Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Alcatraz - San Francisco, California

If ever going to or planning on going to San Francisco, must... must go to Alcatraz!

There is alot of history on that tiny island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, too much for one day! my recommendation would be take two days for Alcatraz.

Not sure how much it costs to take the ferry over but i will tell you this.... it is worth every penny!

San Francisco, Friday May 3, 1946 - Alcatraz Siege! One guard killed and sixteen injured. This date was marked for the big time escaped planned in this prison. Could you imagine being locked up in this prison with windows onlooking the City of San Francisco. Talk about torture.

Interesting fact that i learned was - families of the guards actually lived on the island also. The kids would commute on a boat in the morning to attend school and return afterwards. But the kids never eye sighted the prisoners.

Picture: This is where you would have lived if you had the unfortunate pleasure of attending Alcatraz.

Every cell was different, although each cell contained a toilet, a bed, a sink, a little side table and shelving.

Some cells had art supplies and paintings, game boards such as checkers, very old tooth paste, tin cup, books... but just do not take my word for it. Highly recommend going see for yourself.

But do not just walk around or you will not understand what you are looking for. Take the audio tour.

But first when you walk through, you will come into a big great room, with about 4 or 5 big screens which you can either watch further history on the prison or continue onwards. Brooke and I watched. It is about 30 minutes extra. So do not be in a rush.

The Big break, Friday May 3, 1946. A few prisoner cells had dummies in their bed to confused the guards while they made a break through into bailing Alcatraz.

Frank Sprenz and Harvy Carignan are still in prison.

Alcatraz Escapees are Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, and Frank Morris.

You also got to walk through the dining hall, the library, see where the warden used to live, the offices of all the guards, the visitor section where the prisoners got to see their loved ones, and many rows of cell blocks, and the yard.

Do not forget to finish the gift shop, there are a ton of goodies you can purchase to remember your trip to Alcatraz from newspapers from the big escape, tin cups, etc.

It was time to leave the Island. As it was 11:00 noon and we needed to be at Bike and Roll by 1.

Alcatraz - December 31, 2010
San Francisco New Years 2010
Contiki

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