Visiting Alcatraz, for lack of a better word, was AWESOME! There's so much creepy history on the island, and I thought the audio tour of the cellhouse was particularly well done. There were also different tours you could take with a ranger who works for the island, but you'd really have to stay there all afternoon to do the audio tour and one of those tours, so I decided to skip those and go straight to the cellhouse. I really enjoyed getting to see the entire cellhouse and outdoor grounds at my own speed with the audio tour. It was definitely a good activity to go do by myself. I was in no rush, so could really take in everything at my leisure. There were lots of good stories on the tour about the famous criminals who were imprisoned on Alcatraz as well as the tales of different escape attempts and a riot-turned-massacre that happened literally right where I was standing. The thing I found the most interesting (and unusual) is that the families of the guards all lived on the island. There were apartments and lots of old photos of children playing outside in the prison's shadow. I can't imagine living on the island with all those dangerous criminals just a few hundred yards away! Apartments where families lived:
After a couple hours taking in everything on the island, I decided to head back. At this point, I was getting pretty hungry, so walked back toward the Ferry Building and grabbed a tomato soup bread bowl at the Boudin Bakery & Cafe, which is a spot Greg had pointed out yesterday as having really amazing sourdough bread. I walked through the Fisherman's Wharf area down to where I was sitting right on the water and enjoyed a quiet, peaceful lunch on a bench. When I finished up, I decided to make my way into the mass of tourists shoulder to shoulder in the shopping area so I could get my magnet (a souvenir I get wherever I go). I continued to wander around aimlessly until I heard a lot of barking, and stumbled upon all these sea lions around Pier 39!
I could have probably stayed and watched them all afternoon. There were so many of them, and at least a few of them were constantly doing something that would make me laugh - trying to climb over one another, barking, flapping their little wings...ha! It was time to get going, though. The one last thing I wanted to do before I met back up with Greg was to see Lombard Street! It looked pretty close on the map, so I used my phone to guide me all the way there. The one thing that doesn't show up on Google Maps, though? Topography. There were some monstrous hills standing between Fisherman's Wharf and Lombard Street! In retrospect, maybe I should have taken a cab, but there was such a nice breeze and I love wandering around a strange city. Probably my favorite photo I took the whole trip - looking down a hill back toward the bay:
I did finally make it to Lombard after about a 20-minute walk. People were standing in the middle of the street taking photos, and everyone coming down the street had their heads hanging out with video cameras. Clearly this is not a place where the natives hang out! It was funny to see that either side of this crooked road was lined with residential homes. I can't imagine living right in the middle of such a tourist trap!
I walked up the sidewalk to the top of the crooked road, got a few shots, and then stumbled into a cab to take me back to the apartment so I could freshen up. I had found the Auburn alumni bar to watch our game against Clemson, so walked (because I couldn't find a cab for the life of me!) all the way from the apartment to the bar - Rouge (inside Nick's Crispy Tacos), in an area called Nob Hill. It was WAY too far to walk, but not being familiar with the public transportation system, I really didn't have much of an option! It took a little over 30 minutes to walk that distance.
The bar was a lot of fun and split between the restaurant and then a roped off portion for the Auburn alum. It's always nice to be around "family" when you're so far from home, even if it's just "Auburn family." Thanks to the beer, the rest of the evening is a little bit of a blur. Some of Greg's friends met up with us, and we went to dinner at a place near the Auburn bar. Then we went to another friend's apartment to hang out for a little bit. By this point, I had been drinking for 5 or 6 hours and could hardly hold my eyes open, so it was time to head out. We passed by Ghiradelli Square, but everything was closed. Cabbed it home.
Day 3 complete!
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