Alcatraz Island - A World all to itself within site of San Francisco | |
| This prison on an island just off the shore of San Francisco is an ominous place... one of history, and amazing stories... |
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Our family vacation journey started at Pier 33 in downtown San Francisco on the morning of Thursday May 24, 2007. We purchased our ferry tickets and waited for our departure. The breeze for the San Francisco Bay is normally cool, and today was no different. So, with our jackets and hoodies on, we set out for Alcatraz - in the same manner that the prisoners who once were housed there made their way - via Ferry.
The ferry ride to the Island was a mere 10 minutes, and the views from it were amazing. We could see the Golden Gate Bridge, and the city of San Francisco through the haze. Before we knew it, we were at the dock ...
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History Lesson
The Island served as the first lighthouse and US fort on the West Coast, an infamous federal penitentiary,
and the location of an 18 month occupation by Indians of All Tribes. The
Island also has a natural side - gardens, tide pools, bird colonies, and
bay views beyond compare.
As a Federal Penitentiary and from a total of 1,033 prisoners, thirty-four (34) men had attempted to escape in fourteen (14) separate attempts; of those, twenty-three (23) were caught, six (6) were shot and killed, and five (5) are missing and assumed by Prison Authorities to have drowned.
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We
docked at the "dock", and were greeted by a National Park Ranger. The Ranger
was giving information on the prison and various escape attempts. The
ranger was very friendly and the information given was informative and timely to
what we were interested in hearing. The ranger was outside the barracks on
the island. The barracks are pictured in the photo to the left, and were
the places where the guards were housed.
The tour of the Island continued from the barracks to the guardhouse, where a short movie on the history of the prison was playing, and then up the hill to the cell house.
The cell house tour was a very sobering experience. The cells were very close together and very small. There were 336 cells in the cell house.
One feature of the tour that we were especially pleased with was the fact that the tour of the Island included an audio tour of the cell house. We normally would not have purchased the audio tour if it had been offered separately, so having it included was a big plus for us. The audio tour gave quite a bit of information about life in the prison both for the prisoners and for the prison guards.
Reviews
Unbiased Reviews about the Island on TripAdvisor.com
Information
Alcatraz Island
Address:
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Fort Mason, B201
San Francisco, CA 94123
Phone: Ranger Station
(415) 561-4900
Ferry Tickets/Reservations
(415) 981-7625
Visit the Alcatraz Prison web site for more information.
Books of Interest
Other great stops on our San Francisco family vacation.....
Kid Friendly San Francisco Tips - - Kid Friendly San Francisco spots and tips submitted by our visitors!
Also - visit our other National Park Family Vacation stops.......
California: Alcatraz | Fort Point National Historic Site |
Muir Woods National Monument | Yosemite National Park
|
The Presidio San Francisco
Washington DC: Washington Monument | National Mall |
Fords Theater |
Lincoln Memorial
New York City: Statue of Liberty
| Federal Hall | Castle Clinton
Tennessee: Great Smoky Mountains National Park | Gatlinburg
Virginia: Gettysburg National Military Park | Eisenhower National Historic Site
Georgia: Fort Pulaski National Monument
South Carolina: Fort Sumter
Ready to book your Kid Friendly Family Vacation? Check out hotels using our favorite hotel finder tool....Hotwire.
