A Day By The Bay

Yesterday our family had the chance to travel to San Francisco for the day. Mike was off of work and the kids were out of school so I also decided to take the day off and we headed out of town. After discussing our options, we decided upon San Francisco. We had a few different options and were seriously considering going to SeaWorld in San Diego. But after checking the weather and seeing it was raining like crazy there, we decided upon San Francisco. We got up early (3:30am for a 6:30am flight) and had no problems getting on the flight. When we arrived it was raining and we thought we were doomed to a day of walking under umbrellas and getting wet but the clouds soon cleared and the sun came out and it turned into a pretty nice day.

Rather than renting a car and worrying about parking in the city, we decided to use BART which is the public transportation system there. It was pretty easy to take although not cheap ($10.80 per person roundtrip from SFO airport to downtown). We caught it right at the airport and after about a 30 minute trip we found ourselves in downtown at the Powell Street station. We wanted to head down to Fishermans Wharf because our big goal for the day was taking a tour of Alcatraz Island. Anyone that knows San Francisco knows that there are a lot of hills and we were probably about 20 blocks from our destination. We decided to take a cable car ride up and down the hills to get there.

That was a fun adventure with lots of pulling, pushing and grinding of brakes. It was a fun way to see the city and experience all the fun there.

Anyone that goes to San Francisco needs to ride a cable car. Upon arriving at Fishermans Wharf we looked around a little bit and then headed to Pier 33 which is where the Alcatraz Tours leave from. It was pretty good walk away but it was fun to walk along the waterfront and see all the sites there. We were able to purchse tickets for the 12:45pm ferry and tour. We had a little bit of time to kill so we headed to the pier next door (Pier 39) to have some lunch and do some shopping.

We had lunch at a place called Wipe Out. It was your typical burgers and fries (oh....my diet....not good!). The best thing about it was the view. We had a window seat that looked out over the water. Nearby were the famous docks where hundreds of seals and sea lions sun themselves. That was very cool to see.

After lunch we headed back to the Alcatraz pier and began our trip there. The ferry ride over was very pretty.

The bay is very beautiful and as were heading over to the island, the sun came out and we had a great view of the city behind us. We spent about 2 1/2 hours on the island. When you arrive you get a quick orientation tour and then you can do a guided tour with a park ranger if you want or you can go and view a film about the history. Mike and Jacob headed out with the ranger and listened to the tour which focused on various escape attempts. Michelle and I opted for the film and began our tour there. The best part of the trip there was the audio tour of the cell block area. You are given headphones and a recorder and it is a sort of self-guided tour of the prison area. It is narrated by former guards and prisoners themselves and the audio portion of it is very good. At times it felt as if you were there in the prison at could feel the metal doors slamming behind you. It was very cool and all of us really enjoyed it. There were hundreds of people in the prison but because everyone was listening to their own headsets, they were not talking so it was very quiet. Anyway, it was really really neat. Here are some random pictures of "the rock".

Sign along the shore as you come upon the island warning you to not help any prisoners escape and your fate if you do.

This sign is on the large building just as you step off the ferry. This building was the apartment building where guards lived along with their families. Notice the red graffiti on the wall. This is welcoming indians to the island. Apparently in the early 70's when San Francisco had a lot of protesting going on, American Indians took over the island and set up a new community there. They welcomed all indians to the island. They lived there for about 19 months and then U.S. Marshals kicked them off. There are still signs of indians all over the island.

Guard tower

There is a steep walk up to the cel block area but it is really nice. In addition to the prison there is a bird sanctuary on the island and many beautiful gardens with unique foliage. It was a nice walk.

Audio headphones and player are given to everyone viewing the cell block area.

Pictures of the guards and prisoners that provide the narration.

Typical cell

Solitary confinement. Not a great place to be. When the outside doors are closed it is pitch black in the cells. Some of these cells are said to have ghosts.

Picuture taken from inside a solitary confinement cell.

Michelle in the library.

Some prisoners tried to escape by prying some of the bars apart. They were able to overcome some guards in the gun alley shown below. The attempt failed because the guard did not have the right key to open the recreation yard doors.
Visitation area. Most prisoners never had anyone come to see them.
Michelle standing out in the front yard of the Administration Building with the city view behind her.

This is the wardens quarters. I think several years ago they had a fire there and most of it was destroyed.

Jacob in the recreation yard.

The dining hall.

Some of the buildings left from when the island was a military base.

Guards and family apartments.

Waiting for the ferry ride back. If we look cold we were. The wind was really blowing and it was chilly!

It was late afternoon by the time we were done and so we started our trek back to the airport. We were trying to take a 5pm flight but we did not leave the city until about 4:30 so we knew we were not going to make that. There was 7:30pm flight that was almost got on but because there was an earlier flight in the day that was cancelled and because of the bad weather all over California, the flight was delayed and ended out going out full. We waited for the last flight that was suppose to leave at 9:30pm but again was running very late. We did not end up leaving SFO until about 11:30pm getting back to Seattle at about 2:00am. It was very late night and some point we felt like this. This is the reaction of a crazy Asian lady when she missed her flight in Hong Kong.

All in all it was a fabulous day and we are planning on doing more day trips like this in the near future.