ADIML: FEBRUARY 7, 2015 (SAN FRANCISCO, ALCATRAZ, AND AI WEI WEI) PART 1

This is Saturday, February 7, 2015! (PART 1)
A wonderful day in San Francisco spent with my best friends (who have all escaped to the Bay area). A visit to Alcatraz Penitentiary, and bar hopping with old friends, beers, and good brussel sprouts heyo.

Enjoy!

We drop up from Los Angeles the night before, and finally got in by 2 AM. It was kinda painful waking up so early, but we had to go move the car.

Waking up in a super cold, but light filled room – so fun!

Puffy face

Morning, my sweet Kikz!

We quickly threw on clothes and had to rush out to move the car.

We parked at a meter (yes, arriving at 2 am in the city does not leave many parking options)

Strut your mutt

Alright, officially re-parked

Neighborhood slowly waking up

Charging phones, changing layers, getting ready for the day

Looks relatively stormy today. The weather report kept flip flopping, was it going to be rainy or sunny…

Basically what I wear every day.

Face on, pimple out

Looking at transit to see the fastest bus to the Ferry Building

Cutie Colleena

“Who, me?”

Lauren joined us on our way to the Ferry Building. She’s all cool and San Franciscan and was on her way to get groceries from the farmer’s market

After we reached downtown we were suddenly very alone

Headed towards the waterfront!

Passed some adorable tourists (I assume) with matching hats/jackets

Wiggly bus shelter

The Ferry Building!

And the farmer’s market bustling

So many gorgeous stalls full of delicious looking things

But first, coffee.

RACHEL found us in the coffee line. Just in time!

Soft boiled egg INSIDE a muffin…

Pup watch 2015

Wandering around from stall to stall trying to figure out what to eat.

Selfie with a seagull

Finally decide on an open-faced sandwich with eggs and bacon on a yummy baguette

Mmmmm. That bacon was like…yeah. Lauren just got strips of bacon in a little foil wrapper.

UHHHH

Hi there lil’ dude!

We were running a bit behind so we gobbled down our food.

And ran to catch this tram as the doors were closing.

Kiki checking up on Aryn to make sure she’s nearby

Run Forrest!

Made it to Pier 33, aka where you embark on an Alcatraz adventure

Can I have this plant?

Zuli and Aryn met us just before we boarded the little ship

Ladies adventure to Alcatraz!

Zuli just met me recently, she’s flustered at the amount of candid photos I sneak

Oh hey there!

Reminds me of the little voyage you take in Animal Crossing to the island. And that turtle guy sings a weird song. Anybody? No? Okay

When your friends are glamorous and attractive

So excited to be here!

Dolphin sighting upon landing! (Those 2 little humps)

Overly friendly bird

We’re immediately told by a parks guide that this building is NOT the prison, and that we’d need to hike up the hill to the very top to get there.

Listening to the welcome speech/talk

Everybody taking a bathroom break quickly

And we’re off to the top of the hill!

At the top you get a free audio guide and everybody is directed and funneled to the “start” point. You press your play button ONCE and the entire audio guide tells you info AND acts as a tour guide, directing you to certain stopping points and cells.

Typical cell

It did get a bit crowded at times, but the tour does have you walk a lot, so you’ll keep pace with the same group of people.

The prison had “streets” named after major American streets, like Broadway.

3 levels of prison cells

Alcatraz was used as a prison for less than 30 years, and only housed approx 1,500 inmates. Only 41 people ever died on the island! Maybe I’m jaded because the two other prisons I’ve visited (if you count Mauthausen concentration camp as a “prison”) were so much more extreme.

Light in the D-Block section of the prison – “reserved for the worst inmates”.

Just a few of the folks held here, either in solitary confinement, isolation, or in the “holes”. Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud aka Birdman, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, etc etc…

Views from inside one of the “holes”, a cell with no light and that were kept much colder. You can read more about the harsh conditions on the wiki page.

Looking out of the tiny windows in D-Block

A nice view of the bay from the guard’s administration area

4 wardens from the 29 year run of the prison

Models!

Can’t beat that view. Pretty torturous if you’re confined to the island for years at a time though.

Ladies who audio guide together, stay together

Last view of San Francisco!

Learning of the story of the great escape. Heads sculpted out of papier-mache, human hair, and soap were used to trick the guards. Prisoners actually chiseled their way out of the vent in their cell and escaped during the night.