Alcatraz

We had a fun trip to Alcatraz today. None of us had ever been before.

The ferry ride takes about 10 minutes from Pier 33 in San Francisco.




Owen and Dan did the audio (with headphones) tour of the prison. Douglas and I wandered around without guidance, but the island and the prison are not very big so it's not hard to do a self-guided tour.






Dan with the boys








There were lots of sailboats out on the bay today. It was pretty foggy when we left but by the middle of the day it had cleared up.





The prison itself. There are several other buildings on the island - the power plant, some apartments (guards and administrators and their families lived there, along with their children; we saw a short movie about Alcatraz when we arrived that showed pictures of the kids who lived on the island playing and taking a boat to school), the laundry building, and so forth. The prison really wasn't all that big (300 cells).




When we arrived off the boat, there was a tour guide giving people information about Alcatraz and about the tours. Douglas decided to show off by climbing around by his feet in front of the crowd. Luckily he didn't get stepped on.








Inside cell block A. There are 4 blocks about this size in the building. One small part is the "hole" where they punished the worst prisoners.






A view of San Francisco from outside the prison








Douglas and Dan waiting in line to get on the ferry









View of the island from the ferry







Dan enjoying the journey.