This week we start with a new (to me) blog called DiningWithDogs.com, which posted a short review of the Ice Box Café in Miami Beach. Also in Florida? The Take Paws team — now, in fact, in Key West, but earlier this week they wrote a great post about their visit to St. Augustine, with lots of good suggestions and pictures. I simply cannot see enough pictures of Ty the Shar-Pei, who always looks concerned, but Buster the German Shepherd is also easy on the eyes. Still in Florida (why would we leave?), Sonja Lishchynski, guest posting on And A Small Dog, wrote a very tempting post about her visit to Naples with Montecristo, her long-haired Chihuahua.

Staying coastal, take a look at Christine Buckley’s outstanding post (from The Huffington Post) about her recent visit to New Orleans with Yoda, her Boxer, and a friend and his Pug; at Kimpton Crawl‘s posts this week about their visits to two different Kimpton hotels in San Francisco (the Hotel Triton and the Hotel Palomar); and at Blue Chip Holidays’ round-up of their top ten dog-friendly properties close to dog-friendly beaches. A U.K. company, Blue Chip makes it easy to identify dog-friendly rental properties in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, the Isle of Wight, and Wales. I’ve never worked with them, so I can’t tell you about their properties, but I have to love a site that gives traveling dog owners a helping hand.

The big news from Atlantic City this week is that the Pet Stay program I told you about back in December (“New dog-friendly policy at eight Las Vegas casinos!“) has come to America’s Favorite Playground. Caesars Entertainment, which owns the eight participating Las Vegas casinos, also owns the Showboat Casino Hotel in Atlantic City — welcoming pet dogs as of February 24. The program may ultimately be extended to Caesars’ other Atlantic City properties: Bally’s, Caesars, and Harrah’s.

Moving inland, check out According to Gus‘s review of Los Patios, a restaurant in San Antonio. The pictures of Gus and the food are killer, and the restaurant is a sincere believer in the benefits of “DFD” (dog-friendly dining). Much farther north, Chaos to Clarity posted information and pictures about a gem of a dog park in the Twin Cities: 80 acres of land next to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. It’s tricky for visitors to use Minneapolis’s official dog parks, so I’m particularly grateful that this space is available.

Travelin’ Jack’s Dog Blog wrote a rapturous review of Santa Fe’s Bishop’s Lodge Resort, giving it an impressive five and a half paws for “service.” Which leads me to a thought-provoking post on Will My Dog Hate Me?, listing the nine things that author Edie Jarolim thinks really make a hotel pet-friendly. Be sure to read the comments too — I particularly like the suggestion that hotels allow owners to leave their dogs unattended (perhaps requiring crating) as long as the owners provide the hotel with a cell phone number in case the dog disturbs other guests.

And finally, be sure to look at Helen Asquine Fazio’s latest post on Travels With My Dog, suggesting that owners of small dogs consider giving their pups a small jar of turkey, beef or chicken baby food before flying. We’ve always withheld food from Chloe for several hours before a flight, in the hope of emptying out her system, but Helen makes the excellent point that some small dogs taking very long flights might become hypoglycemic with that approach.