Phew – made it here – and early too. We sailed in around 7 – in the fog so you couldn’t see the bridge, but whatever. We are here! We take our time – but still manage to be outside by 8:15.
First up – riding the old restored trolleys. Ed is a huge trolley buff so this is quite appealing. We pay our $2 each, hop on and ride all the way to the end of the line to Castro. There we have a cappuccino at a cool little bagel store, then head back to the trolley and go back down to the waterfront.
We sightsee our way through Fisherman’s Wharf, walk back to the ship via Safeway(didn’t buy anything), and have lunch aboard.
Next, we head out to climb up to Coit Tower. Great exercise! We climb up I don’t know how many stairs (we were almost all the way up to the tower by the time we saw this sign. Later found out that the total number of stairs is 400. Invigorating!
Once up there – the views were spectacular. The fog was lifting – so we could see everything – except the Golden Gate Bridge which was still half in half out of the fog.
Down Telegraph Hill we go – better coming down than up!
And onto the pier to wait for our Alcatraz Ferry. We get cat bird seats on the top deck and spend a nice 20 minutes in the cool breeze on the way to the island.
Once there – we get the general overview briefing and the included audio tour headphones. This was a fabulous tour! The audio tour was incredibly well done – there were interviews and remembrances from 4 guards and 4 prisoners. I can’t tell you how impressed we were with it. Normally they are totally boring but this was captivating. You really didn’t want it to end!
It took us a little over an hour to go through the whole prison – and totally thoroughly worth it. The stories, the facilities, just the idea that you are a couple of miles from San Fran, but in a whole other world. Awesome.
Back on land, we wander to Pier 39 – oh so touristy! See the seals…
…then back aboard for dinner and a show!
No comments:
Post a Comment