On the third day, I got up early and queued for the cable car to Fisherman’s Wharf.  You need to be there before 8:30am to beat the huge queues (hundreds of people) that form, mostly of tourists.  The locals only seem to use the service outside of peak hours.

I then went to the Blue-Gold Fleet tour office and picked up my ticket to Alcatraz at 9:30am, as they opened.  They were selling the last ticket for the first tour just then.  You should really pre-book your Alcatraz tour on the internet.

View Of Alcatraz From Per 41

I then got breakfast at a Rocket’s Diner (just like Eddie Rocket’s in Dublin).

Then it was off to Alcatraz Island.  The queue to board the boat was pretty long.  They take your photo as you board.  You can buy the photo when you return to dry land.

Coit Tower from the ferry.

As you approach Alcatraz ... "Warning: Persons procuring or concealing escape of

prisoners are subject to prosecution and imprisonment".

Alcatraz Prison postcard.

This is a post card that depicts “Broadway” in the Alcatraz cell house.  It’s a surprisingly small prison.  It held the very worst federal prisoners, usually those who were either infamous or had tried to escape previously.  Famous tenants include Al Capone (who died of Syphilis in his mansion in Florida after compassionate early release), “Machine Gun” Kelly and the famous Birdman (who had no birds in Alcatraz and was actually a sociopath).

At the end you can just make out the clock (Time Square) and the gun cages, where guards walked in a barred off are with weapons.  Beyond Time Square is the canteen.  It featured gas release canisters that could be used to quash any riots in the canteen.  To the left of Time Square is the exercise yard which has a teasing view of the north and west bay.  To the left of the foreground are the library and “the hole”.  The hole features 6 cells that had an extra door to seal of all light.  A prisoner would be kept in there until they had “calmed down” or an extra punishment had been served.

Behind the picture are the visitor section, the offices and the entrance to the cell block.

Lighthouse on Alcatraz

When you buy a ticket to Alcatraz you get the choice of two types of ticket.  You can get the standard ticket or a ticket with Audio tour.  You should always get the audio tour.  When you land on the dock (loads of flys!) you are greeted by a ranger who will describe what is available to you and where you should not go for safety reasons.  You are then brought up the hill a little bit at a time.  At every stop the ranger will talk about thier subject.   Different tours have different topics.  A different ranger greets each boat.   You can stay all day long and catch all the tours if you wish.

The Eastern Bay and a US Ranger leading a tour.

I was luck to get a great tour.  Our ranger was an ex-cop who was talking about the history of atempted escapes from Alcatraz.   Some of the stories are hilarious (like the guy who slowly stole a US army uniform to get onto an army transport).  He was caught when the boat stopped at the next island (Angel Island which is also a prison and also has tours like on Alcatraz).   This ranger was brilliant.  The tour is well worht joining.

2 "furnished" cells.

You are brought as far as the cell house.   It's pretty small.  I was expecting a huge prison.  Alcatraz is a work in progress.  The National Parks Service is trying to renovate the whle island.   There was a lot of construction going on while I was there.  They like it when Hollyweird wants to make a movie there.  The reason is pretty simple.  Hollywood needs to use props because the prison has none of the old stuff there anymore.  When the film crew leaves, they usually leave the props behind which can then be used on displays.

Some famous inmates: George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Al "Scarface" Capone,

Robert "Birdman of Alcatraz" Stroud, Meyer "Mickey" Cohen, Alvin "Creepy"

Karpis and Arthur "Doc" Barker.

Some famous residents have a lot of myths surrounding them, mostly thanks to Hollyweird.  Al Capone was arrested and improsoned for tax evasion.  He died at his mansion in Florida from Gonoreah.  He was released early for compassionate reasons.... he was a dribbling mess that need 24 hour attention and pampers.

The Bird Man of Alcatraz, Robert Stroud, was not a nice guy as he is protrayed in the movies.  He was a murderous sociopath.   He did not keep birds at Alcatraz.  He actaully was kept in the most secure part of the prison, just above the solitary cells, where he would have a lot of attention from the guards.  He did keep Crows or Ravens at his previous prisons.

Alcatraz was a federal prison for trouble makers.  Guys who caused trouble elsewhere or tried to escape ended up in Alcatraz.   They either died there, died in the bay or were released.

The view of the city that the prisoners had.

As you can see it's a long way.  The water is also freezing.  The islalnd is near the mouth of the bay and gets a lot of icy cold water from the North Pacific.  Officially, no one escaped alive fromt eh prison.   I forget the exact number, but around 14 people are missing and presumed dead (drowned).  There's proabably a reward for them.

The Golden Gate Bridge as seen from Alcatraz.

You can walk around the prison, half way around the island, and into the prison yard.  There's two shops (one with camera gear) and another with the usual tourist merchandise.  There were more restirctions than usual on that day.  It was Columbus day which is a day of preotest for the Native Americans.  Alcatraz has been a site of protest for them since they occupied the island for a number of months to gain some civil rights.  A number of video screens and one of the original protestors are one hand to explain everything.  The Park Service provides space for the protest every year and guarentee them some privacy.

Once I had my fill of Alcatraz it was back to the mainland.

The USS Pampanito.

I decided to head west along the piers.   The USS Pamponito is docked just 5 minutes from Pier 39.  It's an old WWII submarine that served int he Pacific and had a number of Kills.  You get and audio tour (MP3 player that angs around your neck with a head set) which is self paced.   You climb in at the stern and work your ways forward thourgh the engine room, crew quarters, kitchen/canteen, command centre, comms and officers quarters and the forward torpedo room.  Some of the more interesting things are sealed/walled off with glass.   I would have liked to get further into the torpedo room, into the conning tower and onto the deck gun.  You exit up near the bow, forward of the deck gun.  It was really interesting.  I can't imagine how 90 people lived on this thing.  It was so small.  All the crap you see in movies with people running through rooms and sections is bull.  The corridors are so narrow that a large person would have to walk sideways to get through a corridor.  The doorways that seprate the rooms are quite small (around 2 and a half feet tall) so you wouldn't run through them!

After the Pamponito I continued West.  I picked up a hot dog for a late lunch.  I headed towards Ghiradeli Square.  I stopped off at a Starbucks for a takeaway Cappucino.  You are definitely out of fashion if you walk around San Francisco without a Starbucks takeaway coffee cup in your hand.  The peirs are a real tourist trap.  Loads of junk merchandise stores.   Lot's of bad T-Shirts.  This was ticking me off because I needed to buy some T's before leaving San Fran.  I had come over witha  half empty bag hoping to buy cheap American clothes.  By the way, watch your belongings closely along the piers.  I saw three gang-bangers sprinting away with a handbag which didn't quite fit in with their black Oakland Raiders clothing.

I arrived in Ghiradeli.  What a mellow place.  It's a shopping center that made from old red brick.  It's a staggerd contruction, with shops hidden all over tha place.  It's a place where you'll need a damed good credit card!  There are loads of plants and placed to sit and chill!   I found a small T-Shirt store hidden away right at the back of the mall.  It had great T's at a great price.  I found one classic that read something like "Alcatraz Mental Ward Parollee #376234".  Loads of people came up to me in other places to ask about it!

I went for a walk around the square.  If you want to pick up some cheap art then you can come here.  Loads of artists have their merchandise on display.  It remnded me of Sunday mornings at Merrion Square in Dublin.  It's a nice little small park.  It's also where one of the turntables for the Powell St lines is located.  I joined the queue and 45 minites later was heading towards California St.  The wait here was enjoyable!  There was a busker who told really bad jokes but did a great job at entertaining the crowd.  He plaeyed loads of popular songs on his guitar and got a dollar from most of the queing passengers.   There was also another guy who called himself "Escape Man".  He was in a straight jacket and chains.  He had everyone cracking up for 5 minutes.

I caught the car and got off at  the junction of Californaia and Powell.  I then caught a car down to the Embarcadero Center which is in the Finance district.  It was disappointing.  There was a SF Giants store there but that was it.  I ended up catching a car back to Powell and wandering around Union Sqaure again.  I ducked into a bookstore on Powell and bought a Rand McNally Roat Atlas.  I got dinner and settled in for the Monday night NFL game at 5:00PM.