ABCDE Travel sunday, october 17, 2010
IMPULSIVE TRAVELER
Bewitched
by Danvers The Massachusetts town is where the witch hysteria began. F6
Acting teaches you to keep an eye on the story.”
Andrew McCarthy, Brat Packer and award-winning travel writer, F2 CHAT We answer reader questions at NOON Monday at
washingtonpost.com/travel
GOINGOURWAY
A Hong Kong splurge When frequent-flier miles cover the flight, our reader can indulge in some shopping, explore history and get a taste of elegant Cantonese cuisine. F3
Have pet,will travel F K EZ
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For guests, all the creature comforts
BY ANDREA SACHS The director of pet relations at the Muse
hotel near Times Square was plumtired after working an extra-long shift one recent Friday. She had staffed the front desk formost of the morning, dressed in a custom-made denim dress in support of breast cancer awareness. Midway through the day, shewas pulled from herpost toentertainayoung, friskyguest from CapeMay,N.J.Back inthe lobby, she posed for photosandgreetedmorevisitorsbeforetaking a break under the counter, napping at the feet of a concierge.There she remaineduntil itwas time to go. She exited the hotel in a Juicy Couture carrier, smuggled out like a stolen treasure. “She is not just for show. She is so much
more,” concierge Marc Camacho said of Gin- ger, the 9-year-old pooch who has held the
hotels continued on F4 As I drove Red the Doberman to Baltimore
for his flight to New York, my mind was on some other canines: those poor puppies in Chicago. This August, seven of themwho had flowninthe cargohold died after theirAmeri- can Airlines flight fromTulsa got delayed and the plane apparently sat too long on the tarmac. According to the airline’s own policy, the day was too hot to fly pets, but American accepted themfroma shipper anyway. Such stories make headlines periodically,
which is why I have never considered flying a pet:notmy6-year-oldrescuedog,Red;nothis goofy predecessor, Gromit; certainly not one of themany cats I’veownedover the years.Not until now, that is. Red and I were trying out Pet Airways,
which, as its name indicates, is dedicated to animals. Since it started in 2009, the airline
On an airline dedicated to animals, they always flywith a tailwind
BY JOE YONAN Washington Post Staff Writer
has flown5,000 pets, a fractionof the estimat- ed 2million live animals that fly every year on commercial airlines. But it is trying to set a higher standard: no cargo hold, no tarmac delays and, in fact, no human passengers. Redwould be flying on the Beechcraft 1900
twin turboprop without me. Pet Airways makes room for up to 50 “pawsengers” per flight, but we “pet parents” (these are the airlines’ terms,notmine)have to findour own transportation.WhileRedwouldbewingingit fromBWIMarshall toMacArthur Airport on Long Island, at a fare of $99 one way, I would be driving. Unless youhave a dog small enoughto fit in
a carrier under the airplane seat in front of you, flying a pooch is inevitably going to involve some separation anxiety, and Pet Air- ways isnoexception. Ihadporedover theWeb site’s encyclopedic FAQs, and an airline staff member had calledme days earlier to go over
pet airways continued on F4
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Canines welcome, without reservation
BY BECKY KRYSTAL AND JOE YONAN
Why leave home without them? Some-
times it’s just not practical to take your dogs on vacation, but when you can, pet-friendly lodging is a godsend. Not only do you get to share a vacation with your favorite creatures,
BEDCHECK
but you avoid needing to make costly care- taking arrangements back home. These days, dogs are welcomed at roadside
motel chains, upscale urban hotels, country- side bed-and-breakfasts and rural resorts. Two Travel staff members took their very different canines — Becky Krystal packed up her two Shih Tzu mixes and Joe Yonan his Doberman pinscher — to sniff out three Mid-Atlantic places apiece.
bed check continued on F5
RUNNINGWITHTHEBIGDOGSNOW:1) Red the Doberman pinscher catches a cab outside the pet-friendly Affinia Dumont’s cafe on East 34th Street inManhattan. 2) Ginger, a teacup Pomeranian and director of pet relations atNewYork’sMuse hotel, watches the front desk. 3) Benji doesn’t have to worry about a rough landing as Pet Airways pet attendant Jessica Placchi unloads the dog’s crate from a flight at BWI. 4)No, that’s not Red the Doberman; it’s a horse thatHobbes, left, and Leo are checking out at the Inn atMeander Plantation in Locust Dale,Va.
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onwashingtonpost.com/travel
See more photos of Red’s trip to New York City (when he rode a taxi, stayed in an
upscale hotel and hobnobbed with locals), plus more from behind the scenes at Pet Airways.
1. HELAYNE SEIDMAN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST; 2. KIMPTON HOTELS & RESTAURANTS; 3. MARK GAIL/THE WASHINGTON POST; 4. BECKY KRSTYAL/THE WASHINGTON POST
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