forest is one of several restaurants with a special menu for dogs, offering kibble, hamburgers, chicken strips or a $13 New York steak.

There are nearly 50 eating and drinking establishments in Carmel that are dog-friendly — that is, if your dogs don’t act like jerks.  Dog boutiques cater to extreme dog lovers with specialty items such as gingham puppy harnesses ($34) and angora sweaters ($56). You can also find the latest Ed Hardy gear for your four-legged friend. But you won’t catch Jack or Isabel wearing a sweater, much less a hoodie with a panther and koi fish bedazzled on the back.

For all of Carmel’s fuss over gourmet dog menus, boutiques and day spas — including massage and color-therapy services — it’s the off-leash beach that makes the city such a dog lover’s dream. You could spend a small fortune making your dog look good, but nothing compares to watching your filthy mongrel, pink tongue flapping and chin bearded in slobber, sprint through surf and bound over driftwood in an effort to catch some poor woman’s white poodle.

That kind of joy can’t be bought, by the sea or anywhere else.

— Jill