San Francisco: Alcatraz

On our last full day in San Francisco before we headed down South for a friend's wedding, we decided to visit Alcatraz. I mentioned in this post that we had purchased our City Passes directly from the Alcatraz Cruises landing and had booked our trip for this day. If you want to do the same, be sure to book a few days in advance. We thought we might be able to get on an earlier tour, but they had no availabilities until 4 days later.

You take their boat out to the island and then they huddle you together to go over some ground rules and interesting tidbits about the island. That day, there happened an author who wrote a book about Alcatraz on the island, so we had to stand and listen to some historical things as well.

Once they tell you you're free to move about the island, you walk up this long, winding path to the top of the hill where the entrance to the main prison is located. Once inside, you get a headset that will guide you on your tour inside the prison.

There are signs along the way that have historical figures on them, like guys who attempted escape.

One of the last places you visit inside the prison, before heading outside is the kitchen. Apparently there were some stabbings that happened in there. Gee, why is that not hard to believe? Outside, we saw a fighter jet fly by.

After we finished with the tour, Adam and I went back around to the recreation yard. Adam felt he needed some exercise (snort). You can exit from the wall of the recreation yard down to the garden area. This is my favorite part of the whole place. It's beautifully kept and has so many gorgeous plants. Who knew Alcatraz was actually this lovely?

There are really great views of the bay from this area as well as lots of nesting birds.

Before we took the long road back down to the boat, Adam made a panorama on my iPhone. Like I said, really great views!

I definitely recommend visiting the Rock. I'm not guaranteeing you'll meet Nick Cage or Sean Connery though.