Travel To Maine With Your Dog This Spring

Are you experiencing the effects of cabin fever? The symptoms may include restlessness, irritation, and lack of motivation. Time hangs long in the last month of winter. Every time it snows again, it seems like a personal affront. The winter branches, bare, austere, covered in ice no longer seem beautiful or meaningful, only bleak. The ground is slippery, dangerous with layers of precipitation, frozen, thawed, and refrozen. Paths and parking lots are treacherous. Mounds of half brown snow get higher. Rock salt pools in the entryway. The cold has penetrated your bones. It seems like the earth will never again be green. This is the perfect time to plan a spring getaway. And Spruce Head, Maine is the ideal destination. 

Take a vacation from your everyday life. Book a room at The Craignair Inn by the Sea. And while you’re at it, bring the family’s best friend! Don’t leave the pup behind with a pet sitter or at the doggy daycare. Bring your dog along, because The Craignair Inn is beyond pet-friendly. The Craignair Inn welcomes dogs of all shapes and sizes. The Craignair is the place in MidCoast Maine to travel with pups. The Vestry, our annex building with shared decks and ocean views, provides the most comfortable stay for the whole family. The innkeepers will set you up with a dog basket full of treats, dishes, blankets, and waste baggies. This hotel is packed with amenities for pets and their people. Let Lauren and Greg, and their vizlas, Ruby and Gertie host you for an exceptional spring break. 

After you check in at 3 pm, settle into your guest room in The Vestry, unpack the car, and get the lay of the land, stretch your legs with a walk in Clark Island. Clark Island is managed by the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, and is a preserve of more than 3 miles. The trails of Clark Island include the West Loop, East Loop, and Quarry Loop. The trails are well-maintained in all seasons, though they are both rocky and rooty. Proper footwear is recommended. After you cross the causeway, and follow the signs around the one residential property, well-behaved dogs may be let of their leashes. It is a wonderful opportunity for dogs to run free. Be sure to check out the shoreline and the salt water quarry.

After being cooped up in the car on a long drive to get to Maine, after many months of winter trapped inside the house, after the cold, wind, rain, snow, sleet, and other elements, a brisk, invigorating hike on Clark Island is the best cure for what ails you. Your dog will be grateful to be able to run through the fields and by the ocean. There are lots of places to pause and sniff marine life and roll around in the mud and muck. That’s for your dog, of course. People will love the views of the romantic sea, and the islands in the distance.Bring a frisbee, or bring a book; find a place to have a cup of tea.

Return to the mainland and pop by the Causeway Restaurant at The Craignair Inn by the Sea. The Causeway is open year-round, with an Oceanfront Deck where dogs are welcome. The deck has water dishes and food bowls, doggie beds, and lots of friendly people. When you are a guest of the inn, a hot, vegetarian breakfast is served every day of your stay, between 8 am and 9 am. The kitchen cooks up eggs, grits, biscuits, and oatmeal, served with fruit, yogut, and orange juice, as well as Rick City Coffee, a special blend, brewed just for us and named for the innkeepers’ dogs. Dogs are invited down to dinner, too. The Oceanfront deck works in all seasons, as there are heaters and blankets when it is chilly.

We recommend taking your dog on a day trip into the charming nearby downtowns. Both Rockland, Maine, and Camden, Maine are extremely pet-friendly communities. Walking down Main Street on a bright spring day with your dog on a leash, enjoying the sights and smells of a seaside art enclave is an experience you will not soon forget. A highlight on Rockland’s Main Street for dog enthusiasts is the Loyal Biscuit Co. This shop carries food, toys, and accessories to treat your pup, or pick up anything you may have forgotten at home. They even have a self-serve dog wash.

When you’ve seen everything in town, take to the trails around the MidCoast. Visit the dog park in Snow Marine Park in Rockland. Check out Owl’s Head Lighthouse and Lucia Beach. Walk the Rockland board walk and follow the steps down to Sandy Beach. You will enounter friendly folks and other pets who want to chat and play. There is simply no reason to leave your pup in the room or at home. You will have peace of mind knowing your dog is with you, and that they are living their best life. We know that you all will feel alive again after just a few days getaway on the coast of Maine.

The Criagnair Inn by the Sea and The Causeway Restaurant at Clark Island is soon to become your family’s favorite destination in every season. Spring is especially sweet, because the new life budding all around is so fresh and green, and after a long winter of being indoors, of not feeling the sun on your skin, of early sunsets and dark evenings, you will relish the weather, the wind, even the fresh spring rain. Spring in Maine feels like renewal. You are going to want to book now. Make your reservation for a fabulous seaside Maine experience with your dog.