San Francisco Day 2: Alcatraz Island

We got up early this morning to catch a bus over to Fisherman's Wharf.  Catching buses is no easy thing - it takes a lot of asking random strangers questions!  Eventually we decided on bus 30, which everyone said would take us to Fisherman's Wharf.  But we must have missed the stop or something, because we got confused, pulled up a GPS on our phones, and realized that we were moving away from where we wanted to be!  So we jumped off the next stop and took a half hour speed walk over to Pier 33.  We made it to Alcatraz Landing with time to spare!

We got early morning tickets (we bought them weeks in advance, which I highly recommend doing) so that the island would be less crowded.  That was a good idea!  Bailey bought me a muffin and a banana on the boat (my mom suggested that I eat some potassium after I was up for part of the night screaming in pain because of my legs... I guess my body isn't made for biking!  But Bailey gave me a blessing so I was perfectly fine by morning) and soon enough we were landing on Alcatraz.  We were so excited!

After a brief orientation, we were to walk up a hill to the cellhouse to get our audio tours.  We took our time going up, admiring all of the cool (and surprisingly beautiful) sights.

The audio tour was so awesome!  It walks you right through the whole cell house, as well as through the administrative building, dining room, and even outside a little.  It has sound effects and true stories, and it was way more interesting than just reading plaques would be.  We paused a couple of times to take pictures or to look at an area a little closer.  They let you touch everything and walk into lots of the cells!  So cool!

The cell below is one of the "isolation" cells that they put the hardcore bad guys in.  They would keep them completely in the dark!  I can't even imagine!  But the wall colors are cute, Bailey says that we should paint one of our kid's rooms like that.

In the audio tour it said something about the beautiful view outside - how, by looking outside, every day the criminals could see what they were missing out on.  I could definitely see what they meant - it was the best view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge you could ever imagine!  And the fog was settling in over the ocean and across the bridge, I guess we should have gotten a picture.  It was pretty magical looking.

This is how I would visit Bailey if he was a criminal on "The Rock"

 After our audio tours were over, we returned them and went back to the cellhouse to walk around some more.  It was just an amazing sight!  And to be walking on the same ground where the criminals walked, and where some were murdered.... I don't even know how to describe it.  It was eerie and special at the same time.

We also ventured through some of the gardens.  They have the most gigantic and amazing succulents there!  We checked out the recreation yard, though it was mostly just a field of dirt surrounded by a wall.

Another nice thing about the Alcatraz Cruises system is that you can take any ferry back to San Francisco.  We were about to catch a ferry when we noticed a few more buildings outside that we hadn't explored yet!  Like the laundry room and the industry building where they put the inmates to work (which I think is a pretty good idea - if taxpayer money goes towards giving criminals free food and housing, shouldn't they have to give back to society?).

Eventually we did return to San Francisco.  But really, go check out Alcatraz if you are ever in the area.  It was definitely a highlight of our trip!