Sherman's Travel

Last year, the Bay Bridge in San Francisco marked its 75th birthday, a date that was overshadowed by the 75^th birthday of its more famous sister span across the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge.

But come March, the Bay Bridge will shine as one of the Bay Area’s most brilliant tourist attractions when a spectacular art installation called the Bay Lights will illuminate the bridge’s western side with 25,000 individually programmable, energy-efficient white LED lights. It’s expected to be the world’s largest LED light sculpture, at 1.8 miles in length and 500 feet high.

The project, by world-renowned artist Leo Villareal, is scheduled to be unveiled on March 5 in a “Grand Lighting” ceremony. The installation will stay for two years, offering visitors and locals alike a fantastic – and free! – experience in a city that can be hard on the wallet. Read more

In a program called Holiday Photos on the Fly, Southwest Airlines and Microsoft are bringing a little extra holiday cheer to your busy travel schedule: Santa Claus will be set up at 26 U.S. airports to pose for free holiday photos with passengers, young and old. Santa’s helpers from Microsoft will not only provide travelers with a free photo print, but also show customers how to edit and share their pictures. The program will run for the three weekends preceding Christmas in December (Dec. 2-5, Dec. 9-12, and Dec. 17-20) from 8am to 7:30pm. You can seek out Santa at the following Southwest airports: Albuquerque, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Boston Logan, Chicago Midway, Dallas Love Field, Denver, El Paso, Fort Lauderdale, Houston Hobby, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, Oakland, Ontario, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose, San Antonio, St. Louis, Seattle Tacoma, and Tampa Bay.

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Southwest Airlines has announced the upcoming debut of its “International Connect” system in partnership with Mexico’s Volaris Airlines – passengers can now book flights on the two separate airlines and coordinate baggage transfers all through Southwest’s website. Southwest has also launched a bilingual call center with international customer service representatives on hand to facilitate travel on the new service. International Connect flights feature service to five sites, including Guadalajara, Morelia, Zacatecas, Cancun, and Mexico City – they can be booked in association with Southwest flights via the Los Angeles, Oakland, or San Jose airports for travel beginning December 1.