ohmidog!

With a promised break in the stifling heat, I decided to put Ace to the test on Saturday — giving him that long walk he has seemed to be wanting but I, due to his episode last week, wasn’t permitting.

It was only about a two and a half mile trek, round trip, and I planned a stop for lunch before we returned. What I hadn’t planned on — based on the TV weatherman’s promise of a cooler day — was the heat. (I assure you nothing bad is ahead, don’t worry.)

Our destination was Reynolda Village — part of what was once tobacco baron R.J. Reynolds estate — and in particular a little restaurant there with outdoor seating that we go to regularly, though by car.

It’s about a 1.5 mile drive, but I figured a shortcut through the grounds of another famous Winston-Salem mansion, Graylyn, would shave about a half mile off our round trip walk.

We cut through a residential area and into the immaculately landscaped grounds of Graylyn, where, of course, Ace — who tends to hold his bowel movements in until we arrive at immaculately landscaped areas — dropped his load.

I, of course, then got to tote it across the sweeping grounds, past the 46,000-square-foot home, and all the way to the next mansion, where we finally found a Dumpster.

Graylyn, like Reynolda, was owned by a tobacco executive. The 87-acre plot was purchased from R.J. Reynolds, by Nathalie and Bowman Gray.

Bowman Gray, a son of the founder of Wachovia, was chairman of R.J. Reynolds, Inc., when construction started in 1927. The 60-room home was completed a year and a half later. In 1932 Gray and his family moved in. Three years later, Bowman Gray died aboard a ship in the northern Atlantic while vacationing with his family.

In 1946 his widow and sons gave the estate to Wake Forest University’s medical school, which now bears his name. At the time, the university was located in Wake Forest, N.C., but, 10 years later, it would move to Winston-Salem.

Operated by the medical school, Graylyn served as a teaching psychiatric hospital until 1959, and was then used for academic programs.

In 1980, during an outdoor concert at Graylyn by the Winston-Salem symphony, the third floor of the mansion caught fire, and more than 7,000 people are said to have watched it burn. The next day, the president of the university said it would be rebuilt and restored to its original condition.

By the time that work was completed, the mansion, initially worth $1.6 million was worth $15 million. In 1993 — still owned by Wake Forest University — it officially became a conference center.

I’ve never been inside — for a peek you can check out this slide show — but the grounds are impressive, with sweeping laws, massive weeping willow trees, outlying cottages, bridges, fountains and ponds.

We ambled through, then crossed Reynolda Road, into the former estate of R.J. Reynolds, known as Reynolda.

By then our slow pace had slowed even more, Ace was panting and I was watching him like a hawk, while assuring him we were almost at our destination.

At Simply Yummy, we grabbed an outside table and were brought some much needed water, which Ace slurped down before meeting the dog at the next table, a mixed breed named Kelpie, adopted from a shelter in Florida.

We’d walked so slowly that breakfast was no longer being served, so I opted for a bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado sandwich, which Ace shared with me.

Ace got most of the bacon, while the toxic-to-dogs avocado (didn’t I tell you to stop worrying?) was all mine.

We lingered over more water, then got up for the long trek home. Back at Graylyn, we stopped and sat for a while in a shady spot under a weeping willow tree, then kept walking, keeping to the shade as much as possible.

By the time we were back on our own road, we were both dragging, but when I unleashed him, Ace broke into a trot until he got to the front door. Inside he lapped up water, then collapsed with a harrumph on the air conditioner vent.