San Francisco: Exploring Alcatraz

Waaaaay back in December I hopped on a plane (or two…or four really, if we’re counting the return trip) and flew cross country to visit my awesome friend Liz out in San Francisco. Between fluctuating ticket prices, arrival times, and my own concern about jet lag (How early did we end up going to bed in Vegas?) I ended up flying in a day early, which left me with some wandering time by myself while Liz and Kevin were off at work.

My options were this: chill in the apartment by myself all day reading, or do my best not to get too lost and be a tourist.

I decided to be a tourist.

Alcatraz from a distance.

Alcatraz from a distance.

Let me begin by saying that if you’ve never read Gennifer Choldenko’s book Al Capone Does My Shirts it’s fantastic, you should get your hands on a copy.  Yes, it’s a kids book, but it won a Newbery, and, if that isn’t reason enough, it has one of my favorite endings of pretty much any book ever.  It just does.  And if you know me, you know how much I read, so that’s saying a lot.

Of course the book is set in Alcatraz.  You see that rock jutting up out of the water amidst all that gray ugliness?  That’s Alcatraz.  Now take a look at all that gray ugliness…yep that’s really misty rain.  I was cold.  I was wet. But it was so worth it in the end.

This is really the first big building you see when the ferry drops you off on the island.  The “INDIANS WELCOME” was added during the Indian occupation that lasted from 1969 to 1971, technically the third Indian occupation.  Though the first one was rather short lived.  (This article by the National Park Service explains it all pretty well, if you, like me, thought the only ones ever to occupy the island were the prisoners, those who worked there, and their families).

Yes, families lived on the island with their children(Al Capone Does My Shirts actually focuses on the kids that lived on the island when it was still a prison).  That ruined looking building on top of the hill next to the lighthouse, is the warden’s house which burned down in 1970 during the  occupation.

I wish I had gotten better pictures of the gardens; although I think the rocky green hillsides and ruins look pretty cool.  I remembered to bring my umbrella, so I explored to my hearts content, and tried my best to learn things. There were actually gardens on the island, if you’ll believe it.  The military first occupied Alcatraz as a fortress, and then around 1861 they began turning it into a military prison.  Sometime around 1865 (according to the Gardens of Alcatraz website) they got it in their heads that the island could certainly be prettier, so they began to bring in soil from other places (Alcatraz isn’t nicknamed “the rock” because of its fertile soil…just saying) and planting things.  The gardens were maintained until the prison closed in ’63.

As you’re walking around outside, you do get to see a lot of untamed greenery, but there are actually areas where the gardens have been restored thanks to the efforts of the Garden Conservancy, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and the National Park Services which began in 2003.  If you’re interested in seeing what it looks like, check out the link up above.  Beautiful gardens just aren’t something I expected to see while touring a prison.

The prison does in fact have an inside.  I may have taken a few wrong turns while wandering around outside.  It took me forever to get to the audio tour but I got there eventually.  Above is the cafeteria.

Around the library area.  You can see the rows of cells through the bars.

The Recreation Yard.

Rows of cells and the visitors area.  If you click on the far right picture you can read all the rules and regulations for visitors.

And I might be totally weird, but I really like the broken glass photos.  They make me feel kind of artsy.  I don’t actually remember what that building was though.

Eventually I decided that I was tired, cold and hungry, so I hopped back on the ferry to the mainland.  Next post I’ll take you guys to Pier 39 to visit the sea lions.  I loved the sea lions… <3

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