Escape TO Alcatraz!

After we left Muir Woods we travelled back to San Francisco and to Pier 33 where we took a tour boat into the bay and over to Alcatraz. If you ever get the chance to take the tour, I recommend it, it is really interesting. Did you know that in the 1970s, after Alcatraz had been closed for around a decade, native Americans claimed their right to the island under a law that permits them to occupy and government land that is deemed abandoned. Apparently they felt Alcatraz was abandoned and took it over for several years until they were given a university and something else in exchange for leaving. There is still graffiti on the water tower and buildings from that time. They also burned down several buildings while they were there too. Most fascinating!

The Rock - as seen from the deck of our ferry to the Island.

This is the burned out remnants of the warden's house with the lighthouse as a backdrop.

This is another building that suffered the the torch.

This is a shot of the fence as you walk back from the yard into the building with all the cells. This pretty much exemplifies the condition of a greater portion of everything on the island.

This was a small glass window that was in the library, if I remember correctly. What a tease! You look out this little porthole at downtown San Francisco which is about a mile away, while you are in a prison for the worst of the worst.

This is what is left of the warden's house. I imagine it was pretty palatial back in the day. From the outside it looked like it was pretty huge.

This was the office in the Administration area of the prison. it looks like when the prison was closed, they sealed it up and left it as is since Alcatraz closed.

These are representative of the typical cells in C-block. OK, seriously, if you ever felt like your living space was too small, have a look at this and feel better! I would go stark raving made couped up in this little box. And I won't even get started on having to crap in public!

This was a close up of part of the floor in the dining hall. It was really weird because it looked like someone laid burlap over the concrete and poured some kind of linoleum something over it. I have never heard of such a method, maybe it was to keep their feel warm in winter?

This was a view of a tanker meandering through the bay as seen from next to the prison block facing I believe Oakland.

This was a shot of the roof top of the electric shop (background) and the "rifle range" (foreground) with their moss covered roofs and ubiquitous seagulls.

Long before Alcatraz was a federal prison for the dregs of prison society, it was a military installation. This cannon is a remnant of that era. Looking down the sight line of this cannon, I am not really sure what it would have shot other than fish because it seemed to only aim at the water. I certainly hope this big wall wasn't there, otherwise cannon fire would have been futile of not hazardous!

This is another shot of the burned out warden's house and the lighthouse with the sun gently setting in the background.

A lovely shot of downtown San Francisco as the sun sets on our way back from Alcatraz.