Take a look at our Instagram Highlights from Alcatraz Island.
On our second trip to San Francisco we made sure to do one thing really early... secure tickets for a BOAT TRIP over to Alcatraz Island. We purchased our tickets online 3 months before our scheduled trip. ... Why so early? Well on our first trip years ago to San Francisco, we went to the Alcatraz boat and landing dock looking to take the tour AND >>> they were sold out, completely sold out of EVERY Boat Trip / Island TOUR for the entire length of our stay and well we sure didn't want that to happen again. So we set out on the earliest boat tour that we could find on our first day back in the San Fran Bay area! Our thoughts... it was totally worth it to see!
Immediately departing at Alcatraz they gathered all tour groups in one spot to speak a bit about Alcatraz, the prison, what it was like, and they also had a previous prisoner, inmate / turned book author talk to the group about his time at Alcatraz. Very unique.
We spent some time watching a video, taking a stroll through a museum type set up from artifacts, photos, and more from prison days. They had regulation signs posted throughout our tour, you can see one from our photo collage above.
REGULATION #5
"YOU ARE ENTITLED TO FOOD, CLOTHING, SHELTER, AND MEDICAL ATTENTION. ANYTHING ELSE YOU GET IS A PRIVILEGE."
They kept things in perspective.
Lastly we toured the actual prison. As they gave everyone an audio tour and head set to listen to it was a little too quiet and erie walking the halls. Very interesting to see the cells, the kitchen and lunch and dinner room, the library, shower stations, and more. One of the most interesting facts to me was that they had 15,000 volumes of books in the prison library and that literate convicts read 75-100 books a year.
We also found a SLUG on the premise outside in the flower bed, so we spent a little bit of time using the micro lens and having some fun taking some really really up close shots! (See the picture above!)
It was a educational tour / experience for sure, and we are glad to have finally checked it off the list. We recommend it. Go see it for yourself! Book your tickets early and enjoy the boat ride over and back in the bay!