Alcatraz
Alcatraz Trip- Sunday, Aug 12, 2007
A small but interested group of 3 Scouts and their parents visited "The Rock" (Alcatraz). We departed Sacramento at 7 am and made the 1hr, 45 minute drive to San Francisco's Pier 33 without delay. Aug 12 was the 73rd anniversary since opening as a US penitentiary and various former guards and inmates were there to pass on their stories. We boarded our 10 am ferry and arrived on the Rock in no time. The fog started to lift and we walked our way past the morgue to the Cellhouse where we enjoyed an informative hour long Audio Tour. I found the information on the attempted breakout and the "dummy head" escape attempt from the cells the most intriguing stories. The 5 by 9 foot cells are smaller than I could have imagined and the smell (of birds) and the spectacular views are something you can't appreciate from photos. We ferried back around 1 pm to Pier 33 where we went our separate ways to enjoy lunch somewhere on a spectacular San Francisco afternoon!
by: Craig F.