What a fantastic day. I never would have thought we'd be spending our 24th anniversary in California. Even better, I got to spend the day with the ole' ball and chain in prison. Another bucket list item crossed off today. We left our hotel in Newark and drove into San Francisco for our tour of Alcatraz prison. I'll warn you now that I took over a hundred photos today so instead of going through certain ones, I posted them all. We rode the ferry over to the island then were free to tour at our leisure. Sadly, a lot of the prison is crumbling from the weather and salt water but the parks people are working hard to preserve it. We were surprised that amongst the crumbling facade lies some of the most beautiful gardens. There are flowers/plants from around the world. They were gorgeous. The views from all around the island to the mainland were unreal. Joe and I agree that the view of San Francisco is one of the nicest we have ever seen. If you have time, Google Discovery Channel and their story on Alcatraz. It isn't long and is pretty interesting.
Our tour started at 1:10pm and we did not make our way down to the ferry landing to head back to the mainland until 5:15pm and arrived back at our starting point at 6pm. We took a walk to Pier 39 (Alcatraz Tours is at Pier 33) and then back to the car. We were hoping that we'd miss the worst of the evening traffic. We missed the after work traffic but then we got stuck in traffic for the Phillies vs the Giants game at the AT&T Center.
Our new location for the next couple of days is Monterey, California. It is south of San Francisco and approximately 300 miles north of Los Angeles. LA is a little too far of an undertaking this trip. Maybe next time. We're planning on going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium tomorrow. I suspect there will be many pictures posted from that trip too.
 |
| A new look |
 |
| Nice |
 |
| Leaving the dock |
 |
| On our way to Alcatraz |
 |
| Lots of container traffic |
 |
 |
| This is the other ferry in the fleet |
 |
| The Rock |
 |
| Golden Gate Bridge |
 |
| They are building another bridge beside the Bay Bridge |
 |
| Shower anyone? |
 |
| Cozy one bedroom apartment |
 |
| This is the Rule Book every new inmate gets |
 |
| This is what they use to lock all the cell doors |
 |
| Inmate Recreational area |
 |
| Joe looks happy to be in there |
 |
| This is the "hole". It is bigger than the regular cells |
 |
| The Library |
 |
| Ceiling |
 |
| Notice the keys hanging from the string |
 |
| That is a hole made from a grenade being dropped in during the famous riot |
 |
| Pock marks on the floor from the grenades |
 |
| Guard killed during the 1946 escape attempt and ensuing riot |
 |
| These jacks were installed later with 2 available radio stations |
 |
| You can look out this little window and see San Francisco |
 |
| Visitation Day |
 |
| Guards uniform |
 |
| Notice the hole in the back of the cell? |
 |
| Dining Hall |
 |
| The menu on the day Alcatraz closed |
 |
| Notice the outlines of the utensils |
 |
| OK.... |
 |
| This is only part of her "stuff" |
 |
| Phillies VS Giants tonight |
No comments:
Post a Comment