San Francisco- Day 3 (Sept 9th)

We started out the morning quickly packing up the car. On the way to Pier 33 for the Alcatraz cruise we stopped at a little Cafe (hole in the wall) for a quick breakfast. It was at the corner of Chestnut and Van Ness. It was wonderful. Fresh squeezed oj! You cant beat that. Because the weather was pleasant we decided to walk down to Pier 33 (about 15 blocks across and 5 or 6 down to the water).

On the way we saw people swimming in the bay (well a slightly closed off portion near one marina). It was part of a Swimming club that has been established in the late 1800s. Oh- it is cold and we saw a guy in a speedo about to hop in. NO WAY!

Finally, 9:30am we boarded the cruise. It was a quick trip to The Rock! I cannot even explain how great it was... more then I imagined.

The audio tour was wonderful- they actually had ex-prisoners, guards, and children from the families talk on the tour. What you are about to see is the following: The Morgue, Cell Block Broadway, some Famous Inmates, an escape route that was dug out by spoons (there were 3 guys and they were never found), the command center, and the kitchen.

There is so much history about the island that people do not know. Originally, it was used by the US military as a fortress to guard the bay. The theory was- whoever controlled the Bay, controlled California. It was then transposed into the prison. They had Capone, who was brought in via train to the port and the train was put on a barge to sail to the island for fear he would escape, The Birdman, and Machine Gun Kelley. When the Island was closed in 1962 (too much $ to keep it up) it was quickly inhabited by the Indians. Because of their protest many laws about Indian reservations were changed. However, since the 70s it has been part of a growing tour (averaging 300 people per 1/2 hr). I must say they have done a great job to preserve the land and keep everything as real as possible.

After we finished with the island we took the cab back to the Cafe for lunch. Once we finished we hit to road for Yosemite via Lombard St for a better picture and the Bay Bridge (a 2 story bridge).

Oh and we saw Rob Schnieder at a Cafe in the Financial District. Yes I know it is a bad picture, but it was him. Funny thing is... we were on the plane with Eddie Griffin when leaving Norfolk. It was a Deuce Bigalow movie weekend.