Friday, January 9, 2015

Dog Walk Through Hugh Taylor Birch State Park

We're back in Atlanta after a fun week in Fort Lauderdale, and now we're missing the warm ocean breezes.

While we were in Florida, we took full advantage of the beautiful weather and had lots of fun exploring new places for dog walks. 

One of the first days we were there we set out to explore Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, located between the beach and the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale at Sunrise Blvd.



But before we headed to the park, we stopped for some sustenance at a dog friendly boulangerie. It was almost like being in Paris!


The even let us come inside with Rocco as long as I carried him.


Outside there was plenty of dog friendly seating as well as this gentleman who offered to pose his dogs when he saw I was trying to get a photo of the front of the cafe. Have you ever tried for the candid shot but folks just can't resist posing their pups! heehee!

After some refreshment, we walked over the causeway to the entrance of the park. There we found plenty of tropical walking trails...


... as well as some interesting wildlife.


We looked closely and spotted this Gopher Tortoise.


He even has his own crossing!


Then we headed down a path to the Intracoastal where we enjoyed the view.


There were plenty of logs for Rocco to practice balancing...


And big trees with perfect perching spots!


On the way home, we ran into another surprise.


These two peahens -- also known as female peacocks -- were strolling through the neighborhood park! You never know what you might see when you find a new place to walk!

One of the best things about traveling with dogs is finding new places to walk and explore. Have you found a new walking spot recently? Next week we'll share Rocco's first time experiencing the Florida beaches!

The fun and games continue every Friday with FitDog Friday, the weekly Blog Hop brought to you by To Dog With LoveSlimDoggy and My GBGV Life to promote a healthy active lifestyle for pets (and their people, too!). Join in every Friday by linking up your FitDog story or visiting the blogs in the Hop.

26 comments:

  1. Looks fun and warm! Fort Myers is not dog friendly at all, 99% of the parks and trails say No Dogs Allowed, so we don't get to do much exploring besides our neighborhood when we are down there. Glad your area was better.

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    1. Oh, that's too bad! We found a few signs like that too, but there were certainly enough dog friendly areas to keep us busy! We miss the warm!

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  2. Thanks for sharing such pretty, warm-looking pictures with us! It's 17 degrees here this morning, so we're living vicariously through your pictures today! It wasn't very dog-friendly where we were in Alabama over the holidays, but we did get to hike to a little waterfall on Christmas day.

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    1. We have some nice waterfalls in North Georgia too. Glad you got to at least get out with dogs a little bit!

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  3. You were in Fort Lauderdale and you did NOT let us know?!? Hello, we live right here and we could've met up with you and Rocco. Dear dog... Hugh Taylor Birch State Park is a nice park during the day where you can see a good amount of wildlife right smack-dab in the middle of the city. At night, that park comes ALIVE with some of the biggest and most brazen raccoons on the planet! BOL Next time...let us know you are in town!
    Oz

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    1. OMD!!!! I didn't realize you were there. I guess I did know you were in Florida somewhere! Ohhh, we would have had some fun. Next time for sure! *knocking myself in the head* hehe!

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  4. Looks like a fun outing - never heard of gopher tortoises...we have gophers here, but not tortoises.

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  5. I love your trail pictures! The pups have not been to Florida yet, but we are SO planning on taking them there!

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    1. It was so nice, and so warm! I'm wishing for that warm weather now!

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  6. I'm glad you enjoyed our home state! The tortoise was so cute!

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    1. He was a big one! We had such a nice time and enjoyed the great weather, too!

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  7. Hi Y'all!

    Oh so many places that have great wildlife do not allow dogs on the trails. My Humans find that no fun at all!

    Y'all come on by now,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

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    1. We agree, that's too bad! Rocco enjoyed some lizard chasing in Florida too!

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  8. What a cool walk Rocco! That tortoise was really cool but I would have had to chase the peahens. Things are pretty boring here right now. Love Dolly

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  9. What a neat walk! Our wildlife here isn't quite as exciting although Mr. N does love chasing rabbits.

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    1. Oh, we don't have any rabbits but I bet Rocco would like to chase those too. He saw his first lizards in Florida and loved chasing them!

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  10. What a great adventure, thanks for sharing it with us, I would love to be some place warm right now.

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    1. We'd like to be someplace warm now too! We're back in Atlanta and it's freezing!

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  11. That looks like a great park. Very cool to see wildlife that wasn't a gator. :)

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  12. The woods are a great area exercise for canines. It makes them sharpen their senses.

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