The happiest news I saw this week was news of a bill currently before the Maryland General Assembly that would allow Maryland restaurants to serve food on outdoor patios to patrons with dogs. No word yet on the results of Tuesday’s hearing; if the bill succeeds, it would take effect in October 2011.

Another link that made me happy was Creative Loafing‘s report about a dog-friendly sunset cruise on the Shell Key Shuttle (departing from St. Pete Beach, FL and visiting “residential waterways and the pristine barrier islands south of Pass-a-Grille”). Dog-friendly cruises are rarer than hens’ teeth — the author just happened to arrive when a pre-arranged dog-friendly cruise was departing — but sure enough, the Shuttle’s site provides instructions for arranging your own sunset trip with your dog.

Now that I look more closely at my list, I realize that just about all of this week’s links are about the coasts. On the East Coast, take a look at offManhattan‘s suggestions for eight pet-friendly destination hotels that are also eco-friendly (I just love how offManhattan‘s lists like this include info about pet-friendly ways to get to the recommended hotels — and this time, the recommendations are also eco-friendly). The options range from Maine to Washington, D.C., and they all sound great.

On the left coast, take a look at Have Dog Blog Will Travel‘s guide to dog-friendly Half Moon Bay, a beautiful little coastal community just southwest of San Francisco. Take a look, too, at the same author’s suggestions for dog-friendly spring breaks on both coasts. I know that spring break is happening right now on the East Coast, but you West Coast folks are still making plans — and lots of these ideas work year-round.

Will My Dog Hate Me? posted a terrific list of tips “on homestay petiquette,” for those of you who are planning a visit with your dog to friends and family. Be sure to read through the comments, too — lots of good additional tips there. Speaking of useful tips, Fido Friendly’s blog is starting a series about dog parks, and the first post has some sensible ideas for making your dog park visit safe.

The last two links I have for you stand alone: Ashely Warner, guest-posting on Take Paws, argues that dogs have been traveling with their humans “for aeons,” and the multi-talented Raja (the canine half of the Travels with My Dog team) is writing a cookbook. Helen Fazio, Raja’s colleague, reports that “he’s taking the best doggy friendly elements from cuisines around the world and creating tasty, healthy, well-balanced cook-at-home-meals.” Check out the sneak preview, a recipe for “Almost Minestrone.”