San Francisco - Day 3

We were blessed with another beautiful day in San Fran!  Here's the view from our hotel window, on the 16th floor:

See some peeks of the Golden Gate Bridge?  Two parts are showing, the cable on the left, and a pillar on the right!

We started our morning with a cable car ride!  The route we chose started in Fisherman's Wharf, right next to our new hotel.

We were fascinated by the mechanics...the car actually grabs onto the cable under the street!

Note to tourists - the fare is $7 per ride, no round-trips allowed!  So we just rode it up up up to the top, then got back in line to ride it back down to Fisherman's Wharf.

See Alcatraz in the distance?

We made it safely back!  It was fun, it was steep, it was definitely a must-do attraction!  Our hotel is behind us in this pic, and our room looked right out on the cable car stop.  It was amazingly quiet, thank goodness!

We had lunch at Boudin Bakery, my new favorite place.  We had clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls.  Delish!  Their breads and baked goods were incredible!

After lunch, we set out on our big adventure of the day - a Behind the Scenes Tour of Alcatraz Island!!

Ferry ride to the island

Cheesy selfie!

Coming up to the dock

We learned that this means "Pelican Island," named for the huge flocks of pelicans on the island when the first explorers came here.

We saw an art installation in the workshop, where inmates could earn the privilege of working and making goods here for a few cents an hour.  This is pi, in football jerseys!  There's a whole story behind it, but we liked it b/c Jessi is obsessed with memorizing pi.

Artsy attempt at a pic of the Golden Gate Bridge

Before it was a federal prison, it was an Army fort.  There were tons of tunnels through/under the island for Army guys to move stuff around the island.

The tunnel led to the laundry room, where inmates could work doing laundry.  Meg and I read a series of books, "Al Capone Does My Laundry/Shines My Shoes/Does My Homework" last year, and it was soooo neat to see all of the places described in the book!  Chris got the books as a Christmas gift, and he's read them all already!

Chris in the tunnel

One of many old buildings on the island, I think this one was used for officers' parties/meetings/dances/balls.

Walking up the switchback to the prison itself

After the prison was shut down in 1963, some Native Americans took control of the island as a political statement.  There was a fair amount of graffiti on the island, which was preserved by the National Park Service.  This tower had to be repainted since then, so NPS hired a Native American artist to come out and repaint the graffiti!

The gardens on Alcatraz were incredible, there's a great volunteer group that is planting things the way they would have looked in the 40's-60's when officers lived and worked on the island.

The prison was built on top of the Army citadel that was here when it was a fort.  They reused the fancy front door of the citadel for the prison!  The granite was from Asia, because they couldn't get workers in granite quarries during the Gold Rush era.  It was cheaper to import granite from Asia than to get it from the Sierras!

Other face of the prison

There's a working lighthouse right in front of the prison.

The warden's house is kind of falling apart.

The city seemed so close!

The main office, where officers received their keys and weapons when reporting for duty.

A spot for prisoners to receive visitors, right next to a spot for a guard to point his rifle down the hall!

View of the prison, turned around from the pic above.  See how the rifleman would have a clear shot?

We started in A block, which had the old original Army bars and doors.

All of the cells were only 5' by 9'

Artsy pic

We had a great talk in the dining hall, and learned a lot about the kitchen (behind these gates)

We got a great view of the showers as we waited in line for our audio tour.  It was really, really well done.  The tour and descriptions were done by former inmates and former officers.  It was amazing to hear the stories firsthand.

Chris listening to the audio tour on "Michigan Avenue."  Each of the 4 hallways had different nicknames.  There are only 4 blocks, or hallways, with 3 floors of cells.  It was much smaller than I imagined, but since these were the worst of the worst, you wouldn't want too many here!

Fully outfitted cell

Solitary cells...actually a little bigger than the other cells, but with NO light!

The audio tour took us back outside, and we were treated to a gorgeous view of the city at night.

Graffiti from the Native American occupation.

The audio tour had a few stories of escape attempts.  In this one, three inmates dug out a hole in their air vent, and created fake heads so guards would not know they had escaped.  I think these three got away, but they were never found.  Did they drown, or swim all the way to San Fran??

Me on the audio tour.  We were led all around the prison, learning bits and pieces everywhere.

We finished our tour with a demonstration of opening and closing the cell doors.  It's a neat mechanical system!  And the sound...especially at night...so creepy!  The NPS tour guide said that George Lucas recorded the sound of the cell doors, and used it in Jurassic Park and in Star Wars!

After a long and exciting day, we wound down with dinner and drinks at Scoma's, right on the bay.  They had the best crab cakes ever, followed by some of the best seafood we've ever had!  Great recommendation from Chad!