No Escape... It's Alcatraz Today

Well an early start for us today we have to collect our bus and Alcatraz tickets from near the Wharf area. Disappointment first the mighty Foxes have been humbled 4-1 at Manchester United and Claudio is being criticised for taking Vardy and Mahrez off, have people forgotten we have a Champions League game against FC Porto at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday Night?? Anyway by 8am we are down in the lobby getting instructions as to where we can catch the bus to get to the wharf. Bus caught and we are in the ticket office by 8.50am. Tickets collected we are on the 1.30pm tour so need to be at Pier 33 by 1pm. Tickets sorted our thoughts turn to breakfast....another new food outlet for us, it's Jack In The Box this morning. I had the breakfast platter, bacon,scrambled eggs, hash brown, and pancakes with whipped butter and Syrup. Donna had the Ultimate Breakfast Roll, Bacon, 2 Eggs, 2 Slices cheese and 2 Slices of Ham. Very good!!
Well we are in the Fisherman's Wharf area and we move onto Pier 39, one of the highlight areas of San Francisco, the pier is retail and restaurants predominantly with busking areas and viewing areas along the way. As well as being home to San Francisco's Sea Lion colony. The sea lions are fun to watch posturing, barking and sparring with each other despite it being almost totally a male population. I would guess we can see getting on for 80 or so Sea lions, in mid winter there will be approximately 500. The retail is varied Christmas Shop, Irish Shop, Chocolate Shop, Numerous Souvenir Shops, Shell Shop, Art Shop, Western Clothes Shop etc.etc.

It's Saturday and even early on it's fairly busy. Whilst in the area we see a few vintage Fire Engines and soon we realise that there is a parade of San Francisco Fire Dept. vehicles and personnel. We took lots of pics but it soon became clear that this parade was going to take some time.......something that is now in very short supply for us! Reluctantly we pulled ourselves away to find out where we had to catch our Alcatraz boat. We soon found Pier 33 but only after Donna got suckered by another free Gift!! This time it's a Car Sticker the charming gentleman eventually explained he worked for a homeless / soup kitchen charity... $2 later we were on our way....at least it was a charity this time lol.
After the inevitable queue we were on the ferry out to the island... Lot's of rules and regulations about what you can and can't do...but nothing to spoil our day. We were lucky enough to tag on to a volunteers historical tour. Our guide explained the total history of the

rock. From Fort to Military Prison to it's end use. The Super Prison to deter "Celebrity Criminals" like Al Capone who was one of the first Prisoners Az 85 was his number if memory serves. For security purposes, as his end destination had become public knowledge, Capone was transported across the country via a confusing route on the railroad. This train with it's cargo was codenamed the furniture And at each checkpoint along the way " The furniture has arrived" was the signal that all was ok. From getting on this train, near his previous Atlanta Prison, to stepping onto the rock Capone did not leave the train, the final leg of this journey was even on a barge that carried Capone's train carriage across the bay. Many of the escape attempts were explained especially the 1962 attempt, immortalised by the Clint Eastwood film, you can still see where the bars had to be rewelded after the attempt. After this we had the audio tour of the Prison this was narrated by past prisoners and guards and along with the sound effects really gave you a feel for what it must have been like

to be imprisoned here. Before we knew it the time was 5.30pm just a quick blast in the gift shop then off to catch the 5.55pm ferry back to the mainland. Although it was hot on the mainland 86F it was a lot cooler and quite breezy on the Rock. Once back on dry land we pick up the obligatory photo before we head off back to Pier 39 to pick up a couple of bits we had seen earlier... oh and grab a hot dog from Nathans Hot Dogs, I had the Footlong Hotdog and Donna had the Jumbo Hotdog.... Sweet Relish and Ketchup lovely. Donna fancied some fruit, the fruit on the stall looks fantastic but Donna thought it was expensive I thought it was about right for the quality of the fruit, one peach,one doughnut, one plum and one banana $8!!! I had thought it was priced per kg but it was per pound, the guy asked if we were english and then gave me a 50p piece so that was a plus,the fruit was extremely tasty.Now in the dark and lit up the pier is really pretty and very busy.

We start looking for the bus back to near our hotel. After much tooing and froing we find the bus stop. Finally dropped off near our hotel we nip to the shop across the road to grab a couple of beers to take back. In our room at 9.20pm, a mere 13 hours we have been out and about. So I'm getting a little thirsty and my friend Bud is glistening near by so it's time to sign off for the night but not before realising that back home it's now the 25th September so Happy Birthday Suzanne xx.