San Francisco

 

We arrived in San Francisco around 10 AM and headed to the hotel, which was on the top of a hill  in downtown San Francisco. We checked in and went to China Town for lunch.  From the hotel it was straight DOWN about four city blocks. I was glad I didn't have to walk back UP those city blocks. Carolyn and I were headed to the Pier after lunch to take an excursion to Alcatraz Island. The lady at the hotel told us it was pretty flat from China Town to the Pier. Right..... The definition of "flat" is very different in San Francisco that it is in Missouri.

 

We finally arrived at the Pier and found the ferry. This was the fourth time I had tried to go to Alcatraz. The last time was when I met Molly and Hillary in San Francisco for a week-end in Napa. I purchased the tickets for the afternoon we were to arrive so we could go before heading to Napa. My connecting flight through LA was canceled and I arrived too late to go.

 

This time I actually lost the tickets at the Pier. Fortunately some lady found them blowing across the ground and returned them to us. We really did get to the island!

The view looking back at San Francisco from the ferry.

And looking forward to Alcatraz. I didn't take pictures on the Island, but it's pretty amazing. The audio tour of the prison is very well done. I found it interesting that the employees and families also lived on the island.

When we got back to San Francisco we walked along the waterfront through the touristy shops to the protected area for the sea lions. They were all pretty lazy.

 

We met up with the rest of the group for a nice dinner and then back to the hotel for a quick night's sleep then up and headed to Alaska.