[nagdu] Our trip to the shore

[Bryan Jones]

Thank you for posting this, Tracy. I’ve been wondering for a few years what it might be like to go to the shore with my dog. I’m a Cape May, Avalon & Ocean City lover myself, and a few weeks ago a friend asked out-of-the-blue if I’d be interested in making a trip to Ocean City.

We made it a day-trip and my TSE dog Marqi was, as usual, a rock star throughout the day..

We parked near the 9th Street entrance and Marqi pulled like a 50 pound freight train as we climbed the ramp onto the boardwalk. I am wondering if perhaps her Puppy-raiser family spent time with her on the boards as she seemed right at home. We walked south and Marqi was über focussed, avoiding bicyclists, benches, flocks of seagulls, joggers,etc while still keeping us pinned to the left edge of the boards. On our way south we stopped at my favorite pizza shop and, as always, answered many guide dog related queries as Marqi lay tucked under the table of our booth.

After pizza we continued south to the end of the boards, which if I recall is 26th Street, and exited onto the street, where we took a doggie bathroom and water break before heading onto the sand. This section of the beach seems to have been largely replenished post-hurricane Sandy. As we slowly got closer to the crashing waves Marqi did her thing where she puts herself between me and possible trouble and gently steers me away. She also does this around campfires and those large inflatable holiday ornaments some folks put on their lawns around Halloween and Christmas.

We waited for another dog to pass by and then I let Marqi off her harness. My concerns about a possible “Marley moment” were unfounded as Marqi stayed clear of the water and spent most of her time just sniffing things. We had brought along a squeaky toy but she gave it no attention. My friend took Marqi for a quick run up and down this section of the beach and then we headed back up onto the boards. On our trip North we stopped into a coffee shop, a fudge bakery, and an arcade for some skee-ball.

Throughout the day there were many questions and conversations about Marqi, many exclamations of how well-behaved and beautiful she is, and absolutely zero access issues anywhere. I should also note that the day was cool and cloudy, which meant no worries about hot sand or boards affecting Marqi’s paws and no hot sun possibly overheating her. If the day had been hot, I think I might have postponed our trip, but I tend to avoid the shore during the warmer months anyway. Now I am looking forward to more visits back to OC, Cape May and other shore towns.

Cheers,
Bryan

On Sep 22, 2013, at 11:16 AM, Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net> wrote:

> My husband and I just got back from a trip to the Jersey Shore, Cape May, to be exact, way at the other end of Jersey.  We hadn't been to the beach in years, and we had a great time.  We are both blind, but the Sendero GPS worked well at letting us know where we were and which way to head.  That, and asking people for directions.  We did a lot of walking, and Ben is glad to be home, getting some rest before I have to go into the office tomorrow.
> At first, Ben seemed to like the beach.  We walked along the wet sand, and he kept angling towards the ocean.  So I took off my socks and shoes, and Ben's harness, and we went down by the water.  I thought that, when he got his feet wet, he'd want to jump back, but he wanted to go into the waves instead.  I didn't let him though--they seemed pretty fast and strong to me.
> But, after a day or so, Ben stopped wanting to go to the beach.  I'd try to get him to turn into the entrance, and he'd say there was a wall there, and we couldn't possibly go that way.  I had to be very stern with him.  I don't know if he didn't like the sand on his paws, or if he just thought it was real boring, hanging out on the sand. It wasn't hot, so that wasn't it.
> But we had a great time, and no access problems of any kind.We went shopping in the mall, wandering into shops that sounded or smelled interesting.  We were walking past a bar one night after dinner, and heard a fine musician, so stopped to have a beer and listen.  We took a trolley tour and a walking tour, or just strolled around, or hung out on the beach.
> Anyway, that was our little vacation adventure.
> Tracy