San Francisco. August 30, 2023

Today was the day we had planned for a tour of Alcatraz Penitentiary. It almost didn't happen! We discovered last night that our ferry tickets were for 10:30 AM, suggested arrival at 10.. With breakfast at 9 AM, it would be hard to get there without a car. Damon had planned to go with us, but his work load prevented it. I emailed the ticket office and found out that it was too late to change the tickets and that the purchaser of the tickets (Damon) had to be there to show ID for us to board the ferry!

We hired Sheila to take us to the ferry dock and Damon met us there on his bike. It was less time off from work to bike there than to try to drive through the morning traffic and park a car! 

We boarded the ferry without any trouble; it was a short ride across the bay to Alcatraz Island. We could see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Penitentiary as we approached the island.

We disembarked and were given a short talk by a park ranger. This is part of the National Parks system. We walked up the hill toward the main cell block to participate in a narrated walking tour. The narrators were former prisoners, guards and wardens; the fact that they lived here made the program very interesting.

There were open showers on the first floor as we entered the cellblock. The first passageway in the cellblock was Michigan Avenue! We toured the building, marveling at the small spaces these men lived in. The worst area was "The Hole", the solitary confinement area, where inmates spent 24 hours a day in darkness and isolation. 

The visitors' area was explained to us by a former inmate who described a visit here with his sister. The whole place gave me the chills. 

The audio tour also described the famous 1962 escape attempt. The realistic dummies crafted by the escapees are in their cells, and a guard who was on duty that morning described (on the audio program) discovering that the inmates were gone. The second photo below shows the escape tunnel in one of the cells. They enlarged the heating ducts by scraping away at them with a spoon stolen from the cafeteria. The heating duct led up to the roof of the cell block.  By placing dummies in their beds they were able to gain a 10 hour start before being reported missing. They were never found.

Back in the fresh air once again, I climbed the stairs to the level of the lighthouse.  I also checked out the recreation yard where inmates were able to play baseball and other games. Surprisingly enough, bridge (the card game) was a favorite recreation yard pastime.

I visited one of the gardens; this was a work project created to give inmates useful skills for the outside world. There are still remnants of the warden's residence standing, along with the guard tower and water tower. This site was originally a Civil War era US Army Base. There is little more than an armaments tunnel left from that era.

Julie and Dianne came back to the ferry docks area on a little cart--I did not ask questions. The view from the docks (and the prison) is spectacular. I can see why anyone incarcerated her would want to escape!

We walked from the San Francisco ferry dock to a restaurant for lunch (we were more than ready!) and then walked another half mile to catch the BART train back to the Mission District. We took Damon, Kirsten and Carson out for dinner--Dianne and I split the tab. It was a nice dinner, a pleasant way to end this trip. Julie and I walked back to the B and B and Dianne stayed to spend some grandma time with Carson before coming home later.