Monday, June 10, 2013

Alcatraz!

It is my strong belief that when you live somewhere you should explore the area in depth, and know not only the cool things to do, but the history as well. It always saddens me to hear of someone having lived in an area for 5-10 years and still not knowing about the history or cool things around them. Having said that, Andy and I put our tourist shoes on and went to Alcatraz!


Alcatraz was so neat! I am not a huge history buff or even one for enjoying overly touristy things, but this was COOL! It was as touristy and history filled as you wanted it to be, which I appreciated. We took a boat out to the tiny island and upon getting off the boat we could do whatever we wanted. We had four hours of time on the island, of which we could take a boat back at any time. Time on the island could be spent following a tour guide, doing an audio tour only in the prison, following a pamphlet walking tour, or just wandering around on your own.


Andy and I decided to skip the tour guide and do our own thing. We were pretty excited to see the inside of the prison so we went straight up to the top of the island where the prison sat. There, we did an audio tour which guided us through the prison telling us stories and bits of history. It was VERY interesting, I loved it! I wish I could remember all the cool facts that were given, but alas I cannot. You will just have to experience the audio tour for yourself.

(Inside an Alcatraz cell)
After our audio tour of the prison we decided to wander the island on our own. Aside from the wardens huge house in ruins, we happened upon beautiful gardens. The gardens on Alcatraz surprised me the most. I had no idea that it was such a beautiful little island. Most of the time you think of Alcatraz just as a prison, but this island was so much more. It was a small town of sorts where all the prison guards and their families lived.

(This picture is an interesting contrast of beautiful gardens and the prison in the background.)

Andy and I had so much fun on our Alcatraz tour and now we know even more about the Bay Area. It was such a fun trip and I would recommend it to everyone. During the audio tour we heard something about the mess-hall being famous for serving spaghetti, so when we got home we made spaghetti and watched the old 'Escape from Alcatraz' movie. It was a great way to end our day visiting Alcatraz.

(Not sure exactly what this was, but it doesn't look like fun.)
(Checking out prison cells on the audio tour.)
(The outdoor area where prisoners could exercise and/or play games. It looks sunny, but was windy and freezing cold!!)
(Solitary confinement. They shut us in there for 5-minutes, it was blackout with no sound. Kind of crazy.)
(A view of San Francisco from Alcatraz.)
(Beautiful gardens with exotic birds roaming them.)
(Unfortunately Alcatraz is falling apart. Most of the island is in ruins.)

*If you decide to check out Alcatraz for yourself dress WARM. It was windy and freezing cold on the island. We were warm enough, but left early due to having the chills.*

1 comment:

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