Tuesday July 11th was our last full day of vacation. We had been to San Francisco back in 2013, but this time we wanted to do a couple of things we passed on.
Last time we were there, we did drive over the Golden Gate Bridge, but we never stopped to take any pictures. Thanks to a traffic jam, we had to take the long way around to get to the city, so we pulled over at one of the 'view points' before we crossed the bridge.
However, this view point was from above, and if you read my blog about our would-be trip to Waimea Canyon, you know how Peyton hates that sort of thing. We did coax him out of the car for a picture though. Everyone was cheering for him.
After some pictures we headed back across the bridge and into San Francisco.
Not knowing we were coming from the direction we were, though, I had a different viewing spot in mind (the first was a spur of the moment, 'hey look!' trip). I had read Fort Point was a good place, so I figured we'd give that a go. (Plus I was hoping the fog wouldn't be so bad there and maybe help for pictures a bit).
I was right! I mean, the boys were annoyed. They were like 'we already took pictures, why do we need to take more?' Um, they should know- pictures are my reward for planning this whole thing. It took fricken months to plan our last couple weeks.
There were lots of bikes on the path though, so we did have to jump a rope for a good dip kiss picture. But, I mean, what's a little jumping a fence at this point? I'd already helped dismantle one on a helipad this trip.
It probably doesn't show up all that well on the pictures either, but there were lots of whales out in the water. We kept seeing them come up. I'm not sure how people got all the way down to the viewing platform though, we tried to no avail to find the path. Anyway, the boys kind of thought my stop was worth it after the whales.
We did also park near a Juicy Van. Cort and his family had rented one of these on their first leg of their trip, before they headed to Hawaii. (We went some of the same places- they were in Las Vegas and at Alcatraz too, just not the same time we were).
After my 'annoying' pictures, we headed down to Pier 33, where the boat departs for Alcatraz. We had lots of time before we had to be there, though, so we parked somewhere between there and Pier 39, and then walked down to kill some time.
Pier 39 is full of shops and restaurants. I told the boys they could look around, but I didn't want to buy anything until after our tour of Alcatraz so I wouldn't have to carry it around. To kill some time, we did a little window shopping.
We also wanted to have a few snacks. With all the time changes meal time is all over the place (a week and a half after getting home, it's STILL messed up), so we just got a crepe and some garlic fries to share. I wanted clam chowder too, but not before I got on a boat (you know, motion sickness and all- if you don't get that reference, well then you're lucky!)
The fries and crepe was from a Belgian Fast-Food place. Too bad we had already done Belgium. They were, of course, delicious snacks.
I had gotten the Alcatraz tickets the day they became available, much like the Pearl Harbor tickets. Although, unlike the Pearl Harbor tickets we were more than on time for this boat. (Alcatraz is a super popular tour, so you really have to plan ahead for this one. When we were there all the signs said the next tour with tickets still available was late August).
We boarded our boat to head out to the rock. I was a bit worried, since I had heard about people being seasick going out on the boat, but it wasn't too terrible for me.
We were flying home on Southwest though, so we had to check in our for flights (which I had to do in two separate bookings to get the best price) WHILE we were on the boat ride to Alcatraz (poor timing there!) It all worked out though, Asa was on top of it. We got early in the 'B' group, so I knew we'd all get to sit together just fine.
It's not really that long of a boat ride out to Alcatraz, and once we arrived a guy from the National Park service gave our group a breif overview. While you do come to the island via timed ticket, you can leave on whatever boat you'd like after you are done self-touring Alcatraz.
It is a national park too, so we got another stamp in the boys national park books. They were racking up the stamps in the 'west' section.
After that, we headed into that building to the left, it's where we watched a 17 minute video about the history of Alcatraz (we were a few minutes late, but it was interesting).
Something I didn't know about Alcatraz, after it was done being a federal prison, it was a taken over by Native Americans who had been forced from their lands. It was a short lived experiment, but it was a catalyst to the government setting land aside for them, instead of forcing them from their land. There are nods to that time period on the island everywhere.
The video also touched on the three men who may or may not have escaped Alcatraz. These guys tunneled out in the middle of the night on a self made raft. Weather or not they actually made it to land, nobody really knows. There's circumstantial evidence that suggests it could have gone either way.
The rock, as it is called, is quite the steep hill, and the higher up you went the windy-er and colder it got. I had packed pants and sweatshirts for this one day, and they certainly came in handy. It was COLD!
At the top of the hill we got to see what was once the morgue, and later a place to house the generator.
But just up a little further is the cell house. You can take an audio tour, but mom had airplane ears and after 16 days on vacation I didn't think I could get the boys behind a 45 minute tour (although I do hear it is excellent). We just weren't exactly all working on the same page, so we skipped it. But we did enjoy our self guided tour nonetheless.
First you head to the laundry and shower area.
Then you head up the stairs, to the actual cells. It sits three levels high, though the cells themselves are pretty tiny.
Some of the cells are in better shape than others. Some have smashed toilets, some are completely empty. But some show a pretty accurate picture of how the prisoners lived. Most of the cell doors are closed, but a few are open and you are welcome to go in and check them out.
In the third hallway, there is a section down at the end that was the solitary confinment section. Those are especially dark and dank.
We went through the mess hall.
And the library. We may not have done the audio tour, but we did read lots of the signs along the way.
One of the National Park Guides also gave a demonstration on how they could open and close all the doors. It's quite the noise when they all slam shut.
That was our trip to the cell house. Pretty interesting.
Eventually we headed back downstairs, where it dumps you off into the gift shop. I used the rest of my penny slot winnings from Las Vegas to buy three of the 'Regulation' magnets. Those regulations work at my house too!
Peyton had $14 left, and he had been hanging on to it to spend at Alcatraz. He found a book, written by a guy who did some time there, and he wanted to get it, even though it was $20.
When I discovered the author was there, signing books, I told Peyton I would spot him the rest. I mean, he did want to buy a book, after all.
Mom also got the book, and she got it signed as well.
We headed out of the gift shop, and to the light house.
The wardens house is still there, though it's barely standing these days.
However, with all the flowers growing on it, it's a pretty cool looking structure.
Alcatraz really does have pretty gardens and interesting plants. The video we watched at the beginning talked about how those who worked on Alcatraz also lived on on Alcatraz along with their families. (The kids would take a boat to go to school over in the city everyday). Apparently these families, and sometimes the inmates tended to the gardens.
Everyone knows Alcatraz as a prison, but apparently today it is one giant bird sanctuary. An island with lots of vegetation, and no predators makes for a great home for birds. They are all over the island, it actually makes for a very peaceful, lovely setting.
I thought the whole place was really cool, so in case you haven't figured out by now, I took pictures of everything.
So anyway, remember those families I talked about? Well, despite the rock being a giant hill, the kids needed somewhere to play. So part of the island was leveled for housing and a playground. I guess the intent was to level the whole thing until someone decided how labor intensive it would be. Today all of the housing and playground has been leveled but the 'parade ground' as they called it still juts out from the side of the otherwise hilly, jagged 'rock'.
There are also some great vies of the city from there.
But like I said, it was cold. And the tip of Alcatraz was the coldest and windy-est. It was hard to walk against it.
We headed inside for some shelter from the wind, and into the administrative building.
From there you could see into the cell block where we had just been. There was also the visitor windows.
After a little more walking around the island, we headed back down to board the boat.
We were one of the last ones on the boat though, and there wasn't a ton of places left to sit, so this time we were outside.
You might have guessed, it was a bit chilly.
Once we got back, we decided to walk back down to Pier 39 so Hayden and Calib could buy anything else they wanted with their dwindling money supply (Peyton ran out on Alcatraz).
But first, since I had no more plans to be a boat this trip- it was time for some clam chowder! We all shared one bread bowl. It didn't disappoint.
We had hoped to see all the sea lions at Pier 39. There was one lone sea lion down by the boats.
And a whole pile on them a little further down. Still not as many as the last time we were there, but I guess that's just because of the time of year.
There was only one hanging out by the 'Pier 39' sign, and usually there's a whole pile of them there too.
I was pretty excited when I found a whole store dedicated to magnets. I had bought plenty, but they had a tub of magnets that included one for each of the 50 states. My mom so nicely got it for me.
There was some other fun stores, too. Calib ended up with a hoodie, and still has $40 left. Hayden spent the rest of his money on socks. (There was also a whole store of just super cool socks!)
After our shopping it was time to head back over to hotel, because we had dinner plans.
My Uncle Charlie, Aunt Patty and cousins Cole and Kayla live out near San Francisco. They said they would make the drive up to have dinner with us (minus Cole who was at camp), and to just name the place. Walking distance from our hotel was the Public Market, a sort of food court full of international food. Now, we were on vacation for two and a half weeks, and I wanted to try and eat some meals for our project while we were gone (although, I'm starting to think we won't make it by the end of the year- more on that some other time), so this seemed like the perfect place. We ate at the Paradita Eatery, and called it Peru dinner.
I'll review dinner when I get to my Peru (and other countries we did while we were gone) blog, but it was nice of everyone to drive all that way just to take part in my little crazy project. I wish we lived closer so we could see them more. I did tell Kayla she's welcome to come visit me anytime!
Like I said though, the place was a whole food court of international food. So we finished our meal and had room for dessert. Mom treated us to macaron ice cream sandwiches
That's it for our day in California.
Next Up: Go-Home Day!
No comments:
Post a Comment