I Didn't Want to Escape Alcatraz

Day 11. Another busy day in the City on the Bay. Today's agenda featured the tourist attraction I was most looking forward to in San Francisco, Alcatraz. I bought my tickets many weeks ago to assure I would be able to get here and I was super psyched. On the way there I wanted to stop at Pier 39 again to see the sea lions since they weren't out when I went on Thursday and had heard they are out earlier in the day. I arrived at the pier at around 9:15 am and there were nine sea lions. Nine freaking sea lions. That's it. I was disappointed but at least I got to see a few. Better than nothing. I had purposely gotten up earlier this morning to catch them and they weren't there. Bummer. I had planned to watch them a while and then head to catch my boat to Alcatraz. However, since there were none to watch I decided to kill time the best way I know possible...to eat. Duh. I decided to walk back over to Boudin Bakery to get a piece of real San Franciscan sourdough. I got a roll and some butter and snacked on that. I love carbs.

Finally it was time to head over to my Alcatraz tour. There is something so fascinating about this prison to me. I have seen it out in the water the last two days and was just so excited to get over there. I love the Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile is fabulous and I have seen The Rock awhile ago and remember liking that (and that one actually takes place at Alcatraz). Prison life in general is so interesting to me for some bizarre reason. Sometimes I will catch the prison shows like Lock Up or Beyond Scared Straight on TV and get sucked in. I was excited to see Alcatraz and learn more of the history and hear more of the stories behind it. I also know there is an Escape from Alcatraz triathlon that begins on the Island where participants swim the 1.5 mile swim to shore before they bike and run. Awesome. You couldn't pay me enough money to swim in the ocean like that (sharks!!!), but it sounds so cool.

I took a ferry to the island which offered great views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge on the way even though it was super foggy. It was a chilly ride and I was super glad I had my hoody with me. On the island I got the audio tour headset and got started. Usually those go way to slow for me and I got bored, and even though this one was a little slow paced, I was not bored at all. I ate all the information up. It's so interesting to me that all the prisoners were able to see the city from the island and see freedom but couldn't get it. It was so close, yet so far. The stories of the escapes were cool and I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. I was on the island a little over an hour and then headed back to the city.

Another place in San Francisco I wanted to experience was the Farmers Market at the Ferry Terminal as I have heard great things about it. It was close to my Alcatraz ferry pier which made it the perfect next stop. I actually met a friend from high school over there for lunch and we caught up which was fantastic. I hadn't seen her in almost 14 years so it's always fun to see someone after all that time. I got myself another Pressed Juicery juice (yum!) and a salad and we ate outside and chatted and then I had to catch my ferry over to Sausalito. The pier happened to be right off the Ferry Terminal which worked out very nicely.  I boarded my second boat of the day (at the ridiculous round trip price of $21) and headed over to Sausalito. I had heard it was a cute down to walk around in so I had to check it out for myself. Once over there, I walked around a bunch but there honestly wasn't much to see. There were some cool homes, cute little stores and restaurants, and a ton of gorgeous boats (but generally I was underwhelmed by it). Have I mentioned I want a boat? Why yes, yes I have. I want a boat.

When I got back to San Fran, I walked back to my hotel and met up with another friend living here who was getting her hair done right near me. I stopped in and said hi and caught up a bit really quickly and then went home to relax a bit before dinner. Tonight I had plans for dinner and drinks with my cousin. We met at a bar he likes for drinks and then headed out for sushi. He drove to dinner so it was cool to see more of the city by car. The sushi was some of the best I've had. Super fresh which I guess I should expect being so close to the water. After dinner we hung out on his roof for a while and then I walked back to the hotel and called it a night. Tomorrow is my last full day of my trip which is bittersweet but there is still a lot to be seen and done, this time out of the city. If my directionally-impaired butt can find the way to make it to Palo Alto and Berkeley, that is the plan! Fingers crossed.