Visit to Alcatraz

We started the day with a trip to Sasalito and BJ left me to have half an hour on the Issaquah dock. Here there are numerous house boats, heavily decorated with artwork, and with gardens made using large pots. It's a delightful place.

Here I met Susan and her dog, Rebbi, a retriever and standard poodle cross.

BJ and I moved on to Pier 33 in San Francisco for the trip to Alcatraz. Due to a misunderstanding we arrived without the tickets, but a delightful woman in the kiosk sorted us out and issued new tickets for us.

The weather was perfect with none of the mist that often cloaks the SF skyline.

We had a good crossing to Alcatraz and then joined a group for a walk to hear about the history of the place when it was not a penitentiary. Fascinating.

In the prison block we had the audio tour which was very good. It took us around the prison at a steady pace and gave good information. We saw lots of small cells. I have to mention that these small cells housed one prisoner in each, but in San Quentin in 2017 the same size cells house 2 prisoners. If you have not seen it, do make sure you view The 13th.

The island is also a wild life sanctuary and we saw egrets nesting close to the paths. The extra is of an egret who spent ages preening himself.

In the extras you can see the city skyline, Susan and her dog, and a cat I met on the dock.