Carytown: Part 3: Vets

     There are lots of regular normal family vets all over the place just like there are all over America, but the thing that really makes Carytown stand out are the unique vets the area has.

An easy way to spot Helping Hands at any area festival are these hands.

      Helping Hands is one of the newer vets in the area (2 years that I know of).  Their entire way of thinking is how to make surgery for your pet affordable.  Too many times, Dr. Lori Pasternak and nurse Jacqueline Morasco saw people have to choose between surgery for their pet and food on the table for the kids.  HH does it's best to prevent "economic euthanasia" in this rocky economy.  Part of how this can be done is by providing surgery as out patient services and by volunteers that help the business run smoothly.  The medical staff is fully licensed, but pay attention the next time you're at your doctors office as to how many people do things that aren't the doctor that you see. (think: chart pulling, phone answering, showing you where to walk to get to your exam room, front desk workers, the cleaning staff)  Annie & Paul had their teeth cleaned here last summer and they did a fabulous job.  We had them  do blood work to make sure they'd be ok from the anesthesia, and everything went smoothly.  The nail trims were free (done while under anesthesia).  They are located next to the McDonalds in Carytown and have their prices (with medical terms and explanations)  on their website.

       Across the street from Helping Hands is Prevent a Litter (PAL).  They do not only spays and neutering, but they do the "normal" shots and tests as well for a really low prices!  I've met several people who take there pets there for their yearly check ups and shot updates and have heard only good things about them.  They do lots of fund raisers each year to help keep their costs low.  In the picture above, the sign is on the left side of the picture, but the white building on the right is Prevent a Litter.

     A block down from HH and PAL is the Veterinary Emergency and Surgery Center in Carytown.  They are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  Being an Emergency vet, they can run a bit more on the expensive side, but they are worth every penny when you're worried about your furiend.  They also provide cancer treatments and work with Fetch a Cure to help families get these needed services.  We have family friends who have used the services of VESC for their family dogs, "The biggest thing the VESC brought us was hope. When Cooper was diagnosed [with cancer] he was given 4-6 months. After losing Snowball [to cancer] last year, this was beyond devastating, we felt there was no hope.  When Dr. Fulmer sat down with us and outlined treatment options, we were suddenly given hope. Hope for more time; Hope for a year or perhaps two, or maybe even Cooper's natural lifespan. I still get beyond nervous for check ups, but Dr. Fulmer and the staff keep providing hope and treat our boy and us with love and care. We're almost 8 months post-diagnosis now.... we pray we will have years to come."

     We're also lucky to have Fetch a Cure in Richmond.  I spoke yesterday about the metal dog on the roof of Nacho Mama's.  Each year, one of the fund raisers that Fetch a Cure does is sell these metal dogs to different business around town to be decorated.  

Carytown: Part 2 Food (version 2.5)

     At the far end of Carytown, across the street from Martins is Montana Gold Bread Company.  Fresh baked bread is the name of the game each and every day from Challah to Ukrainian Black Bread to Cheddar Garlic.  To be honest, I have yet to find a bread here that I don't like.  They've got a very nice staff as well.  If you show up with pups early in the morning while the bread is baking, wait for a slow moment in the store, and they will come out to wait on you.  If you're there later in the day after the bread is baked and everything is covered, you can bring fido into Montana Gold with you.  Either way, the staff is supper nice and the food is yummy!  Oh, and they have a club card too!

A few blocks up from Montana is Nacho Mama's.  (In the picture, Nacho Mama's is on the right half of the duplex with the sunshine at the top of their roof)  They've got a front porch for dining there, or you can eat inside if you'd rather.  If you look closely at the photo, you'll also see a painted dog by the yellow window shutters on the 2nd floor.  There will be more about the painted dogs tomorrow.   Once again, I've never eaten here, but I know they support Fetch a Cure.  If you're ever in RVA, give them a shot and let me know how they are.

     Obviously, this isn't a store that I take Annie and Paul into.  Their minds would go nuts in about 2 seconds and I know I'd be charging down the street carrying one and dragging the other to the emergency vet soon after.  That's not how anyone wants to spend the day or several hundred dollars.  I've been inside of For the Love of Chocolate before and it's heavenly.  I'm not a huge fan of chocolate, but when I get in the mood for it, this is one of the few places that will satisfy my sweet tooth.  In the summer, they try to keep the energy bills low by asking customers to pay attention to the signs on the doors and only use 1 side of their double doors.  They are next door to:

Jean-Jacques Bakery! (both are in the same plaza as Can Can)  Once again, I can't take Annie and Paul into the bakery.  (There is fresh bread out all over the place).  But they have a set of chairs and tables outside all the time for dining alfresco with fido.  The shops around them are friendly to the pups (The lady who was setting up the outside display of Janet Brown came over, petted, and talked to A&P the day we took these pictures.)  I showed up at 7ish one Saturday morning back in the spring.  While I was talking to the woman at the counter about shouting in an order and having it brought to me, the owners wife came over and held the leashes for me so i could run in and do the order.  She said that they had 2 dogs at home and that she understood what it was like to try to walk 2 dogs at the same time.  (While A&P are about the same size, her pups have a huge difference (great dane and a little pup that I can't think of the name of)).
     Ok, that should wrap up the tour of food in Carytown.  Not everything is dog friendly, but for the most part, they know they have customers with dogs, so they try to be accommodating.    Tomorrow's post will wrap up the rest of Carytown with the vet stuff (and this is the place has a lot of vet stuff in it).

Wordless Wednesday on Monday: Carytown Pics

Ok, so Life kind of got in the way this weekend, and I didn't have the chance to write the blog post.  So  I'll do wordless Wednesday today, and I'll have a blog post that explains the pictures on Wednesday.  Friday will finish all of the Carytown stuff with the vet offices that are in Richmond (including the emergency vet and Helping Hands)

Carytown: Part 2: Food! (2.0)

     As I wrote about here, Carytown has lots of great food.  And I must admit, I love good and unique food.  Some of it is dog friendly and some of it isn't.  There are places that your pup is more than welcome, and there are other places that are defiantly for people only.

     Basilis I wrote about last Friday on our Lunch post.  It's not quite fast food, but it's good Greek food served fast (our gyro and spanakopita were out in less than 5 minutes).  You can eat indoors (not dog friendly, but air conditioned) or you can eat at one of their 2 out door tables placed just at the front of the restaurant (dog friendly option).  The staff was also very cool about Annie and Paul.  They just went on about their business of bringing out Greek food and didn't freek out at all when they encountered 2 big dogs at one of the tables.

     Carytown Bistro & Coffee House I wrote about briefly on Monday's post Carytown Part 1. I've never eaten there myself, but every time I walk past there's at least 1 pup on their patio just hanging out with his person.  They've got a bowl of water out by the opening from the patio into the sidewalk.  When I googled it, Yelp had good things to say about it.

     Mom's Siam is one of the Tai restaurants in Carytown.  It's got great food, alcohol if you'd like, patio seating, 2 floors inside, and a friendly wait staff.  But if you're thinking of bringing your pups along for lunch or dinner, think again.  This is one of those places you can't bring your dog onto the patio.  Even though it's at the far end of Carytown, there's still enough foot, bike, stroller traffic to distract fido while he's waiting on the sidewalk for you to eat.  Like I said, it's great food, just leave your pup at home.

Remember how a few weeks ago I wrote about being excited for Carytowns 2.5 bakeries?  They've expanded to 4.5 bakeries and I'm even more excited now when I go there!  Dixie Donuts is one of the expansions.  They've got great donuts and it's usually busy.  So if you're planning on eating there, make sure you go with 2 people (one to hold the pups, one to grab the donuts.)  They are just across the street from Mom's Siam and you can park in their parking lot.




EEEKKK!!! ok, I have 3 more places to write about for the food, so I'm only half way through.  So I hate to do this, but watch Monday for part 2.5 of Carytown food!

Carytown: Part 1 Pet friendly!

     Carytown is a small part of Richmond, VA that's pretty cool for dog walking.  Generally speaking, it's Cary Street from the intersection with Thompson to the Boulevard.  I took Annie and Paul there this morning for our morning walk and took lots of pictures.  I'm going to break this one down into a few parts because there's so much neat stuff there including pup friendly stores, food, and vet care.  Yesterday was the Watermelon Festival, so today Carytown's moving a bit slower than normal.

World of Mirth.  If only I could remove the tree just for
the picture.

     Fist up on today's tour is World of Mirth.  It's a toy store that reminds me a bit of KB toys.  They've got all sorts of stuff from legos, to unique board games, buttons, fun dress up clothes, and soo much more.  Some stuff reminds of toys from when I was little like Silly Putty.  But if you're looking for computer games or the latest video game, this isn't the store to try.  If you're looking for real games to play with, this is a great place!  They are very dog friendly.  I've walked in several times and Paul has done his typical stretch out onto the floor.  Most of the people who work there have walked over and started petting Paul as he slobbers on the floor.


     There are a few different places in Carytown that are dog friendly, but I haven't been inside of for one reason or another.  One of them is Heidi Story.  (View their Facebook page here.)  It seems to be a clothing boutique for women.  Walking past on our way from Jean and Jacques Bakery, I noticed their little sign in the window that reads, "We are very dog friendly!  Please feel free to bring your furry friend in!"  How can you resist an invitation like that?  They're in the corner between Smoothie King and Subway.

Chop Suey Books

     OK, while Chop Suey Books doesn't quite fit the bill as far as a normal dog friendly place.  Their resident cat, Wonton, is featured most Saturday's on their Caturday post on their Facebook page.  And last summer, they did a 24 hour cook out to raise funds for several different non profit organizations.  They included, Helping Hands (I'll write about them in a later post under vet care)  They set up a grill in front of the store and cooked for 24 hours straight.  (Paul and I went up at midnight for burgers just for something fun to do.  He chilled out on the sidewalk and got petted by lots of different drunk people.)  A good time was had by all!

     Because Annie and Paul are short haired they  get bathed in the bathtub at home.  It's a bit of craziness on our part.  As a result, we've never been inside of Dogma for any services.  I know they provide dog grooming and lots of different dog supplies.  And I've always heard good things about them and the way they treat both the people and the pups.  On Saturday mornings, they have a rescue group that uses the small fenced in patio for meat and great with their pups.  They were closed this morning when we walked past.

     Carytown Bistro & Coffee House is another place that I've never been inside of.  However, they are one of the few places that has a patio that I usually see dogs just hanging out on.  They also have a bowl of fresh water by the entrance to the patio so that any thirsty pooch on their way past can grab a drink.  They're open 7 days a week, but I think this morning they were recovering from the Watermelon festival craziness of yesterday.  

Anyone else out there from Richmond and have another pet friendly place in Carytown that I didn't mention?  What neat places do other people in other towns take their pets to?

Lunch Time

     On a typical day, the hubbs and I are over an hour away from each other for lunch time.  Between the after school clubs and evening classes, some nights dinner is a bowl of cereal  in front of our laptops.  So in the summer time, we make sure to eat together as often as possible.





     I'm kind of jealous when I read some blogs that have the family dogs tagging along on dinner out.  In Richmond, I'm not that lucky.  When we eat out, most places force you to eat on the patio (ok, not a problem) and leave your dogs off of the patio.  So Annie and Paul would have to stay on the sidewalk on the other side of the fence from the patio.  Which on one hand I understand, but on the other hand, that's a challenge for us. Strollers, bikers, and random
people just walking past can provide all sorts of distractions to good behavior.  Where if Annie and Paul could come onto the patio with us, we could go to a corner and keep they kind of corralled and out of harms way (and away from bugging other people).

More meat please!

     For the above reason, we opted for Basilis in Carytown.  This will sound absolutely weird, but with the Hubbs having grown up in Arizona on a rez where he'd eat mutton, Greek food is as close as he gets to home cooked food.  Between the gyros and the baklava, Basilis is one of our favorite places to eat.  While they don't have an outdoor patio per say, they've got 2 little tables outside that you can sit at.  We chose the one on the far left away from the entrance to the restaurant and away from any one else who'd want to sit outside and eat.  Because this isn't a food blog, I didn't take pictures of any of our food.  However, the gyro and the spanakopita were wonderful.
  After pouring some water into 2 bowls for the pups, Annie hung out with the Hubbs while eating small pieces of gyro meat.  Paul hung out over by me just stretched out on the sidewalk chilling out.  They stood quietly when other people walked past and even got petted by several children.

Spanakopita?  Can I have some of the meat instead?

     If you're ever in the Richmond, VA area and in the mood for Greek food, stop by.  It's a cute little diner with good food and good service!

(And in case you're wondering, we did share some of the meat from the gyro with Paul.  Onions were removed for both Annie and Paul.  I did try to share the spanakopita with Paul, but vegetables really aren't his thing.)