Life After We Do's

Labor Day weekend with the Thornton's ...

...Monday...

I had bought tickets for Alcatraz the other week because Devan and Ashlei really wanted to go. Keith and his mom were not as interested. I have been there before for field trips and with my Mom, I always find it interesting and a little eerie.

I had made the reservations for 1:45pm. With the Bridge being closed and not knowing what traffic was going to be like we left around 12:15pm, we got there in about a 1/2 an hour. The city was lovely that day. The fog was being held off on the other end of the Golden Gate and lots of sailboats were out in the bay. We checked in and got our tickets, and went to get in line. We left right at 1:45 pm and headed over to the "rock". When we got off the boat they had a small orintation about what there is to see on the island. We then walked up the hill to watch a short film on what the the Rock was and what it is today. After that we made our way up to the cellhouse, it is a climb equviallent to climbing a 13 story building so we got a work out in too. Once at the cellhouse we picked up our audio sets and started on the tour. The Audio tape is a highlight of the trip for me. It has prisoners from Alcatraz telling you their stories as you make your way through the cellhouse. They tell you of the personal experience of being on the rock and what it was like for the prisoners. The sounds and the stories make it come to life. One prisoner's words make it all sink in for me....the island is only 1 1/2 miles from San Francisco so the view can be seen from many places within the prison, and if it was a windy day the noise of the city traveled across the waters of the bay and into the grim prison. He talks about he looks our across the bay in the dining room and could see the city, and the life he should of had. We had a good time exploring the island, and I had fun playing tourist.

Then we went to eat at the hard rock cafe on pier 39