Izzy, my friend Melissa and I took a 16-hour road trip to Myrtle Beach, SC last week! We drove from Chicago to attend the pet blogging conference, BlogPaws. Izzy has traveled to many states in her life but anytime I can find a way to travel with her more I jump at the opportunity. Since the conference is pet-friendly, I had to take her! Izzy has now added Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina to her list of places she’s visited.
We started our adventure about five hours outside of Chicago in Louisville, KY. We stopped to get some BBQ at the dog-friendly Feast BBQ (also has veg options) and we sat outside with Izzy on their patio. We then walked over to grab a coffee at Please & Thank You which also has some dog-friendly seating out front. We roamed the East Market St. area for a bit snapping photos but Louisville is HOT! We hopped back into the air conditioned car to go to the park overlooking the Ohio River. We got back on the road after walking the park and headed to Knoxville to stay the night. We didn’t stop anywhere that night in Knoxville, just headed to bed at the hotel, got up early the next day and on the road to see the Smoky Mountains.
That night we arrived at Myrtle Beach, checked into the hotel and ate dinner overlooking the ocean! Izzy joined us at the restaurant, Pier 14, and even tried some salmon ;). We went to bed early that night because we had to be up early for the conference. We attended the conference all day and hope to have photos to share from the sessions we attended.
In between conference sessions we took Izzy to play in the ocean for the first time. This is something I’ve wanted to do with her for the longest time because she loves water and swimming. She barrelled down to the beach and ran right into the water. She didn’t get to do a ton of swimming because of the recent shark sightings in knee deep water at the beach. We did walk around in the ocean on the sandbars and she got her first taste of saltwater – she was definitely confused by it!
Here are some photos from the conference I took on my cell phone! It was awesome to learn from, and connect with fellow pet bloggers. I also met some awesome holistic brands I can’t wait to share more about soon.
Sunday after the conference we got up super early and embarked on a one-day, 16-hour drive back to Chicago. Since we didn’t get to stop in Knoxville and see the area we made that our halfway point in the trip. We went downtown to the historic Market Square and ate at the dog-friendly and delicious southern restaurant, Tupelo Honey. We walked around the square which was buzzing with families and a ton of other pet parents with their dogs.
Xox,
Alicia