No trip to San Francisco would be complete without a trip to Alcatraz. So I ordered tickets online and got us an early time to get on the Alcatraz boat. I assumed we would be able to take the ferry into the city again but I found out that the ferry didn’t run early enough for us to make it in time to catch the boat to Alcatraz. So, we had to ride the bus into the city. This wasn’t that big of a deal because the bus stop was closer to the campground than the ferry and we would be going over the Golden Gate Bridge.
One of us was very eager so early in the morning. We only waited about 5 minutes and our bus arrived.
Here it is…..We got on, paid our fare and away we went.
It was a great ride and we all got to enjoy the sights.
There is the city. Then before I knew it we were at the Golden Gate Bridge.
This is the only picture I got from the bus……
Haha! It all happened so fast and before I knew it we were off.
I hope to be able to explore the bridge more the next time we go. Anyway, our bus stop was close to the Ferry Building and the Alcatraz building is just a short walk from there.
Ta-da….it took us about 5 minutes to walk to the building and after we showed our tickets we boarded the Alcatraz Flyer.
The ride out was gorgeous! The day was beautiful and we were excited to explore.
Leaving San Fran….
passing the Golden Gate….
and arriving at Alcatraz. We got off the boat and there was lady telling us about the different parts of the island and when Micheal heard there was a movie that’s the first place we went. Micheal loves to watch historical movies…..and youtube…Haha.
Along the way to the first building we saw signs welcoming the Indians. 
I didn’t understand this until we watched the film and during the 1970’s someone came up with the bright idea to let the Indians live on the island. It didn’t last long because duh…..The buildings were all ready showing signs of wear which is why they moved the prisoners out about 10-15 years earlier. Another interesting fact was that families lived on the island with the inmates…..
One woman who grew up on the island said she never saw any of the prisoners, but would occasionally hear them if they got riled up.
When we finished the film, we headed towards the prison. We were quite surprised to find so many stairs and hills to climb. 
Once we made it to the top of the stairs, we were treated to an amazing view.
There is a society that keeps the grounds up and there are several species of birds living on the island.
We made our way into the prison and got our headsets for the audio tour. This is included in the price of the ticket and we were excited to hear more about this place.
First place is the shower room. Yikes!
Then, we headed into the cell halls and the audio told us to head down Michigan Avenue. All the halls are labeled so it made it very easy to get around.
The only problem with an audio tour was we kept losing Micheal.
Mike and I would stop to talk about some of the things we were hearing and the next thing you know Micheal would be gone.
Lost in his own audio world.
We came across the poster of the famous inmates. 
Maybe Al Capone thought he was going to an island resort. He looked very happy in his mugshot.
Another interesting fact we learned was that the inmates kept themselves very busy by crocheting, knitting, and drawing. Several inmates were allowed instruments and would play into the night entertaining the other inmates.
The inmates could also hear the New Year’s Eve celebrations from across the bay. This was the view from a window that the prisoners could look out of.
We learned of two incidents in the prison. First, was a hostile takeover. This incident was so bad that the military showed up and had to cut holes in the ceiling where the prisoners were holding some of the guards hostage……
This room was gated all around….
and at the very top was the hole.
Grenades were dropped from the ceiling and landed on the floor all around the prisoners….
The white spots are where the grenades went off…..this is very exciting stuff for Micheal!
Then there was the time four inmates used a spoon to dig a hole through the wall. These men made paper mache heads and attached real hair from their haircuts to the fake heads. They put these dummies in the beds and fooled the guards. This is like MacGyver!
We didn’t get to see the real heads used for the escape but we did see a remake of one. This was one of the actual cells.
I could see how this worked for the men.
Here is another hole that had been dug out. Once they got through the hole they were able to climb in between the walls and out of the building. After that nobody knows what happened to them. One theory is that one of the men who had been learning Spanish possibly made it to South America.
As we headed out of the cell house….
we came to the kitchen and cafeteria.
You can see the knife silhouettes were painted on the wall. The inmates would help in the kitchen and this was how the cooks knew that all the knives had been replaced. We also got to see where the inmates had there dental exams….
and their surgeries, if needed. I don’t think they gave out free tooth brushes and stickers here!
After heading through the rest of the building we made it outside….and thats when I felt like this could have been a very peaceful place for these poor men.
I love how you can see the streets in perfect little lines. 
I love all the sailboats. Here is a video I took….
WOW!! So we didn’t get to see everything at Alcatraz because it was getting late in the day and we wanted to see one more thing in San Francisco …Lombard Street. We got back on the boat, got back to San Fran and followed our google map to this famous street. Little did we realize we were headed straight up!
Once at the top of this first hill, we took a break.
We clearly weren’t done climbing.
Micheal told us that this street better be worth seeing after climbing all the streets…..
Just to give you an idea of what kind of crazy people we are. Yes we know there are cable cars but they were so packed we didn’t want to cram ourselves in. We finally made it!
I think someone is happy to see it! Micheal on the other hand was not as excited. Especially, after we told him we were climbing to the top of Lombard street so we could see the view up there. 
Here is some video I shot. Traffic probably wouldn’t be so bad if the people didn’t stand in the middle of the road. But that’s just my own opinion.
He did walk up, with the promise of eating afterwards. I don’t know how the owners of the houses feel about all the foot traffic but we were happy to have the chance to explore the street. This was at the top of the street.
Once we got to the top, we saw the cable car. Haha, that’s when I had to confess to Micheal that we could have taken the cable car. I am pretty sure he won’t ever let me forget this afternoon.
After all this climbing we were hungry so we headed toward Ghirardelli Square to eat dinner. I thought the option for a chocolate sundae would be good after a long day. So down the hills we went. 
Such a beautiful city and the views never disappointed us.
The square was filled with restaurants and shops. We chose to eat at The Pub for some BBQ. 
It was pretty good. When we finished eating I was to full for ice cream…so sad. We were all pretty tired so we decided to head back to the ferry. No bus trip back for us. It was good but not as comfortable as the ferry. 
Along the way we passed Fisherman’s Wharf.
There were shops and restaurants along this street. We did get to see the famous Boudin Bakery. They have been making sourdough bread since 1849 and they make delicious animal shaped bread.
I loved our visit to San Francisco! I hope to return and see more of this gorgeous city!
The Patricks take on Alcatraz 2015
Next up we start heading home..first stop, Nevada
that night.
