THE ROCK

The moment I woke up I started planning my day. I had a lot to get done in a short amount of time.

I showered, dressed, and stopped at the small bagel shop around the corner from the hotel for an asiago bagel and a cup of coffee. The Chinese lady was nice and pleasant until I asked her for a receipt and then you would have thought I pissed in her Green Tea. The joke was on her because when she wasn't looking I spilled coffee all over the counter and didn't clean it up. That's what you get when you don't have napkins available for your customers. After walking and eating, I do not recommend this in San Francisco, I made it to Pier 33 early. I was able to get on the 9:30am ferry instead of the 10:00am.

 

 

I boarded the Hornblower Hybrid ferry and set sail. I managed to maneuver through the crowd so I could capture this awesome picture of the San Francisco skyline with the sun glistening off the bay. The American flag flapping in the wind was an added bonus. I probably took ten pictures of the skyline until I picked this one. On the side of the ferry I watched sea lions playing in the bay. It was cute. I waited for a great white to snatch one up. That would have been worth the ticket price and they could have turned around and I would have been satisfied.

 

 

Once we started slowing down I made my way to the exit so I would be one of the first ones out. I hate waiting to deplane, deboat, or detrain; in fact, I hate to deanything so the faster I could get off this ferry the better. At the main docking area there was an old women, by the looks of her I would say she had a good 100 years on her, who was standing on a box with a microphone. If there is one thing I have learned is never give an old lady a microphone. I started thinking about her bobbing up and down on it and my bagel was ready to come up. She started preaching about the ins, outs, dos, and don'ts of the island. Granny Alcatraz was warning us about staying out of the restricted areas because of the dangerous conditions and because she was sporting an arm sling I took her word for it. I am sure my bones weren't as brittle as dear old Granny Alcatraz but I wasn't going to take any chances. She told us about the long history of the island and that it was so much more than just a penitentiary and as I made my way to the bathroom before I explored the island I just knew that she was telling first hand stories of when she arrived here in 1860.

 

 

 

The Hipstamatic app on my iPhone takes the coolest pictures. The path from the dock to the federal prison is quite a hike but after enduring the streets of San Francisco it was literally a piece of cake. I followed the twisty path up to the prison and spotted this great picture of the guard tower. When the prison was operational there were catwalks going from the prison to the guard tower so the guards could have an eagle eye view of everything and everyone. I am sure when it was windy it was probably one of the scariest place to be on the island but I'd rather deal with high winds than the most notorious prisoners of the time. I took this with the hipstamatic app and I thought it came out terrific. The picture propelled me back to the day when this island was thought of as a place where you could never escape. 

 

 

 

This may be my favorite picture of the entire trip to Alcatraz Island. In a normal photograph this water tower says nothing but UGLY. This picture, on the other hand, has so much character. I stood there staring at this picture hoping it came out nice because with the sun blaring down on me it was hard to tell how the picture turned out. The moment I was in the dark corridors of the prison I quickly declared this probably one of the coolest pictures I'd ever taken. 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the prison was not as intimidating as I thought. I have worked as a prison nurse before so inmates and being triple locked behind cell doors is not that foreign to me. No, I have never been in prison, jail, or arrested but I've had the opportunity to be inside a prison for 8 hours a day with the ability to pack it up and leave everyday. That makes prison an entirely different experience. I don't have sympathy for people in prison because they got themselves there but I do feel sad that humans have to be locked behind bars like vicious animals. I walked around with my audio tour, stopping at all the interesting spots, and listened to the rich history that took place behind these walls. Capone, Robert Stroud aka the Birdman of Alcatraz, and "Machine Gun" Kelly all inhabited these dark cells. During the audio tour there are projected sounds of what the corridors of the prison sounded like when it was full of convicts. The loud clanking of the silver cups, the yelling at guards for better treatment, and the screams from being raped (I only added that because I am dirty) made it feel very real. Was it that bad in prison? They had their own rooms, played sports outdoors, and had all their meals provided to them. Is losing your freedom really that bad if you are cared for better than you could care for yourself on the outside?

 

Another cool picture with the Hipstamatic app. The colors inside the cells were off white and green but with this app the colors really pop out of the cell. The corridors were completely bright but in this picture it looks like I am standing in the dark and the lights are on inside the cells. During the tour I was able to stand inside one of the solitary confinement cells. Prisoners in these cells were kept in the dark with no human contact. One story that stands out in my mind is retold by one of the prisoners on the audio tour. This prisoner had a button in his possession and he would stand in the dark and throw the button up in the air waiting to hear it hit the ground. Once it stopped bouncing and came to rest somewhere on the floor he would spend hours crawling around the cold cell floor trying to locate the button. When he finally had it in his possession he would stand up again and repeat the process. He stated he did this to keep himself sane.

 

When I travel alone I usually have to take pictures myself or ask someone to take one for me. Why I didn't ask someone to take my picture I have no idea. It's not like they could run far with my iPhone. I wanted proof that I was actually here so I took this picture. Yes, technically this could be Any Cell, California but it is Alcatraz. I took a few pictures before I decided on this one. I tried being sad, happy, mad, in pain, and finally settled on this kinda smiling picture. I started getting antsy and decided that two hours was enough time to walk around this abandoned prison. I spent two hours in here and I was already thinking it was time to evacuate. I wanted to walk around the grounds before I headed back to the ferry so I wrapped up the audio tour, I did finish the entire thing, and made my way outside. One of the last stories told was by a prisoner who resided in a row of cells that faced the San Francisco shoreline. The high windows across from the cell let in natural sunlight and even though the prisoners couldn't see out the windows they deemed these cells as the penthouse suites. He stated that on New Years Eve if the wind was blowing strong they could hear the sounds of party goers from San Francisco and actually hear women laughing and bringing in the New Year.

 

I stepped outside where the breeze and fresh air was welcoming. I started walking the grounds and was impressed with the gardens that had grown up around all the derelict and decaying buildings that were scattered around the island. Many of the buildings were destroyed due to fire when the Indians resided on the island in the late 1960's and early 1970's. I spent a few moments staring at the Golden Gate Bridge and was ready to take a picture when I noticed this small sailboat creeping up to the right. I waited a few moments and then snapped this picture. The sailboat stole the spotlight right from under the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

Alcatraz Prison from the former site of the residential housing buildings occupied by employees and their families on the island. These buildings are now ruble and litter the shoreline area of the island. This lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse on the West Coast. Let me make a correction - the lighthouse standing now is not the original lighthouse on the island. Granny Alcatraz informed us that when the prison was being built the original lighthouse had to be torn down because the prison blocked it from being seen out at sea. This new lighthouse is considered to be the original because when they tore down the real original lighthouse it was still a working lighthouse. Are you still with me? Exactly. I think Granny Alcatraz fell one too many times on The Rock. 

 

On our ride back the Hornblower was rocking in the Bay which made for an extremely uncomfortable ride. I sat on a bench and counted the waves smashing into us and couldn't wait until we were docked back in San Francisco. I took this picture as the sailboat passed us because there is something about a sailboat in San Francisco bay that just gets me going. The breeze pushing the boat along the waves reminds me of what it must feel like to be retired and have nothing to do but enjoy the rest of what life has to offer. No worries. Just sitting back, enjoying the sun, a refreshing glass of Pinot, and calmly waiting for the Big One to bring down the bridge and kill millions. I always expect that when I am in California, it doesn't matter if it is Southern California or Northern California, that the Big Ones is going to take me down. I could not visit California for five years but the moment the plane lands I patiently wait for the ground to open up and swallow me whole. You can just imagine how I feel when I check into my hotel and they say, "Mr. Shedrick, you are on the 23rd floor." I smile and think to myself, of course I'm on the 23rd floor. I should learn how to surf so I can ride the bed down when the building collapses underneath me. 

 

 

 

 

As much as I love San Francisco this city was not designed with fat people in mind. The streets of San Francisco are a nightmare for people who live a sedentary lifestyle. A 10 minute walk to Walgreens is equivalent to 30 minutes of cardio and I wonder how many people have suffered a heart attack while walking to the pharmacy to pick up their heart medication. I don't even know why there are gyms in San Francisco because there really is no need for treadmills or stair climbers when the streets are at such an incline that there are stairs to climb instead of sidewalks to leisurely walk up. I came across this street and had to take a picture. I'd zig zag for an hour around these streets to find the flattest parts of the city to get from point A to point B before I would try and make it up this hill. 

 

 

I debated whether to go to the hotel or make the trek to the crookedest street in America. My body was telling me NO but my mind was telling me that life is short and I needed to do this. I made it to Lombard Street and I couldn't believe it was a street. It looked more like a mountain with asphalt. I looked straight ahead, leaned back as far as I could before I fell backwards, and started walking. My walk quickly became a climb and I was hoping for some tree branches for support. I wasn't even close to the crooked part yet and I was breathing heavy. I approached a couple who were worse off than me and the guy kept stopping, leaning over, and yelling out loud that he was in pain. I wanted to tell him to take the book bag off his back because he was acting like he was carrying bricks around town. I didn't have room to talk; I looked like I was pulling a red wagon filled with canned goods. He said to me, "Do you think there is a convenience store at the top of the street?" I walked pass them and said, "I don't know but I hope for your sake there is an Urgent Care Center." I made it to the top and had a girl take my picture. I said, "I'll do you if you do me?" She didn't speak English so my joke was lost but she got the message and took my picture. After climbing Lombard Street I found the easiest way back to the hotel and collapsed in my bed.