Boo has recently begun traveling with us beyond the short trip to Gramma’s house or Home Depot and she’s really taken too it like a pro. She hops into the car and makes herself comfortable without any fuss or anxiety.
We’ve had a recent warm spell in Missouri so we decide to spend the day at our favorite winery and take Boo with us. She wasn’t as impressed with the convertible… though I think she mostly didn’t approve of the noisy motorcycles who had also decided to take advantage of the 75° February day.
We knew that Chaumette Winery is pet friendly since we’d visited other times and met other pet families. The staff was great about seating us so we weren’t sitting right in the main crowd of people and everyone was really friendly to Boo. It wasn’t long before our area got a few more pet families, but the waiter asked us if we minded first. Which I thought was really nice. I asked to make sure it wasn’t a big dog, since I wasn’t sure what Boo would think and I didn’t want her to get upset. She’s been a bit of a homepuppy for a long time… but she’s branching out and handling it all so well! Our table neighbor was a Corgi/Pug mix named Jack and his parents.
It’s always amazing to me how pet people can come up and talk to each other’s furbabies without any hesitation… but without our furbabies around, we’d probably never speak to one another. Another example of how furbabies improve the world! 
Boo and Jack shared a bowl of water, but Jack wandered off to say hi to a new diner, a Chihuahua, and Boo decided to sit on my lap so she could have a better view of things…. like bacon.
I’m really loving the new chef at Chaumette. Chef Rob has been really great about modifying menu items to be gluten free for us. Chaumette has always been good about having something GF on the menu, but this is was the first time the chef came out to talk with us.
Brian and I both had the Grass Fed Burger (applewood-smoked bacon, roasted sweet peppers, caramelized onions, 
white cheddar, herb cream cheese, arugula) without the bun and Garlic Fries. We split an order of the New Orleans BBQ Shrimp. I’d had them as my meal last time… and had refused to share with Brian… I should have shared, they’re huge! The BBQ sauce that it comes with has gluten in it, so the chef made a Romesco sauce for me instead. I reminded our waiter that I’d had a different sauce last time and the chef came out to check that we were thinking of the same thing. The waiters are really good about checking that everything is safe for us too eat and never making us feel like we’re being a problem. There is almost always something on the dessert menu that is gluten free (and delicious) too. They had creme brulee today, but with the Shrimp appetizer and the hamburger… I was just too stuffed.
After lunch we took Boo for a walk around the winery. Chaumette is really beautiful. We first discovered it when we were venue hunting for my cousin’s wedding. I tried to convince her to choose Chaumette, but she chose a winery that was closer to home. I keep trying to convince Brian that we need to throw our Anniversary party at Chaumette, but he hasn’t given in yet. Maybe now I’ll have Boo on my side!
After a trip around the little lake and a through the wedding barn (it’s SO cute!) we headed back home. Boo made herself comfortable in the floor using one of Brian’s jackets and slept most of the way home. Poor baby… it’s tough being a world traveler!
You can follow more of Boo’s adventures on Facebook!
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