After breakfast at the hotel, we went to the Boudin Bakery to pick up our lunch that we planned to eat on Alcatraz Island! The Bakery is known for it's incredible sourdough bread, many that they shape into cool designs, and many a time, animals! There was a six-foot long alligator made entirely out of sourdough!
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| The cruise to Alcatraz Island! |
After grabbing our lunch, we went to Pier 33 where we waited to board our ferry to the island. Right before you board the boat they take a photo of you and your group (Ricki & I) and then tell you to pick it up at the end of your cruise...Quick tip: take your own photos because when we went to go pick up our photo, we found out that 'pick it up' meant 'pay 40 dollars for an insta-print photo'! Once on the ferry we enjoyed a sunshiny cruise to the island, while throughly enjoying the on-board entertainment: The 2 Italian divorcees talking about their ex-husbands!!
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| Jail yard and the view from the top of Alcatraz Island! |
Once we got to the island we decided that we were going to eat our lunches and then go explore. We sat up on the amphitheatre-style steps and watched a middle-school field trip group run around and play. After we finished up we hitched a ride on a golf cart train up to the top of the hill (where the jailhouse is) and took a tour. We opted to forgo the audio-tour and just explore by ourselves, which I would highly recommend to everyone. If you pick up all the pamphlets that you see around the island you learn all the same information without the weird audio reenactments of past prisoners.
Walking into the main jail hall just kind of knocks the wind out of you. It looks exactly like the Shawshank Redemption jail with it's 4 story-high ceilings and it's warehouse-sized room. It was just incredibly sad and disturbing to see where many people spent a large part of their lives. The cells were TINY: smaller than an a closet and with a metal bed, a sink, and a toilet. It was also very shocking to see how little privacy the inhabitants got. The cells had wide cross-hatched bars that let anyone see the entirety of the cell. It was like living in a glass box.
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| Alcatraz hospital and psych ward! |
The next part of the tour was particularly interesting because unlike many other people that visit Alcatraz, we got to see the hospital and psychiatric ward! Normally closed to the public, the ward was open during our visit due to a special exhibition...and I'm so glad that we got to experience it!
The ward was just as creepy as you can imagine. The rooms had a creepy yellowing hue and paint was peeling away from the walls and metal contraptions. All of it was just incredibly sad and lonely looking...the place was just a pit of despair.
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| Meeting former inmate William Baker! |
The absolute highlight of the day came when we went to exit through the gift shop. We were just going to take a peek around and see if there's anything interesting, but when we got into the centre of the room we noticed that there was a man sitting at a book signing table next to signs that said "William Baker Former Alcatraz Inmate"! We were astounded! What an incredible opportunity. We talked with him and took photos and it was an all-around surreal experience. One thing we were incredibly surprised about was that he was willing to come back to the place that kept him captive for 3 years. Ricki and I both talked about how if we had been prisoners we would never have been able to return to the place we were kept at, especially when it's been turned into a tourist attraction and with a gift shop where cells could have been.
After an exciting afternoon Ricki and I went to dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Unbeknownst to me, Ricki has actually seen Forest Gump more than any other movie, and is therefore a Forest Gump Trivia Aficionado! While people are waiting for their food the servers come around and to 'Gump Trivia' with the guests, and no matter how difficult the question was, Ricki answered it. Sometimes she didn't need to even hear the end of the question to know the answer! It was a truly hilarious experience.
After having some good food, we walked around Pier 39 and then decided to walk home.
On our way back we stopped at a grocery store, picked up some wine, and then had a fun evening in our hotel!
<3 Noelle
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