21 May - Alcatraz

We had a morning of catching up with family; Claire did some decimal maths, adding, subtracting and ordering; and we attempted, unsuccessfully, to buy tickets for Alcatraz. So we headed off towards the city, intending on catching BART or the streetcar, but ended up deciding to chance our luck for parking, and we drove in to Fisherman's Wharf - doing times tables chants to a rhythm en route with a reward of 10 cents for every time Claire beat the rhythm with her answer.  (We're not broke!)

Claire with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background

We headed to the Golden Gate Bridge for a photo of the Bridge with the fog rolling in. And having checked online for tickets, and phoning their 1800 number without any success, we fronted up to the ticket office at the Alcatraz pier to be told our only chance of going to the Alcatraz National Park ie The Rock, was getting there at 7 am tomorrow morning! Fat chance!

So we went about approaching nearly every couple and tour group that approached the entrance to the pier. We missed out on getting five tickets by a poofteenth, then after about an hour, a gorgeous bloke from Belgium gave me one ticket - and he wouldn't take any money for it, saying it was paid for months ago and one of his tour group hadn't fronted. So we were then in search of just two tickets, a much easier task.  Another half hour passed and couple from the UK had two spares so we purchased them, and it all looked sweet.  Then our mate from Belgium came over, and very apologetically explained that one of the members of his tour group didn't have a ticket and so I handed back the freebie :(

Once we had the two tickets, the security bloke took pity on us ... we had been there for over 1 1/2 hours and he asked his supervisor if they could let one extra person in - of course we said it was for Claire, and we got the third ticket.

While we waited, we checked out the information boards around the ticketing area:



On approaching The Rock, there's a message:



Alcatraz is a magical place - tough and hard and a prison for the ages - but they had some good philosophies.

They got three square meals a day, medical care, and warmth but anything else had to be earned.  The food  was some of the best in the federal prison system and guards and inmates ate the same meals. "Break the rules and you go to prison, break the prison rules and you go to Alcatraz."


Claire was astounded that the prisoners all had to shower together - no privacy!

The "communal" showers.

We all enjoyed the self-guided tour with individual headsets, complete with a narration by both the guards and the inmates. It was so realistic, you'd think the prisoners were actually standing up on the next levels running their metal cups along the prison bars ... calling out ... whistling ... But they were just the noises coming through the headsets.

Three floors of cells in each block.

The cells were sparse and very, very small.

We learnt about the antics of Robert Stroud, the Birdman of Alcatraz (in Alcatraz 1942-1959), Al Capone (in Alcatraz 1934-1938), and the inmates who tried to escape in 1962 and were immortalised in the movie, 'Escape from Alcatraz' with Clint Eastwood.

A clever ploy to escape - fake heads were made from cement, soap etc.

Due to deteriorating buildings and the high cost of running the facility Alcatraz's days ended as a federal prison with the last inmates leaving the island in 1963.



The view the prisoners had from inside the dining room - so close ... but yet, so far away.

Claire loved learning the history and stories if the Island and it's famous inhabitants and got to cross off another couple of squares on her Bingo card.

The view of the prison from the exercise yard.

After being given some directions to check out the exercise yard and the flower gardens, we were rounded up by the Rangers as it was time to catch the ferry back to the San Francisco harbour.

The gardens would have been a blessing for those allowed to work in them.

But Claire needed to be sworn in first.  So a Ranger was summonsed.  It was nearly 6.30 pm, and the last boat from the Island for the day was leaving ... Claire was frantically finishing the tasks - it had been a very full-on few hours. The Ranger checked Claire's book (very quickly), and Claire took the oath, once again - but this time she got to wear a specially made Junior Ranger's jacket and hat.

Decked out in the jacket and hat.

The Ranger was a sweetie and told Claire she was a true Ranger, and she had Claire walk onto the gangway on to the boat with all the other Alcatraz Rangers. What a hoot!

Clapping and cheers from all of the Rangers.

A great day out at The Rock.

There were loads of homeless folk around the piers and up on the marina so we did a quick food drop then stopped for an Irish Coffee (and a hot chockie for Claire) at our favourite place in San Francisco - the Buena Vista. (I'm sure the homeless would rather have had our deal.).

Phoning home from outside the Buena Vista.

Then off to the Olive Garden restaurant for dinner via The Avenues and Haight Ashbury (to feed some more homeless young folk) and a peruse of some beautiful San Franciscan architecture.  I swear the folk on the streets in HA could have sent the lot of us sky high within two minutes with what they were smoking. It was wild.