Lone Pine Festival Honors Movie Days

The California town of Lone Pine, 200 miles northeast of Los Angeles, will celebrate its legendary movie past with a two-day Movie Festival and Arts Celebration, Oct. 6-7. Film crews have come to Lone Pine over the years to make everything from Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson silents and Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy Westerns to major features such as “Gunga Din,” “How the West Was Won” and “Star Trek V.” Among the personalities scheduled to make guest appearances at the festival are Roy Rogers and Glenn Ford. There will be guided tours of the striking Alabama Hills that were shown in dozens of films, plus screenings of movies filmed in the Lone Pine area. For program information, write Sierra Film Festival, P.O. Box 111, Lone Pine, Calif. 93545. For motel and camping information, call the Lone Pine Chamber of Commerce at (619) 876-4444.

Mexican guarantee: Mexicana Airlines has launched new all-inclusive vacation packages from Los Angeles to nine Mexico beach resorts offering only five-star or better hotels--all with a double-your-money-back guarantee. Destinations included in the packages are Acapulco, Cancun, Cozumel, Huatulco, Istapa/Zihuatanejo, Los Cabos, Manzanillo, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. If any promised component of the land package is not delivered, Mexicana promises to refund double the difference between what was provided and what was promised. Call (213) 646-9500.

More Mexico: The Mexican government, through the Mexican Ministry of Tourism and FONATUR, has announced a joint venture with two major Japanese companies to build one of the largest hotel complexes in Mexico on the coral island of Cancun. Investors in the venture are Japan’s Aoki Construction Corp., the Industrial Bank of Japan, the Mexican government and Mexico’s bank for foreign trade, Bancomext. When completed in 1996, the $220-million development will include a 1,000-room hotel, 18-hole golf course, 400 condos, a marina and a shopping center. The hotel and golf club are scheduled to open by November, 1993.

Foreign office: Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has established its first tourist office outside the country, in the United States. Address: Myanmar National Tourist Office, 2514 University Drive, Durham, N.C. 27707, (919) 493-7500.

Quiz time: Take any cultured pearl being sold today on the world markets and it’s very likely that the heart of that pearl, the nucleus, came from . . . guess where? Answer below.

Business aid: The Marriott Business Travel Institute is offering a special 28-page guidebook, “Business Travelers--The Choice Is Yours.” The book features detailed explanations and helpful hints about hotels, airlines and car-rental companies. For a copy, send $2.25 to Travel Choices, P.O. Box 40114-5114, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106-5114, or call toll-free (800) 628-4876, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST.

Hotel news: Hilton has opened two new hotels in Turkey. The Parksa Hilton in Istanbul is near the five-star Istanbul Hilton, located within walking distance of the city’s business district, shops and entertainment. The Mersin Hilton is in the south of Turkey on the Turquoise Coast, in Mersin, a major port with a fast-developing business center.

Fair warning: The 139th California State Fair begins Aug. 17 and runs through Labor Day, Sept. 3, in Sacramento. More information from the California Office of Tourism, phone (800) 862-2543, or the California State Fair, P.O. Box 15649, Sacramento 95815, (916) 924-2000 or (916) 924-2032.

After hours: Hyatt Hotels has introduced the Long Weekend, extending checkout time to 8 p.m. on Sundays at 90 of its hotels across the country.

Bon appetit: The Crooked House restaurant at Surfers Paradise in Queensland has introduced a bush menu for the ultimate Australian dining experience. Highlights include sap-sucking termites, witjuti grubs, Kakadu plums, Bunya nuts and Wattle seeds.

Quiz answer: Camden, Tenn., home of the Tennessee Shell Co. and American Pearl Co. Although the Japanese still dominate the industry, they must rely on American mussels for the nuclei essential for the culturing process. These mussels come from the murky depths of the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers.