A Dog-Friendly Stay by the Cambria Shore

We just returned from a short but restful weekend away with Adam’s mom and stepdad, our beloved dog Toby in tow.

We made our home at the very dog-friendly Cambria Shores Inn on Moonstone Beach in Cambria, California, perched beside a meandering boardwalk and the roiling Pacific. We got great suggestions for outdoor dining, ran pell-mell on a wide swath of blustery beach, and reconnected with our itinerant loved ones.

Added bonus to this weekend? No need for yet another dog sitter.

Well sure, we still had to get a cat sitter…but Joey’s 14 now and spends a lot of time sleeping on the floor or cuddled in our laps. Getting a 6 year-old corgi to sleep is a whole other game of fetch, and a good reason to stay by the run-’em-down-to-a-nubbin seashore.

Cambria, a small, upscale artists’ community on the Central California Coast, is relatively in-between us in L.A. and my in-laws in Oakland. Almost 10 years ago, we had a lovely weekend with my own parents on the east side of Cambria, up the pastoral Santa Rosa Road at the vintage, family-owned McCall Farm Bed & Breakfast. Since then, we’ve always wanted to try out the west side, along popular Moonstone Beach Drive; when I found Cambria Shores was a dog-friendly inn, it was a done deal.

But know that it’s not cheap. In summer, their rates run about $200 a night, plus the (spanking) new 11% California room tax. Each dog will cost an additional $15 per night.

A family-owned motel at heart, Cambria Shores has been tricked out with soft linens, flat screen TVs and gorgeous low-water landscaping, but both the rooms and parking lot are snuggled close together, and soundproofing has been sorely neglected. Only one room, #24, offers an ocean view.

However, you need only step outside to hear and feel the sea spray; cozy into some Adirondack garden chairs and point your faces to the wind.

All canine guests at Cambria Shores are provided with a feeding mat, bowls and a dog basket upon arrival; this contains a soft towel, dog-friendly travel magazine, clean-up bags and a flashlight. (There were supposed to be dog biscuits, too, but since Toby isn’t hurting for calories, I let it go.) The flashlight was especially helpful for one late night “business” trip out to the side yard.

In the same yard is a claw-foot outdoor bathtub with a spray hose, a godsend for a short-legged dog who loves to chase after a ball on the beach…but whose belly hovers just barely above the coarse, wet sand.

Human breakfast at Cambria Shores is delivered in a generous basket to a hook outside your door at 8am, but it’s no more than a bit of fruit, a few small, storebought pastries and from-concentrate orange juice. (We did appreciate our apple and banana later, for afternoon snacks.) Skip making coffee in your room; after 8am, more decent coffee with real creamer is available in the front office.

The closest restaurant, the Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill, is just a short walk away and has a big front patio and decent food, but doesn’t allow dogs due to prior bad acts. Instead, the front office at Cambria Shores provides a list of dog-friendly restaurants, all a three-minute drive away in downtown Cambria. We had delicious salmon salads and onion rings at Old Stone Station, and then some tasty Sunday morning omelettes at Creekside Gardens. For both meals, Toby sat at our feet and munched on a bone, happy as a clam.

Our one dinner sans chien, at the ironically-named Black Cat Bistro on Cambria’s Main Street, we opted to leave Toby in the breezy, early-evening parking lot while we enjoyed a beautifully arranged cheese plate, arugula salads with crunchy hazelnuts, and salmon drizzled with herbs and coconut milk. Cambria Shores would have arranged an evening dog sitter for us, but thankfully, it proved unnecessary.

At the inn, there’s always a cluster of couples out visiting in the front gardens, but the strongest attraction for guests is the Pacific itself. When taking your dog down to the sand here, know that it’s technically illegal to take them off leash; however, early and late in the day, it seems to be common practice. Just keep your leash close at hand.

Our favorite feature of our stay was the beach boardwalk just across the street. This runs along Moonstone Beach Drive for 3/4 of a mile and can take you right up to San Simeon State Park up the road. Designed to protect the delicate shore plants that grow wild here, there are turnoffs that take you down to the wide and wild beach strewn with driftwood and pebbles (where you might find an eponymous moonstone), over to rocky tidepools, and this close to a sea lion rookery.

It’s a lovely spot for a sunset/sunrise/human/canine stroll, and to be on vacation.