We got up bright and early to catch the friit ferry to Alcatraz. The hopped on the bus and asked the driver for help. A man back by the exit doors started yelling out directions so I went back to sit with him. Once I sat down I realized he had no teeth and his hands were covered in jailhouse tattoos. Hubby sat across the aisle so it was ok and he pointed out everything I needed on my map.
We made it to the pier 2 buses and a trolley later. Hubby later told me that we was worried that the icky bus guy was going to touch me. Then he would have to hit him. But he would have had to cover his fist fist so that he didn't actually touch him.
Once we made it to the pier. We slowly began to realize that everyone else thought they would beat the crowd and catch the first ferry as well. As we got closer we heard the guides yelling that everything was sold out - the first tour available was Sunday morning - when we were leaving. All the tickets had been pre-sold over the Internet. I was devastated. We walked all over the pier looking for another operator even though we were told there was only the one. We ended up booking a Bay cruise under the bridge and around Alcatraz for later in the morning and a Muir woods tour on Saturday morning.
The Bay Cruise was really nice. It was a bit cool, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Hubby was busy taking shots of the bridge and Alcatraz. It was hard not to hate all the people getting off the ferry to begin their tour knowing that we came all this way and I was going to miss out on the number one thing that I wanted to see.
After the tour we started walking around the pier area some more. We decided to take a trolley ride around the city. We walked past a tourist tent set up on the corner. ON a whim I stopped to see if they had anything available for Alcatraz - they did! The only catch was that it was for a time share. We would have to sit through the presentation, then the hard sell, but we would get to see Alcatraz. I was thrilled. It was worth a few hours of my time. The first problem was that the next tour was at the same time as out Muir woods tour. If we could get the tour times switched we would be fine. I was willing to try, but Hubby felt that I was making a deal with the devil and we would rearrange everything and sit through the presentation and not really get the tickets. He talked me out of it, but I wasn't happy. We did agree to go back to the pier and see if anyone was scalping tickets.
There were no apparent scalpers so we sat there dejected. There was security guard monitoring the entrance to the parking lot. I sat and started at him for a while. Finally I asked Hubby if he would mind if I tried to bribe the guard with and extra $100 to get on a ferry. He said he would talk to him. He ended up asking him if he knew of anyone who scalped tickets. He said there was a guy down the other end of the piers who usually had extra tickets. Hubby though he was talking about the time share devil. Just in case, he asked a rickshaw kid. The kid knew the guy and peddled down the street to him. Less than 5 minutes later we had 2 tickets for the last tour of the day. It was worth the embarrassment of being on a rick saw.
We killed time wondering around the streets and riding trolleys. Finally we boarded the ferry and we were off. There were 300 people on the tour, but it didn't seem crowded. The sun was just going down as we got there and walked up the path to the prison building. We all got headsets for the guided tour. It was fantastic. Everyone moved around as they told to. A few times I paused my tape to look around or spend a few extras minutes somewhere. It was so quiet. Everyone was listening to their tape, no one was talking. A few people were pointing and a few more were snapping pictures.
The cells were smaller than I imagining. Some were set up as they would have been. The 3 that escaped using fake heads were marked and set up on display. Al Capone's cell was marked, but it was on the 2nd story so we could see it, but couldn't walk up to look inside. We could look out at the prison yard, but we were not allowed outside. The eating area still had sections with the original floor. The tour tape pointed our attention to the riot gas canisters in the ceiling. They were never used.
We were able to walk through the infirmary. It was dark by then and a few rooms only had lanterns. It was a fantastic effect. We saw the Birdman's cell in the infirmary. He studied birds, but never had any as pets.
We started to walk down the path on our way back to the dock. Another couple had stopped to talk to one of the tour guides and he pointed out the morgue. We were about to keep going when I head him offer to take them inside. I grabbed hubby and we headed over to get in on the action. Another man was walking by and we was invited in as well. Once the 5 of us were inside the door was closed so no one else could come in.
The morgue is a small building built against a cliff under the prison building. It was used before the prison, when Alcatraz was a fort. The original table for the autopsy was there with drainage grooves for fluids and a catch area in the floor. The back wall was rock and 4 door s covered the holes that were carved into the rock to store bodies. There was a small opening on one side of the room - it was a tunnel that turned a few times before opening into a larger room. They used to store powder kegs there. We went through one at a time with a flashlight. It was awesome.
When we got back on the ferry we could hear other people talking about how some people got to go into the morgue. It was great knowing that we were one of the 5 out of 300 that got the special treat.
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