21 June - First Trip Downtown SF and Alcatraz

21 June
Did not get this posted last night as we were lat(er) getting back to the RV after our big day and had some technical issues with the network.  I have a wireless network inside our RV including a network hard drive which is where I upload all of our pictures.  For some reason it was operating at a snail's pace last night and it took me a while to sort it out.

So yesterday (Wednesday 21 June) we got up really early (0500 hrs) as we had to drop off the dog at 0630 hrs at doggie day care.  Again, very impressed with this place.  Very professional, clean, etc.  We actually got in there about 0625 hrs and were out of there in just a few minutes.  We headed to Vallejo CA where the ferry departs for San Francisco and the drive was unbelievably quick.  There was quite a bit of traffic but it was all moving at over 60MPH, so, again, we got to Vallejo way ahead of our planned time.  Once at Vallejo I drove right to the end parking spot I had scoped out in advance for our big ol' RAM truck and walked to the ferry terminal.  We had bought our tickets in advance to expedite things so all in all, we gained a couple hours.  What that did was allowed us to get on a much earlier ferry.

The ferry ride was quite nice, but completely full.  Morale of the story, arrive early and get in line soon.  Once on-board, the seats are wide-spaced, the area well-ventilated and many amenities such as an on-board snack bar with a good variety of items including wine, cocktails and beer, etc.  Another nice feature is a video screen that displays a graphical map of the vessel's location, water depth, heading, etc

The Golden Gate Bridge from the ferry as we approached San Francisco harbor from Vallejo.

The pier numbering at San Francisco starts at the main ferry building.  This boulevard in front of this is called the Embarcadero.  The odd numbered piers go north and the even numbered piers go south.  We were originally supposed to arrive at pier 41 (far north), but because we took an earlier ferry we came into the main ferry building, which is kind of in the middle.  After we exited the ferry we quickly found the Muni-Metro cable car right out front and for a $2.50 flat rate road the "F"Line to pier 41 where all the shops are, near Fisherman's Wharf.  (We also talked with the cable car operator a bit and found out we will want to get on the "E" Line Saturday to get down to AT&T Park for the ball game, still $2.50 flat rate.  Good to know in advance.

Once at Fisherman's Wharf it was still kind of early so some of the shops and restaurants were not open yet, but we walked around and enjoyed what we could see.  There are many attractions here including "Ripley's Believe It or Not", "Madame Tussaud's", etc but we have seen those at other places so we did not go in.

One of the fruit markets 

One of the sights we walked around was the USS Pampanito submarine and a memorial to the submariners that perished during WWII.  There was also a WWII cargo ship on display, but Doreen and I have toured vessels like this before, including last year on the east coast, so we passed on the $20 per head per vessel ($80 total) admission and just looked them over from the pier.

USS Pampanito submarine

A view of Alcatraz from the pier.  More later on Alcatraz where we visit "The Rock".

A display of munitions including some torpedo's and this depth charge

Silly Nana!

Memorial for the 52 WWII submariners who gave the ultimate sacrifice

We continued walking around and found Pier 33 where our ferry will depart for Alcatraz after lunch.  They had a nice scale model of Alcatraz island that explained what the various buildings are.  It was helpful to review this in advance of our visit.

It was approaching lunchtime so he headed back to Pier 39 and found the Wipeout Bar and Grill.

After lunch we headed for Pier 33 to get in line for our ferry to Alcatraz.  We bought our tickets several months ago as we had been warned you cannot just walk up to the ticket booth and expect to get a seat.  As of today the next available seat for a daytime visit is 17 July and for the nighttime ferry is mid-August!  Glad we got our tickets when we did.

We boarded on-time and the ferry ride out was quick.  I'll estimate there were 200 people on-board with us.

 We exited the ferry along with the 199 others and then we were greeted by a National Park Service representative who briefed us on the rules for the park.  After that we were directed to the audio tour starting point where they issue your headphones and audio device.

Writing on the wall behind the sign is from when the Indians took over Alcatraz in 1969

Our National Park Sevice briefing

<Emotion alert!>  From this point forward we were GREATLY disappointed.  The audio tour was supposed to be the highlight but it sucked, no other words to describe it.  Two things that sucked:  (1) the audio devices themselves were terrible; and (2) there was no map that correlated the audio recordings with the locations:

The audio recordings were supposed to be marked by numbered locations.  i.e. when you see Location #4 you press #4 on your device and the play button.  The problem I saw was there was no map of these audio location numbers, and with 200 people all jammed into the main prison building trying to see the sights and hear the audio, it was gridlock and confusion.  Some were moving, most were not.  Most were listening and not paying attention to anything else, including where they were going or where they were standing.  Plus our audio devices did not want to cooperate.  Arg!  Being a "comm guy" I can usually navigate "comm systems" pretty well, but I have yet to ever find one of these audio tours that is worth a darn.  Again, VERY DISAPPOINTING.  Doreen and I both gave up on the headphones part way through and finished our touring on our own.  Luckily there was no extra charge for the headphone devices.

The facility itself is absolutely amazing.  The history here goes back to the 1800's as a military facility and there are places where you can still see that.

Tracks in the floor where guns used to rotate

The history as a prison is also incredible.  It was closed in 1963 but they have done a nice job preserving it and there are more renovations and preservations in the works.  Doreen found the Alcatraz lighthouse and she got her passport book stamped.  Score!

Doreen in front of the lighthouse

Zoomed in at the base of the lighthouse

Here are a few of about a hundred pictures I took:

One of the guard towers

The Guard House and Sally Port where the prisoners were unloaded

Exiting the Guard House and Sally Port.

Post Exchange and Officer's Club which burned in 1970.

Graffiti on the water tower from the Indian occupation 

The morgue

The shower facility.  There was only one knob - cold!

The cell blocks, three levels

The cells were not very big.  Notice the vent hole under the sink.  This is where they picked away at the decaying concrete and escaped, visible in the movie "The Rock".

Many of the beds have been removed

Here is one with a bed in it

Some of the very bad hombres that did a stint here.  Al Capone, "Machine Gun" Kelly, "Doc" Barker,  "Creepy Karpis" Karpavicz, "The Birdman" Stroud, "Bumpy" Johnson, "Mickey" Coher

A cell within a cell - solitary confinement.

Visitation, from the inmate side

The utilities area on the back side of the cells, where the great escape happened

Tear gas dispensers in the ceiling of the dining hall in case of a riot.

"Machine Gun" Schellhase locked up and throw away the key!

Many of the areas were restricted because of nesting birds.

So we made our ways around and through the buildings that we accessible and then headed back to the ferry.  The line was of course very long but we got in and headed back to San Francisco, arriving back at Pier 33.  We then made our way back to the cable car and headed to the main ferry building.  Unfortunately our ferry back to Vallejo departed early so we ended up waiting 45 minutes for the next one, which was not bad.

The trip back to Petaluma was quick.  We stopped to pick up Liberty at the doggie daycare and got back to the RV after 8pm.  On the way back, as we entered the main gate we saw Thanksgiving dinner walking around the base like they owned the place!

It was a great day and we enjoyed all the sights we saw.  Well worth the trip, but if you go, don't get your expectations set too high on the audio tour portion.

Tomorrow (actually today since I am writing this the next morning), is a down day.  We will probably do some shopping in downtown Petaluma and take it easy.  The Cubs play at 6pm I believe.  Now, is that Eastern?  Central?  Mountain?  Pacific?