Around SF - Alcatraz Island

A couple weeks ago a few friends and I visited Alcatraz Island. I've lived in San Francisco seven years and decided I better go now.

After a very windy boat ride over, we had a great time going through the audio tour and seeing the cells. It's crazy to think about being in prison, with a city right across the bay. "So close, yet so far away."

Since we were on the night tour they also had some extra programs we could check out. I attended one on Al Capone (I was really fascinated with him in middle school) and a few other friends went to one about Alcatraz and Hollywood. I think it would have been more fun to do the night tour during the winter time, when it gets darker earlier.

My favorite part was that they opened the hospital up for us. It's located above the cell area, and is closed during the day. I enjoyed taking photos of the peeling blue paint on the wall, but I will spare you all those photos. An interesting thing about the hospital is how large the cells there were. There was a plaque showing which room was Robert "Birdman of Alcatraz" Stoud's and my guess it was about 3-4 times larger than the cells. His wikipedia page says he spent 11 years confined to the hospital wing, but I imagine that was nicer than the regular cells.

Overall it was super fun to do the tour with friends and I highly recommend going at night. Be sure to get tickets a month or two early since those tickets sell out earlier than the day tickets.