TIME OFF IN SAN FRANCISCO
THURSDAY 21 & FRIDAY 22 APRIL 2016
I've just returned from an evening tour of Alcatraz which was an experience I did not intend to miss whilst in San Francisco this time.
I also visited Coit Tower today which was also totally worthwhile and a very San Fran thing to do.
An $8 fee allows you to take the lift to the top of the tower and indulge some amazing panoramic views of the city.
Despite this morning's cloud cover, the vistas were grand.
And even this improved as we stood there when, as if on cue, the clouds began to lift.
 |
COIT TOWER |
 |
FROM CLOUD COVER |
 |
TO THIS 20 MINUTES LATER... |
Alcatraz is an inseparable part of the San Fran experience and I have remained vexed for the past 12 years at having missed it last time.
I had been lucky enough yesterday to find space on this evening's night tour which are notoriously difficult to get tickets for on short notice, so perhaps it was meant to be.
Night tours to the island are perennially more popular due to the number of activities on offer and possibly also to do with widespread notions of the place being completely haunted which I guess you'd not be able to necessarily tell when present amongst the hordes of tourists.
(This evening's tour also had the bonus of having a sunset and a near-full-moon rise thrown in for free.)
Whilst the facility only served as a maximum security prison for 29 years (1934 - 1963), its notoriety ended up surpassing any purpose it ever served to society.
There have been several films made about Alcatraz and the island along with its location have been used as a film set on a long list of other films.
Some of Alcatraz's alumni achieved celebrity that has become legendary.and was also ahead way of its time.
Characters such as Al Capone famously served time there but perhaps the most famous of all inmates was the "Birdman" himself, Robert Franklin Stroud.
The building itself has been subject to ongoing restoration and maintenance to be able to continue to function as a world-famous tourist attraction and National Monument (which it has been since 1972).
Wind and salt have been the biggest threats to the building for decades and were a major reason that it stopped operating as a prison in 1963.
 |
CELL OF THE BIRDMAN  A BLOCK 
CITY PANORAMIC
 MOON RISE ON THE BAY |
THE PLAN AHEAD
I'm taking a spell from the bike at this point and hiring a car to engage a round-trip detour from San Francisco to Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Parks for the next week or so.
I'll then continue back towards Monterey for a motor racing event at the legendary Laguna Seca racetrack next weekend, the Continental Monterey Grand Prix.
The hire car will then be returned to San Fran on Monday 2 May and I'll be back on the bike to continue north from here.
So next report from Yosemite.
No comments:
Post a Comment