In my Video of The Day post last week, I introduced you to Dave Pinke. He’s a New Yorker with some travel video pop sensibility. His videos feature a collage of visually stimulating clips alongside upbeat music. To honor an upcoming trip I have to Northern California, here’s Dave Pinke’s video featuring San Francisco. Enjoy.
San Francisco from Dave Pinke on Vimeo.
After replacing as many people as possible with robots in manufacturing, the good old toll booth worker is the next victim to be replaced. Starting next year, toll booth workers on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge will all be removed in favor of RFID toll sensors and license plate reading cameras.
The toll collectors had been a common sight on the bridge since it opened in 1937, but the district board of directors decided in a 13-2 vote to save $19.2 million over the next ten years.
In the new system, vehicles can use the FasTrak transponder system, or pay by mail after their license plate has been identified.
As is common with government systems, the FasTrak toll lanes do not work with out of state toll systems, including EZ-Pass and iPass. Also, since rental vehicles are often from out of state, your car rental firm may charge the base toll, along with significant surcharges.
The toll operator does plan to expand the retail availability for FasTrak, so when the new system is introduced in 2012, tourists planning to drive across the bridge may want to invest in a FasTrak transponder of their own or hope that their rental car company forgets about the toll (fat chance).
[Via: Engadget]
Dying to get your Spring Break on in style? Then pack your sandals, sunscreen, sombrero and head on over to Virgin America’s website to grab some great fares or a chance to win a VIP getaway to Cancun, Mexico.
This morning, Virgin America is launching their service from LAX & SFO to the Mayan Riviera (aka Cancun) and Gadling is onboard to witness the festivities. Remember the Goo Goo Dolls? Apparently they’re still churning out the hits and have brought VH1 aboard to tape a mile-high episode of the Top 20 Video Countdown and show us how to travel like rock stars.
So if you have questions for the Goo Goo Dolls or song requests for the in-flight sing along that’s bound to break out, leave them in the comments below!
You can sign up to enter Virgin America’s VIP giveaway right here. If you don’t win, fares from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Cancun start from $139 each way and depart five days a week.
We’ll do our best to get in every shot of VH1’s special Top 20 Video Countdown episode, so tune in on January 29th at 9am EST to catch our ugly mugs.
In 1926, the penthouse at the Fairmont San Francisco leased for $1,000 a month. Today, the 6,000 square foot of luxury space goes for $15,000 a night.
The Fairmont San Francisco began revitalizing the iconic penthouse (currently valued at $20 million) in August 2009 and a year later, the grand dame of San Francisco suites reopened to guests.
Spanning the entire eighth floor of the historic Main Building of The Fairmont San Francisco, the penthouse offers three large bedrooms, a living room with grand piano, a formal dining room seating 60 people, a kitchen, a two-story circular library crowned by a rotunda where a celestial map is rendered in gold leaf against a sapphire sky, a billiard room covered in Persian tile from floor to vaulted ceiling, and an expansive terrace with views of San Francisco. A secret passageway concealed behind bookshelves on the library’s second floor lends a sense of intrigue to the fabled suite (and used to lead to the rooftop of the hotel for the ultimate in star and skyline gazing).
The penthouse has welcomed everyone from royalty to rock stars, including President John F. Kennedy, Prince Charles of Wales, Mikhail Gorbachev, King Hussein of Jordan, Mick Jagger, Elton John, and Tony Bennett. And why not? For the $15,000 fee a night, guests get a private butler, private chef, private masseuse, private personal trainer, private house keeping and access to an extensive wine cellar featuring some of the world’s best vintages.
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So, Orbitz noted when we like to travel … but where do we go? The top 10 destinations in the country were mostly predictable, with big tourist-magnet cities dominating the list. There were a few surprises, according to the information supplied by Orbitz: Boston, for example, didn’t make the list, after having ranked ninth in 2009. Los Angeles, fifth in 2009, also fell off in 2010. New Orleans and Honolulu debuted last year.
In the top 10 U.S. destinations last year, average daily hotel rates rose, yet some spots, like Las Vegas and San Diego, still offered great bargains, with rates well below 2008 levels still.
So, which cities are among our 10 favorites? Let’s take a look below!
1. Las Vegas, Nevada: Vegas was hit hard by the financial crisis – expect to see some deals there for a while
2. New York, New York: how can the Big Apple not be an ongoing favorite?
3. Chicago, Illinois: the top city in the Midwest just had to make the list!4. San Francisco, California: forget Los Angeles, this is the place to see out west
5. San Diego, California: again, this is a great alternative to Tinseltown
6. Orlando, Florida: remember that there’s more to Orlando than the theme parks
7. Honolulu, Hawaii: if you’re going to spend some time on the beach, do it right
8. New Orleans, Louisiana: it may have taken a while, but the recovery following Hurricane Katrina is definitely under way
9. Washington, DC: the allure of the nation’s capital can never be resisted
10. Miami, Florida: where else can you see and sample so many great bodies in one place? You have to check this out!
[photo Fabrizio Monaco via Flickr]