A friend traveling up California’s coast posted a picture in her Twitter feed that caught my eye: “Okay, people,” she said, “I am sleeping in a *watertower* tonight. And it’s the best thing ever.” And it looked like the best thing ever, too, so I dug deeper. It turns out that Mendocino, a delightful 19th c. coastal town two hours north of San Francisco, was once a town of windmills, built to bring water up from nearby rivers and creeks. The windmills are gone, but many of their towers remain, and some of them have been converted into inns and B&Bs.

My friend stayed at the J.D. House Inn, which is not pet-friendly (nor is the Joshua Grindle Inn) — but there are alternatives. Only two blocks away from the J.D. House Inn is the much-praised Bever-Roberts Tower (you’ll want to check out both the inn’s website and the VRBO page, which has lots of pictures as well as reviews). “Supervised pets are welcome,” the website says, “for a charge of $35/stay.”

The Sweetwater Spa & Inn has three water towers, two of which (the Redwood Tower and the Sears Tower) are pet-friendly (as are a handful of cottages on the property).

It’s more of a splurge, but the Water Tower at the MacCallum House Inn & Restaurant is pet-friendly, and you will swoon over the decor, amenities and view. Are there other pet-friendly Mendocino water tower inns I’ve missed? If so, please let us all know about them in a comment!

The MacCallum House’s water tower: Second floor, and view

At this point, the post wanders off-topic. While I was researching Mendocino water towers, I came across The Stanford Inn by the Sea, an “eco-resort” located just a few minutes southeast of town, and I’m so impressed by its attention to visiting pets and their people that I have to tell you about it. You simply have to love a place that’s been welcoming pets for 36 years, and not just dogs: “Over the years we have had a variety of non human visitors: dogs and cats, of course, but also iguanas, parrots, Vietnamese pot belly pigs, and a tortoise.” There are “no weight, breed or other restrictions,” and every room is pet-friendly.

Since we’re already off-topic, let’s continue to wander: You may, without realizing it, already know Mendocino from watching Murder, She Wrote. The home of sleuth Jessica Fletcher is, in real life, Blair House, a B&B in the heart of town, and if you’d like to stay there, the cottage (once the carriage house) is pet-friendly.