Alcatraz and Fisherman's Wharf

 

On Tuesday I relied on public transportation again but this time I took advantage of the vintage streetcars for a ride along the waterfront to the wharf where I picked up the Alzatraz Ferry. The line was crazy but luckily it moved quickly. We arrived to the island in time for a tour covering 200 years of Alcatraz-from its use by the military to its stint as a prison to its occupation by Native Americans. I wasn’t aware of the occupation so I found that really interesting. 

Signs of Indian occupation

I then proceeded inside the prison to partake in the audio tour. I enjoyed the facts but I didn’t enjoy standing in line for 15 minutes to get my headset and then following crowds of people through the prison trying to be in the right position to listen to the tour. Honestly if you’ve seen one prison you’ve seen them all so I rushed through the audio tour and headed outside where I could have some breathing room. 

Inside

I was supremely impressed by how floral Alcatraz is. There were so many bursts of color. 

Alcatraz

Apparently when prison employee’s families lived on Alcatraz they made an effort to beautify The Rock and the Park Service maintains their beautiful gardens. The island is also home to many birds and parts of it are closed to the public because of the birds. My favorite bird was the snowy egret. Not only was it beautiful but it made the funniest sounds I’ve ever heard. It cracked me up.

 

After exploring the exhibits in the visitor center and watching a video on its history it was time to depart Alcatraz. 

I was pretty hungry so I headed down to Fisherman's Wharf to get some fish and chips. I wandered over to see the sea lions at Pier 39 and they were pretty cute but stinky. Most of them were just basking in the sun but a couple were horsing around. 

Pier 39

I strolled down to San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and its amazing visitor center. I love visitor centers that develop scenes that tell a visually arresting story and accompany them with artifacts and recreated audio and visual presentations. I stayed til almost closing to make my way through it all. I took a quick trip down the Hyde Street Pier which displays ships from maritime history.

Hyde Street Pier

By then it was dinner time so I decided I to grab a hot fudge sundae from Ghirardelli Square and it was delicious! I normally don’t really like hot fudge but everything about this sundae was divine.

I caught the streetcar again and made my way to the Filbert steps which lead up to Coit Tower. The steps are actually a street and people’s houses in this residential neighborhood are accessible only from the steps. I saw a lady carrying groceries up the steps to her house! It is insane to me that people live like that but at least their flowers are gorgeous.

Filbert Steps

Coit Tower