San Francisco, Part Deux

I'm finally getting around to posting the second round of pictures from AERA in San Francisco. I was joined by my Mizzou friends, Tony, Sarah and Greg and we had a blast. We started at Alcatraz and ended the day walking the Golden Gate Bridge. Beautiful weather the whole time. Enjoy!

Thanks to Greg we all got tickets after several minutes of group texting.

The Rock as seen from the ferry.

Looking back at the city.

Getting close. 

Warning sign 

At the dock.

The water tower still has the graffiti from the AIM occupation.

The prison from the outside.

 

 
The walk up is steep but beautiful. The gardens are currently maintained by volunteers.

Greg entering the prison.

Prison cell. They have a few that are furnished as well.

In the summer the prisoners could hear the music from the parties of the  well-to-do from across the bay.

Rows and rows of cells.

Main entrance for employees. Interestingly enough a number of employees and their families lived on the island. Children were ferried to school everyday and they often played on the parade grounds just outside of the prison.

Remains of a building

There is a cliff walk just below the administration building, The  island is a wildlife sanctuary and volunteer gardeners tend the grounds. The blooms were amazing and the birds everywhere.

LIght house from the cliff walk.

Ruins off the parade ground. SF in the distance.

The birds weren't camera shy. The bird below didn't move off the nest the entire time we were snapping pictures.

Birds propagating the species! 

View below the cliff walk.

The area just above this was the recreation yard.

Alcatraz took several hours. We were worried that we might not make it onto the next ferry, but luck was on our side and we headed back to the mainland. From there we grabbed taxis for the Golden Gate (after briefly considering making the trek on foot, let's just say glad we didn't!)

View from Golden Gate park on the SF side of the bridge

View from the pedestrian walk. We made it half-way then turned back .

Well that's the gist of it. I have more Alcatraz pics but they need some editing. Next update will showcase the first big gardening project of the year!