Ring ring, ring ring… I swiped the screen of my iPhone to delay rising by just 5 more minutes. The current time 4:30am.
I scrambled down the stairs of my bunk bed with one eye open and continued to scurry around the room to collecting my things for checkout.
Before leaving to catch those sentimental parting memories I pulled out my phone to request and Uber.
By the time we’d arrived downstairs and dropped our bags at the bag drop Julius in his Jet Black DMC collected us “y’all goin to Alactraz aren’t y’all?” he exclaimed as he greeted us.
He continued to tell us the morning drop offs to Pier 33 were common at this time in the morning. Asking if he’d ever been to Alcatraz he joked “I don’t wanna go to jail man – jail got nothin for me man”
Arriving at the pier we could already see around 35 people waiting in the queue (current time 5:00am) we took our place in the queue and mentally started our countdown to 7:30am when the ticket booth opened.
Now a few tips…
- Firstly. It’s cold on the pier with the mist and breeze from the sea. I had a shorts and a t-shirt on and it was COLD. So it’s best to pack a warm layer you can remove later when the sun comes up.
2. Secondly there’s a Starbucks a walk down the from that opens at around 6am so if you’re travelling in a group you can send someone off to grab the coffee order.
7:30am came around and we got our red ticket to ensure our ticket. A short while later. we exchanged our $33 for our ticket to Alcatraz Island.
The ferry over to Alctraz provided some gorgeous views of San Francisco Bay and Bay Bridge. After a short sail across the water we moored up to Alcatraz Island.
The view of The Rock from the boat was like a Hollywood movie moment. I felt like a kid standing at the gates to Jurassic Park… Excitement filled my lungs as the hairs on my neck stood up.
We docked onto Alactraz island and listened to the ranger tour welcome being sure to catch a photo of the Alactraz island sign.
From here we headed our way up the road past the rifle range and graffitied water tower before arriving in the main building.
We entered the main building through the admissions hall where all new inmates would be checked in. The room consistent of a long row of communal showers and a fenced hatched area where inmates would be handed their prison attire.
After collecting our headsets we climbed some steel steps to arrive in the main cell block where the audio tour would start.
Audio Tour
Placing on the headset you were introduced to 4 former Alcatraz wardens along with 4 former inmates. As the tour proceeded these people would become our guides. The voices navigated us around the prison pointing out significant points and areas where key events happened. They told us stories through their own words what life was like on Alacatraz island, bodged escape attempts, riots and more.
For those of you wondering what this was like, close your eyes and imagine the opening scene of Shawshank redemption, the capturing voice of Morgan freeman narrating “I remember the first time I saw Andy Dufrane” From the very first moment your imagination is captured as he story of Alactraz comes to life.
We learnt about when the prisoners took over the prison and the US Navy were called in to reclaim the prison. You could see where the shrapnel from the Navy’s grenades had chipped away the floor tiles.
We saw inside typical cells of inmates lined with their personal artefacts from paintings to books, harmonicas to drawings.
As we approached one cell were were talked through Alactraz’s most famous prison break attempt where Clarence Anglin, John Anglin and Frank Morris tunnelled out of their cells using spoons to dig out the bricks around their cell vents.
One of the rubber heads they used to fool the correctional officers still in bed lay there for all to see.
To this day no one knows whether they survived the swim across the cold San Francisco bay water as no bodies have ever been recovered. The 3 men still remain on the FBIs wanted list
Pier 33
After taking the ferry back over to Pier 33 we strolled along the pier to catch a glimpse of the famous sea lions and grand yachts.
Before heading back over to In and Out Burger to dine Animal Style.
With the stodgy calories entering our system we decided to grab some bikes and cycle to Golden Gate Park ($40).
The cycle there provided us with ample more opportunities to take in the sights from San Francisco's many winding roads.
Golden Gate Park & Japanese Tea Gardens
Arriving in Golden Gate park we stopped for a short while to watch the locals playing various sports on the fields before paying $8 to enter the Japanese Tea Gardens.
The tea gardens are a quiet and tranquil place with many winding paths and tree canopies twisting between the Japanese buildings and lakes.
After taking a stroll through the gardens we decided to visit the cafe to purchase a Japanese Green Tea and some fortune cookies.
Feeling refreshed and full of Zen we headed back to the hostel, dropping the bikes off en route and checking into our new hotel for the night where we met our G tour group.
The next 8 days we would be travelling the west coast… plenty of exciting times lay ahead!
