Our last day is SF was to be the highlight for Trish: a visit to Alcatraz!
The weather forecast looked positive, but again quite cool so we packed our hoodies, called a Lyft and headed for the waterfront for breakfast before strolling over to Pier 33 to catch the ferry to the infamous island. On the way, we saw these guys hanging out at Pier 39.
These seals and sea lions were making quite the racket. One would start making that noise that seals make, you know the one, and all the others would join in. They had quite an audience, too, with upwards of 30 onlookers.
We lingered a little too long and then found ourselves scurrying to our actual destination, but got there with time to spare, picked up our tickets and got into line for the 10:30am run.
The trip out to the island was much like our cruise the night before, but this time with actual light with which we managed to nab these.
Downtown San Francisco 
Golden Gate Bridge 
Bay Bridge
Approaching the island it was pretty clear there were already a ton of people there. We weren’t sure how it would work with audio tours, the return trip, etc, but all was explained by the helpful Ranger. The rules were simple:
- Take away memories and leave nothing but footprints (I think that’s the Park Service’s official motto).
- No food inside facility, only at the dock.
- Keep out of fenced/blocked areas.
- Return ferry is first come, first serve.
With that clear, we checked out the short historical video before heading up to the top of island for the Prison House audio tour. It was pretty a pretty interesting tour and the environment was pretty remarkable.
The birds were not at all concerned about humans 
Peeping to the morgue 
Yup, inside of the morgue 
Where new arrivals were cleaned-up and prepared for their stay 
Another angle of the ‘welcome centre’ 
Showers 
Cell Block packed with tourists 
Recreation yard 
Door into solitary 
Solitary confinement. Despite being against the rules, guards admit they kept prisoners in the dark for over a week at a time. 
Device used to spread the bars that led to the big riot. 
the bar spreader 
The hook is so the guard on the block can pass his keys to the armed guard high about in the gun gallery. 
The four inmates who tried to escape and three guards were killed during riot. 
Marks from where grenades went off when the US Marines were called in to quell the riot. 
Exposure to sunlight was precious to the inmates and the proximity of the City made their isolation even more intense. 
Visitors on one side of the wall, inmates on the other 
Outside the admin offices of the prison building 
Door prison building 
Admin and control centre 
Admin and control centre 
Dummy head used to fool guards in the escape. 
The holes made by the escapees, allegedly with spoons and spoon handles 
The holes made by the escapees, allegedly with spoons and spoon handles 
Service corridor between blocks. you can see the holes made by the escapees 
Dining hall 
Another very relaxed bird. The island is now a designated sanctuary for marine birds 
Requisite selfie 
A couple of things we picked up from one presenter, who demonstrated how the locking mechanism on the cells worked (video to come), included the fact that Al Capone was not the big cheese at Alcatraz. Rather, he was suffering the mental effects of syphilis and very often didn’t know what was happening. Also contrary to common belief, Scarface didn’t die at Alcatraz. He died after being released.
About the locking mechanism, here’s an excerpt from the presentation, complete with cells opening and closing.
The tale of the three escapees was interesting. No one knows what happened to them. While some say they made it to South America or Canada (oh my!), the officials at the park and at the prison expect they were carried out to sea by the currents in San Francisco Bay.
Post audio tour, we checked out the rest of the island before catching the 3:15pm boat back to the mainland. It being Sunday, there was all kinds of stuff going on the water.
Once back on land, we decided to try using Skip E-Scooters to get back to the hotel.
It turned out to be good fun and fairly easy to use. Our only real snag was having to set-up a second account to be able to access two scooters (one for each of us) at the same time. I wish we had video, but we didn’t have anyway to support the GoPro.
We ended the day with dinner at a neighbourhood eatery, Tacolicious, before braving the increasingly chilly air for the dash back to the hotel — I was not dressed for it. All told, a solid day of touristy goodness.
Tomorrow, we head towards LA, making some stops along the way and spending a night in San Simeon. We’re not sure where NorCal becomes SoCal, but we expect to cross it, if we haven’t already.