Five places in the West to love up your Valentine
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This Valentine’s Day, forsake your love comfort zone. Cancel the dozen roses and that bottle of good Champagne and instead give your Valentine a smooch on the set from the 1942 film “Casablanca.” Here are five ways to convey your love in a decidedly different way.
Las Vegas
Planning an Elvis or a Taco Bell wedding in Las Vegas around Valentine’s Day? You’ll need a marriage license first, and soon you’ll be able to pick one up at the airport when you land. The Clark County Clerk will open a pop-up office at McCarran International Airport from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. between Feb. 9 and 17. You must be at least 18 years old, have valid IDs and pay $77 to get a license on the spot. Look for the office outside baggage claim areas in Terminal 1. (The regular bureau at 201 E. Clark St. in downtown Las Vegas is open 8 a.m. to midnight daily.) For even quicker service, fill out on the online pre-application before you arrive. Info: Clark County Clerk
Burbank
On Valentine’s Day only, love-smitten couples will have an opportunity re-create the big kiss scene from the 1942 film “Casablanca” at Warner Bros. backlot in Burbank. The set has been re-created but also features original items, such as the doors from Rick’s Cafe, and Moroccan screens and urns.
For the first time, the costumes made famous in the farewell scene in which Humphrey Bogart tells Ingrid Bergman, “Here’s looking at you, kid,” will be on display. Couples receive a free photo of themselves as part of the Romance Made Here tour. Price is $49.99 each for SoCal residents. Info: Warner Bros Studio Tour Hollywood, www.wbstudiotour.com, (818) 977-8687
San Diego
Think of this as a night at the museum, tinged with love. The San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park invites lovers to take an after-hours tour of some its most romantic works of art, from paintings that reveal ancient Indian epics to engravings of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. Afterward enjoy a picnic basket meal with sandwiches, cheese or vegan plate, cookies, bottle or wine or craft beer in the museum’s sculpture garden at Panama 66.
Tours are offered on the half hour starting at 5:30 p.m. and ending at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 14. Cost is $110 for museum members, $125 for nonmembers. Info: San Diego Museum of Art, (619) 232-7931
Telluride, Colo.
Bundle up for a sleigh ride and dinner on a private ranch in the San Juan Mountains in Telluride, Colo. Horses point the way on a ride in the snow to a heated tent where couples will enjoy Spanish tapas and welcome cocktails followed by a multi-course dinner. Main dishes include options such as Basque lamb stew, trout with pistachio crust, sirloin steak or vegetables with polenta — capped off with mountain berry bread pudding and bunuelos de viento (fritters) with chocolate.
Sleigh rides are available from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. for $200 each. (If there’s no snow, wagons are used.) Info: Telluride Sleighs and Wagons or email [email protected]
San Francisco
To impress that really funny Valentine, go to an unusual San Francisco event that starts around 6 p.m. on Valentine’s Day: Pillow Fight 2018. Folks gather opposite the Ferry Building at Justin Herman Plaza armed with pillows (feathers are too messy, synthetic preferred) to whack each other. That’s it, just an odd sleepover-type throwback in one of the city’s most public places.
Oh, and it might not happen. The website sf.funcheap.com likens this event to “an unorganized flashmob — could be 1,000 people, could be zero people.” Plenty of folks turned out last year, but best to have a Plan B: a romantic ferry ride in San Francisco Bay. Check out the Blue & Gold Fleet’s destinations and schedules; tickets cost $33.
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