The San Fran Adventure Continues

So I think I can actually put the pictures within the post and not at the end so I'm going to try it.  I'm writing this all on my phone so I'm figuring it out as I go (and I'm sure I'm making plenty of spelling mistakes).  

So we were up at 6AM today and amazingly 4 girls were able to be showered and ready in an hour.  Colleen so kindly left us zucchini bread for breakfast which was delicious.

So we were off to head to Alcatraz. Amy, Candi and I called our moms on the way to wish them a happy Mother's Day (I had to apologize to the girls in advance since they had to listen to me sing the happy Mother's Day song).  A point for anyone planning to go to Alcatraz - don't put 'Pier 33 San Francisco' into navigation and expect to get there.  The directions you get may as well be take the highway past the airport, take a right at the crackhead talking to herself and crossing the street without looking then take a left onto a scary desolate road that will take you to the wrong Pier 33.  Good thing we left extra time so we were able to get to the right place.  We found a parking garage near the pier with a very friendly attendant who told us to park in a reserved spot on level two and how we could pay when we were leaving.  As Amy said, if we were in Boston, the guy probably would have said 'what the f@$@ do you want'.  So we were going up to level two and I swear the ramp up was at least a 60 degree angle.  It felt like we were on a launching pad getting ready to take off!  But we safely parked Charlie and headed over to the pier.  Of course we needed coffee as some people (I'm not mentioning names here Candi) cannot function without their caffeine fix. The cafe near the boat was a disorganized mad house and I'm quite certain that people nearly died from Amy's death looks!  

So we got in line for the boat and finally boarded.  It was a nice 10-15 minute ride over to Alcatraz.  We were out on deck so we were able to get some pictures of the rock and the city. 

The pier

Alcatraz 

San Francisco 

Once there we got off the boat and had to listen to a park ranger give us the overview.  She was a bit monotone and at one point said there's so much to tell us she can't remember it all and we thought perhaps that's a reason she shouldn't be doing this job:-)

So we took some photos at the sign and then we were off to hike up to the prison (and I mean hike - it's quite hilly. Probably built that way to punish the prisoners when they arrived!).  

We opted to do the audio tour which I highly recommend.  It was a great way to learn the history and hear what prison life was like for the inmates.  For instance, the prison guards actually lived on the island and raised their families there. They had bowling leagues there and everything.  

The cells were only 5 feet wide and 9 feet deep. Positively tiny!

We took our turns going into the solitary confinement as well. I sang 'nobody knows the trouble I've seen...nobody knows my sorrow' to Amy while she took my picture and she didn't even laugh (turns out she didn't know the song - next time I'll have Clare take the shot!). 

Once we completed the tour we walked back down to get the boat back.  

We decided to walk to get to, what Amy called 'the rice-a-roni trolley'.  It was about 2 miles away. As we were walking, navigation wanted us to go down a small street that was almost like an alley.  Clare wanted to skip it and walk down a busier road (she's such a safe traveller!).  As we were going to walk by, a very nice man stopped us and said even if we weren't going to go down the street we should at least read the plaque on the side of the building as it was funny.  He also said the street was where the bay used to go up to which is why the pavement was laid kind of wavy. Turns out he grew up in San Fran and gave us tips on where to walk and a good restaurant to go to (Tomasos Italian Restaurant where the governor is often seen).  

So we continued our walk and made it through Union Square and then found the trolley stop.  It was super fun to ride on the trolley. We stood on the outside and hung on for dear life!  Its amazing how they go up and down such steep hills. We also met a couple from Mumbai who told us that there the trains all have people hanging off the sides and they go much faster than these trolleys with people being killed when they fall off (note to self - don't take a train in Mumbai!).  

Once we were off the trolley we headed to Fisherman's Wharf. 

 

We decided to head to Pier 39 to Neptune's for lunch.  We got a fantastic table where, if you were sitting on one side, you could see Alcatraz and, if you were on the other you could see the seals. 

Pier 39

You can see the seals behind Super Grover

After lunch we headed outside to check out the seals.  They're so funny and loud. 

The seals

My favorite seal who thought he was a sun God

After the seals we stopped for an ice cream.  Amy got a chocolate cone and said 'I can't remember the last time I had chocolate ice cream' to which Candi responded 'Amy, it was last night!'.  

After this we decided to head home and take naps (darn these early mornings and time zone changes!).  I will say driving down the ramps in the parking garage was even scarier than going up!  

And of course the Giants game just ended too so there was some time spent in traffic. Now we should know better but we should not all yell (jokingly)'Hurry Up, Hurry Up, Hurry Up!' when in traffic and not expect the traffic cop on the road to hear us and laugh at us:-). 

On the ride Candi called home to talk to the boys and introduced them to super Grover.  TJ loved him and, in between his talking about picking noses and butts, he kept asking to play Grover again. 

So the girls are sleeping and I'm blogging.  What we're doing later tonight is TBD but whatever we do I'm sure it will 

1. Be fun

2. Include drink

3. Perhaps include a mechanical bull if Candi can find one in the area

To end, here is Super Grover with Alcatraz  behind him