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movies san francisco bay area

Natural beauty, great outdoors in SoCal this time of year?

I'll be travelling for 3 weeks between SoCal and SF, in Jan/Feb. I'll be working on the weekends, with my weekdays free. Please suggest some places in CA (SoCal to SF) that are great natural beauty. I used to live in the SF bay area; I've already been to these places in CA:
Monterey
Tahoe (winter & summer)
Mt. Shasta (winter skiing)
Yosemite
Pismo Beach
Dana Point
Santa Barbara
Muir Woods
San Francisco
Sausalito

I've tried twice to get to Santa Cruz, but could never find parking (on a Saturday). Is it better during the week?
Also, does anyone know the "lookout mountain" that is always in the movies? it looks like you can drive your car to the edge, and look out over the lights of L.A.
Thanks!

Here are a few suggestions for natural beauty places around or near L.A.

John Gagliardi has done something no other human being has ever done. He has coached college football teams to 449 wins in 59 collegiate seasons.

John has only coached at two places in his 59-year college football-coaching career. John's first assignment was at Carroll College in Helena, Montana during the 1949 to 1952 seasons, winning three conference championships in those four seasons. John Gagliardi's next venture would bring him east to take on the head coaching position at Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota. The Johnnies had not won a conference title in 15 years when John Gagliardi arrived to take over the program from legendary coach and charter member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame, Johnny "Blood" McNally. John Gagliardi has remained at Saint John's for the balance of his career. During his time at Saint John's Gagliardi has coached the Johnnies to 28 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and 4 National Championships.

Along the way Gagliardi's teams have a combined record of 449-120-11 during his 59 seasons. His 1993 Saint John's squad was know as "The Point a Minute Team" setting a national record by averaging 61.5 points per game that season, establishing a scoring record that may never be equaled in college football.

John Gagliardi and the Saint John's University Johnnies football team has been the subject of many national publications over the years such as USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and Sports Illustrated. The Today Show and CBS News Sunday Morning have also done featured pieces on Gagliardi and the Johnnies for their television shows.

During the 1999 season, Sports Illustrated feature writer Austin Murphy moved his wife and two young children to Collegeville from the San Francisco Bay Area to spend the season with the Johnnies. The result of his time in Stearns County living with and writing about the team was a book named The Sweet Season published by Harper Collins.

One of the main subjects of interest that visiting reporters have when covering Gagliardi and the Johnnies are the principles of "Winning With Nos" · No blocking sleds or dummies · No Scholarships · No compulsory weightlifting program · No whistles · No "coach"- the players call him John · No tackling in practice- the players wear shorts and sweats

Gagliardi has realized a long time ago that having a different outlook at the way football is coached is not for everybody, but it has worked out well for him, something his 59 year .783 winning percentage is proof of.

Another in a long line of accomplishments for John Gagliardi came during the summer of 2006 as John was the first active coach inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame.

John Gagliardi will turn 81 years young on November 1,2007 with no signs of slowing down. Gagliardi has repeatedly stated that he has no intentions of retiring as long as he is in good health and he is still enjoying coaching football.

Nothing typifies John Gagliardi and the Saint John's University Johnnies better than the often-heard mantra of, "ordinary people doing ordinary things extraordinarily well." There is nothing ordinary about this bunch!

Dana Buttenhoff is an avid college football fan and loves to spend Saturday afternoons in the autumn cheering for the St. John's University Johnnies. The Johnnies are coached by College Football Hall of Fame Coach John Gagliardi. John Gagliardi has more career college football victories than any other coach on the planet. Learn more about St. John's University Football at http://www.JohnnieFootball.com

San Francisco: Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)

movies san francisco bay area

Review: 'The Full Picture'
The Full Picture RATING: (ALERT VIEWER)Drama. Starring Josh Hutchinson, Bettina Devin, Daron Jennings and Heather Mathieson. Directed by Jon Bowden. (Not rated. 80 minutes. At the Roxie in San Francisco.) The Sutro Tower almost never gets any respect in... San Francisco - Sutro Tower - United States - California - Video Games

Segways Add Thrills to San Francisco Sights

San Francisco visitors are discovering a new way to see the local sights. They're hopping on board a Segway, that electric vehicle that was once hailed as the future of all personal travel.

The Segway - formerly called the IT when it was first unveiled in 2001 by inventor Dean Kamen - was the object of considerable media speculation as people no less prescient than Apple's Steve Jobs suggested the new invention would be as fundamentally life-changing as the PC. When it was finally unveiled, the contraption actually seemed a bit odd looking - it resembles in some ways an old two-wheel push lawnmower, except this device allows you to step right onto it. What makes it work are five virtual gyroscopes that sense what way you are leaning and then "tell" the wheels to turn in the direction and speed you want to go.

The San Francisco and Sausalito Electric Tour Company offers two-hour tours to various tourist sights leaving from their Fisherman's Wharf location. You, too, have probably seen the single-file lines of Segway riders and wondered what that was like. We figured we just had to find out.

Understand you don't just show up, hop on a Segway and head out for the nearest attractions. Before you fly solo, there is 30 to 45 minutes of instruction, including a brief check-out to make sure you really do know how to go forward, turn and, most importantly, stop. The good news is your training time is not deducted from your tour time.

We'd heard some people compare riding a Segway with riding a bike, and this comparison does make some sense. It's not that it's difficult to ride a Segway; it's just that it's a different feeling that takes a little getting used to. Riders are taught how to power up the Segway, how to read the display lights to make sure the vehicle is in balance, and then how to step on board, one foot at a time. From that starting point, we learned how to lean forward slightly to go forward and lean back to bring the Segway to a stop. Then it was lean left or right on the handlebars to turn - which, by the way, the Segway does on a dime.

Most people in our class of 20 were picking all of this up quickly, and soon there we were, with our helmets and very unfashionable yellow safety vests, following our instructor in a single-file line out onto the street like so many baby ducks following their mother. Soon we were off the road in Aquatic Park where we stopped on an open, wide concrete pathway to practice our maneuvering. After a few minutes of that, it was time for graduation -- "Momma Duck" (aka Carla Plante) told us we now could change our speed governors from five miles per hour to 10, which was not too far from the Segway's top speed of 12.5 miles per hour.

The difference in speed was almost breathtaking. Okay, 10 miles per hour doesn't sound very fast, and of course it isn't - but there was something about being on that Segway that made it seem like it was just as fast as we wanted to go. At the higher speed we could lean our whole bodies into our turns and actually feel some gravitational force as we spun our Segways around in different directions. A few riders seemed almost giddy as they finally gained a comfortable balance on these unusual machines. It was starting to become fun.

Soon, our group of about eight riders was traveling single-file not only along paths and walkways, but on major roadways with real cars and trucks. Carla carefully led the way through all kinds of traffic, up and down hills and to several famous San Francisco waterfront locations. From Aquatic Park we rode to Marina Green, then over to the Palace of Fine Arts and the Exploratorium. Our route back took us through the Marina District. There were several opportunities to stop for picture-taking - since taking photos from your Segway is strictly prohibited - as well as a longer rest stop at the Exploratorium.

The sights and views in this part of San Francisco are great, but if you're like us, you'll be focusing as much on mastering the Segway as viewing the scenery. But it's an experience we won't soon forget, and will no doubt want to repeat.

More San Francisco fun

The Segway tours begin and end in the Fisherman's Wharf area so, naturally, we spent a few hours down on the Wharf before and after our tour. First it was a tour of the Aquarium of the Bay, just down the waterfront at Pier 39, which should be a must-visit for anyone with children visiting Fisherman's Wharf. The aquarium features 20,000 marine animals, focusing on species that are all found in the San Francisco Bay. These include sevengill sharks, bat rays, various bottom fish, sea stars and many more colorful and unique fish. Especially fun is the walk-through tunnel at the aquarium that lets you walk right through a huge tank filled with many species of marine life. Huge sharks and sting rays glide right past you and you can watch aquarium divers feed the fish.

Closer to lunch time we browsed the many fresh fish vendors and sidewalk restaurants at Fisherman's Wharf offering just about any kind of seafood you want. Visitors often get a fresh bowl of chowder or crab sandwich and eat it on the run, avoiding the higher cost of sitting down at one of the Wharf seafood restaurants. We chose a sit-down restaurant right on the Wharf, Sabella and LaTorre, where we feasted on clam chowder in a fresh-baked bread bowl. The prices were reasonable considering the location.

Part of the fun down at the Wharf is watching the boats - the ferries, the tour boats, the fishing trawlers and of course the wildlife that comes right up to the wharf in the form of seals, sea lions, pelicans and other birds of the sea. For us, it's the atmosphere down at the Wharf that keeps us coming back. The sights, sounds and smells of a busy waterfront are always worth spending a couple of lazy hours.

From Fisherman's Wharf we drove about a mile and half downtown to our hotel, the Palace Hotel, where we checked in and did a little bit of late-afternoon shopping at the many fine shops located in the area. History, luxury, spacious accommodations -- they all come together at the Palace, which we consider a great choice for a downtown San Francisco hotel. Originally built in 1875 to celebrate the West Coast boom, the Palace is one of the city's landmarks and located near such well-known San Francisco attractions as Union Square and Chinatown. The Garden Court is the hotel's main dining room and as ornate as the First Class Dining Room depicted in the movie Titanic.

The Palace also is known as a place where the city's movers and shakers meet to nail down business deals or be seen in the right company. Esquire Magazine named the hotel's Pied Piper Bar one of the top seven bars in the world. The drinks are pricey, but then someone told us the painting in the bar is worth $5 million so we're guessing they have to make that up someplace.

AT A GLANCE

WHERE: The San Francisco and Sausalito Electric Tour Company offers Segway rides in both San Francisco and Sausalito.

WHAT: The Segway is a unique invention that allows you to travel almost without effort on any kind of path, sidewalk or roadway.

WHEN: Summer is the prime time for Segway riding in San Francisco, although the tours are offered year-round. Just be sure to dress in layers and be prepared for cold weather. Even on sunny days, the winds from the bay can make your tour rather chilly if you're not prepared.

WHY: Segways may look a little odd but everyone we've talked to who has experienced Segway riding has raved about how much fun they had.

HOW: For more information on touring the Bay area by Segway, phone 415-474-3130 or visit www.electrictourcompany.com. A two-hour tour is $70. For more information on the Palace Hotel, phone 415-512-1111 or visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

For more information on travel in California, please visit www.californiaweekend.com.

About the Author

Cary Ordway is president of Getaway Media Corp which publishes websites focused on regional travel. Among the sites offered by GMC are http://www.californiaweekend.com, focusing on California beach hotels and http://www.northwesttraveladvisor.com, featuring Northwest getaways.

Nothing But The Truth with Matt Dillon?

Why am I not able to find this movie shown in any theatre in any San Francisco Bay Area movie theatre? It's not like the middle of nowhere here. I mean for crying out loud this is San Francisco and they released Nothing But the Truth like 2 weeks ago nationally and STILL none of the theatres around here have started showing it.

Does this make sense? Is anyone in the bay area know anything about this? Does it take longer for Some reason for this film to start hitting the big screen out here?

Matt Dillon....... of Western tv series in Gunsmoke, along with Kitty and Chester.....Tune into Nick at Night! LOL

San Francisco: Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)

Tags: film, movies, movies san francisco bay area, reviews, sanfrancisco, scifi, sf

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