Alcatraz Island

"If you break the rules - you go to prison.  if you break the prison rules - you go to Alcatraz."

Here is a shot of Alcatraz Island from the boat we took to get there.

 

 

While Elijah was still with me we took a tour of Alcatraz Island.  It was definitely one of the cooler things I have done on the trip.  I learned a whole lot - plus the set up of the tour was awesome.  Be warned: I took a LOT of pictures. 

The ride out to the island was short, but very pretty.  It was cool to see the city skyline from the bay.  We were able to get good seats on the top deck because it was so cold everyone else wanted to be down below in the sheltered part of the boat.  I did meet a guy who was a Purdue fan though - and there were about thirty Notre Dame athletes on the ride, too.  Small world!

Haha, I love this. A lot.

A nice view of the city from the boat while out in the bay.

 

 

 Once we got to the island we listened to a forty-ish minute walking tour about the more famous escape attempts from the island.  That was pretty neat (although freezing) and we saw some cool stuff along the way.

The watch tower that overlooks the island and the bay.

I know there is a glaring reflection - but I wanted you all to see the morgue!

After the walking tour we made our way inside to get on with the main tour.  It was very impressive in my opinion.  You go in and someone asks you what your primary language is - and then they hand over a head set in your native tongue that you wear while walking around for the tour.  There is a specific point inside where you hit the play button and the voice directs you around when you are supposed to move.  I thought it was awesome.  Definitely more well put together than I had envisioned it would be.  I highly recommend going if you are ever in the Bay Area.

What used to be the laundry room.

Showers. Ick.

 I think this was "D block."  It is the main corridor where the "normal" prisoners were held.

The contents of a typical cell.

I had a chance to read through one of the rule books in the gift shop - the final rule basically stated:  They can essentially punish you for anything they do not think is appropriate, regardless of whether there is an official rule against it or not.  Basically - don't breathe wrong or you will end up in trouble.

I realize this is not a very good picture of the rec yard, but you were not allowed to go down in there (dude in this picture is breaking the rules) and standing at the top of the bleachers was FREEZING!!

I tried to leave him there - but they wouldn't let me.

Learning about this "battle" was pretty cool.  These six men plotted a grand escape which did not end up going well and resulted in taking some guards hostage and eventually murdering them. 

They pried the bars wide enough to fit one man's head through - doesn't look too comfy, eh?

This is an area where guards patrolled with guns (no weapons were allowed on the actual floor).  Some of the inmates gained access and this was how the battle started...

A memorial dedicated to one of the guards who was killed in the battle.

The warden ended up calling in military reinforcements - these pock marks on the ground are where they dropped grenades and the like into the prison.

Real paintings and belongings of a prisoner.

Judging by Elijah's smile - I must have been the prisoner in this scenario.

What a guard's costume looks like - very proper. 

The next part of the tour involved going outside and looking about out there.  You could see the city of course - which looked beautiful.  There is a lighthouse on the island and we went around looking at it and such...it was so cold that our hats were blowing off though, so we did not stay out there for too long.

Just a wee bit windy!  Such a pretty skyline though!

Alcatraz office

Part of the kitchen - the prep area was all behind bars.  It was interesting because the place where the knives hung had shadow outlines of all the knives so that guards could notice immediately if a specific one was missing.

Angel Island - a military island back in the day.  Place of capture for one of Alcatraz's would be escapees.

Boom! Boom!

Crazy random tree - of course we had to take a photo!

So prior to visiting the island I had no idea that for a portion of time after the prison closed it was occupied by Native Americans.  They had an entire little room with a movie and such dedicated to explaining it - very interesting if you don't know the tale. 

 

That's all folks!