Day 2...and day 3

Day 2: I was horribly sick and we spent the whole day in the hotel room. :(

Day 3: Today we went up to San Francisco.  We left early to walk around the Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 where I found a store just for me.

 

Then we headed to Pier 33 for the Alcatraz Tour.  It was incredible. Possibly my favorite part of the whole trip.  

 This is a view looking back at the main cell house from the recreation yard.

Some of the cells were open including the isolation cells. 

The isolation cells were located on D block, but were completely enclosed.  No bars, no windows, no light.  They weren't given beds, but only a blanket if they were lucky.  One of the inmates recorded on the audio tour said he passed the time by ripping a button off his shirt and throwing it in the air, then crawling around to look for it.

  

The cafeteria

Here is one of the cells from the famous escape attempt.  They actually scraped away the wall of the cell around the vent with a spoon swiped from the cafeteria.

Each of these cells (in the B and C block) were only 5' across and 9' deep.  I'm not sure why exactly, but if you were a difficult prisoner you were moved to D block as punishment, but the cells were bigger there. hmmm?

After Alcatraz we drove down Lombard Street, the "crookediest" street in America

Finally, we headed off to the Cliff House for dinner which once looked like this

...and now looks like this.

Isn't it heartbreaking? Still, it was a nice end to a day.  Be warned, though your definitely paying for the view.  The food is expensive and mediocre at best.

To be continued...again.