Weekend Wander: Shakespeare With the Dog

Ok, I know, it's not technically the weekend yet, but Holly and I were lucky enough to have a Summer Friday on "Take Your Dog to Work Day," so rather than take her to my actual work, we met up with some friends from work to take on Shakespeare in the Park.

In case you are unfamiliar, Shakespeare in the Park is New York City's annual free Shakespeare event in Central Park. They produce two shows each season, and free tickets may be obtained either online through a lottery system or the day of the production at 12 noon. Of course, people who want the tickets at 12 noon need to start lining up early, and bring snacks, magazines, and blankets to hunker down for hours in order to secure a ticket (we got there at 7:30am and were probably some of the last to get tickets to the production).

"To pee, or not to pee. That is the question."

Of course, Holly doesn't mind an excuse to spend several hours in the park, though she does seem to mind the sitting in one place portion of it :). Even though this year I came prepared with toys to distract her, she spent the first hour of the morning happily picking up sticks and having me promptly take them from her. Puppy parenting fun!!

"Alas, poor squirrel. I knew him."

In between snacking on sticks, Holly was super excited to run into one of her friends from school, Aries, who we also saw at the Bagel and Bark event hosted by Central Park Paws a couple weeks ago. Aries chilled on our blanket for a bit before continuing his romp, and was replaced by a fluffy Maltese named Elmo, and then a poodle named Betty who really just seemed down to spending the whole day on our blanket. You couldn't blame her--my friend's uber talented sister, Ariah, had whipped out her guitar and was entertaining us with some beautiful tunes--Holly even temporarily stopped her stick hunting to listen!!

"If music be the food of love, play on (unless, of course, you have actual food)."

Finally Holly laid down and was really getting into the Shakespeare in the Park line thing. It was at that exact moment, of course, that we were informed it was time to stand up and collect our tickets! Pups can't attend the show, but having a puppy accompany you sure does make the line waiting go faster!!

"Give thy thoughts no tongue, and thy shoes no sniffs."

Here are our tips for bringing your pup to the Shakespeare in the Park line!

1. Check the weather. Once you get to the line you can't leave for a prolonged period, and you don't want your pup suffering through sweltering heat or pouring rain!

2. Bring water and toys to keep your pup entertained. There is also a deli that delivers to the line in case you or your four legged friend need some extra snacks!

3. Bring some friends! They can come in handy with holding your pup in case you need to make a trip to the restrooms or Starbucks after you get your tickets.

You can check out this year's show schedule here. And be sure to like Little Holly's Big World on our new Facebook page!!

Until Next Time, Darlings! Parting is such sweet sorrow!!