Southwest Mystery City Sale: Bay Area

On the final day of Southwest Airlines' Mystery City Sale, the low-cost carrier provides you with not one, but three cities to choose from.

The San Francisco-Bay Area and its three airports -- San Francisco International, Oakland International and Mineta San Jose International -- are the focus of the final day of Southwest's four-day Mystery City Sale.

Like the other days, you must book your flights today and fly between May 4 and June 10. The only blackout dates are May 21-25 (Memorial Day Weekend).

Over the course of the four-day sale, Southwest has offered 50% off flights to Philadelphia, Nashville and Albuquerque, so it wasn't a stretch to think that it would head to the West Coast for the final day. But to provide three airports for their half-off sale? Kudos to Southwest for providing four days of great savings.

San Francisco, Washington Are Targets for New GM Hybrid Development

GM is scrambling their pretty little corporate jet owning faces off to look good in the public eye these days. 

One of the main aspects they're focusing on (finally!) is electricity powered cars. You know, those kooky little "hybrid" things. The Chevy Volt is the next in line, and it's being aimed at certain geographical areas.

GM said that it working with the municipalities of San Francisco and the Washington, D.C., metro area as "early adopter markets" that will create incentives to buy electric cars and build an infrastructure to support them.

"Collaborating with communities such as San Francisco and metropolitan areas such as Washington, D.C.--where there's already an interest in plug-in vehicles--is another important step toward raising customer awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of vehicles such as the Volt," said Ed Peper, GM North America vice president, Chevrolet, in a statement.

So, um, yay? Or something. I guess it's awesome that GM's making this huge huff about bringing electric cars into the limelight but, uh, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, GM? I've had to sing about Earth day since I was in like fourth grade ... and that wasn't exactly yesterday.

But, ridiculousness of automakers aside, how does this affect you, the traveler? Well, batteries for these puppies are really expensive. But, interestingly, once a lot of people stop using a ton of gasoline, guess what will happen to the price? Yup. You got it. And then suddenly it becomes a lot harder for airlines to justify their per ticket costs against what they need to operate planes.

Alcatraz Does Its Part to Help the Environment

Alcatraz Island/Prison is a cool place to visit, especially if you're a huge Nick Cage fan (in which case we all invite you to permanently stay there) and loved The Rock. It's so popular, in fact, that approximately 1.4 million people visit it each year.

And since everyone one of those people has to be ferried over from San Francisco, it can leave a pretty large carbon footprint. But Alcatraz Cruises is helping out with that.

To help reduce this environmental impact recently launched their very own green solution - the Hornblower Hybrid ferry. The multi-hulled hybrid boat uses two wind turbines and a solar array to generate power for its navigation tools, lighting, and even part of its propulsion system.

Note the diagram above, except with less Beetles-esque cartoony graphics from the 1960's. Now, if you're into science, feel free to head over to their website and download the fact sheet and press release and whatnot. And if you're really gung-ho about visiting an old prison in an eco friendly boat, you can email the folks to set up a tour.

Museum of Broken Relationships to visit San Francisco

Originally set up as an exhibit in Croatia, founders Olinka Vistica and Drazen Grubisic have taken their Museum of Broken Relationships on an international tour. The museum is filled with artifacts from failed relationships.

All the artifacts on display have been donated by real people from cities the exhibit has visited. Each item is accompanied by a brief explanation. For example, an axe on display was used to break apart the furniture of a former lover. Other items donated range from sex-cuffs (pictured right) to a prosthetic leg. The founders said they decided to create the exhibit...

...after consoling friends over failed romances, and hope its global tour will
offer people the chance to overcome the pain of heartbreak through art.

Currently on display in Singapore, the Museum of Broken Relationships will be making it's North American debut in San Francisco on Valentine's Day. So for those of you planning to spend the terrible Hallmark-holiday alone, try taking a trip down to the Root Division gallery, enjoy a creative art-display and remind yourself that most people are just as miserable, broken-hearted and alone as you are.