No matter how much you love Sarasota and her Islands, the parks, the beaches and the restaurants . . .sometimes you just have to get away. Looking for a dog-friendly destination online is really hard. Dog-friendly is a phrase that can be interpreted a thousand different ways. We’d heard about Mount Dora, as a charming small town, just north of Orlando and wanted to put our paws on their pavement to check it out for ourselves.
After miles of open fields, a few hills! and the occasional mobile home park, Mount Dora springs up out of nowhere. Suddenly there is a vibrant little town on the horizon. Most of the homes and buildings around town have an historic feel and a distinct echo of antebellum architecture. Wrought iron gates and double decker front porches are plentiful.
The main drag in town is Donnelly Street and is lined with shops.
Jewelery, decorative items, an honest to goodness candy shop and a couple of collectible-antique retailers populate the retail spaces. Any restaurant with outdoor dining allows dogs to sit outside.
The matrix of activity in town for dog lovers is at Piglets Pantry, a dog bakery. Filled with homemade, healthy cookies and treats, dog accessories and gifts, the staff here is knowledgeable and very friendly. 
They host a Yappy Hour each month, for meeting and greeting. Owner “Piglet” is extremely well informed about local events and is a friendly resource for all things dog.
For overnighters, there are several options for lodging. Probably the largest is the Lakeside Inn, situated on Alexander Street and overlooking the Lake is the Lakeside Inn. It’s nicest feature is a huge wrap-around veranda outfitted with rocking chairs, games and ambiance perfect for striking up a conversation with other visitors. The Tremain Street Cottages, is a very cute little property divided into four apartments. 
The first floor had a full kitchen, two bedrooms a kitchen and screened front porch. Upstairs is very budget friendly (less than $90.00 per night) unit with a king sized bed, kitchen, living room and bath. Dogwise? Okay maybe a small dog or two. A rear courtyard offers Adirondack chairs and a barbecue grill.
Although there are several restaurants in town ranging from sandwiches to upscale seafood houses, we found the best food and service at One Flight Up. This dog-friendly venue has a convivial atmosphere and an awesome menu of homemade soups, salads and sandwiches. 
Sit inside at One Flight Up, in a living room environment or outside on the second story porch with your pup and watch the world of Mount Dora go by.
Around Mount Dora, there are activities like boat trips and garden walks but the biggest attraction is Renninger’s Flea Market. This huge market has covered buildings and outdoor booths selling everything from produce to sterling silver napkin rings. Dogs are allowed in the open air areas, and small dogs are allowed throughout.
There are quite a few vendors in the market that cater to dog lovers. We found SK’s Dog House in Aisle F, with a wide variety of costumes, carry bags and other fun reasonably priced accessories.
Many vendors had their own dogs with them. Here, The Ring Doctor posed with his gorgeous pup.
On the high-end antique side, dogs are only allowed if you can carry them! Lots of goodies, but we liked this greyhound statue best of all.
A final note about Mount Dora. In the 36 or so hours that we spent there, we must have seen a hundred dogs, and not one was more than 25 lbs.
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