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No Thursday Thoughts!?!? I know, it’s crazy! But I just have so much going on with my traveling that I had to share! And for those of you who are bored to death of my travel recap posts, don’t worry, this is the last one!
Thursday was more of a scheduled day here in San Francisco, with two big adventures: Alcatraz and Muir Woods, both national parks!
Several people recommended that I tour Alcatraz while in San Francisco, so I bucked up, paid for a ticket and showed up for the 9:30 boat to the park. The ride was only 12 minutes since the island is just over a mile away from downtown San Francisco.
P.S. it was COLD! Despite my puffy coat my fingers and feet went numb while touring the island!
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I started out by watching the orientation video. After that, I followed the audio tour, which most everyone seemed to do. It’s a 45 minute tour that guides you around the cell block, telling you the history of the island. It actually started out as a fort, then it housed war prisoners, and eventually became the federal prison that it is most famous for until that was shut down in the 1960s.
I loved hearing about the prisoners, especially some of the escape attempts. Did you know that three men managed to escape by opening up the air vents in their room with spoons? They are the only people who were never found or returned after trying to escape, no one knows if they died trying to swim back or made it to freedom. I like to think they made it and started new lives somewhere else.
Another interesting thing is that the officers’ families also lived on the property, little kids called this island home! They showed an interview with a woman who had lived there as a little girl and she said they barely thought of the prisoners, and they loved it because it was like living in a small town and then they got to take a boat to school. Haha I’d be creeped out.
After the audio tour I walked around the island, which was actually quite beautiful!
It also had some gorgeous views of the area.
I love this picture, because you can see the main streets going up hill!
After Alcatraz, my friend picked me up (she was at work) and we headed out to see the redwood forests! After getting some gluten free pizza for lunch, we headed to Muir Woods National Park.
I’ve always wanted to see the giant redwoods, so this was definitely checking off a bucket list item for me! Not as much commentary with this trip, I think the pictures speak for themselves!
It was a beautiful hike and a great last day in San Francisco! Today I’m on my way back to Kansas City and then back to Chicago because it’s almost time for school to start up again!
Do creepy and historical places like Alcatraz intrigue you?
Where is your favorite place to hike?
