First day in San Francisco, and already going to jail!
Strolling around at the waterfront before the ferry goes.All the sugary things.Pier 39, featuring shops, eateries and entertainment.And as soon as we boarded the ferry, the US Navy started their test flights for the weekend airshow.Thundering!Nearing Alcatraz with bombers in pursuit.San Francisco Skyline from the bay.Arriving on island with welcoming committee.Officer’s Club.Buildings like electric shop, guard houses, quarters for families of employees.Next door.From further up the hill, where the entrance to the high security prison was.Entering through where normal prisoners would have entered, showered, changed and left their belongings.One of the cell blocks with ceiling lights.Even without inmates these halls have an eerie aura about them.Especially when you stand in front of the cells.Some of them look fine, others are worn down or must have been hell to live in.A cell that would house a new prisoner, with fresh linen and a folder with prison rules.Times Square.Entering another cell block.The door to the outdoors, but not everyone got to use it.Some violations against prison rules would end in solitary confinement.Cells completely isolated, without contact to others, or a light source and just a hole in the ground for a toilet.A normal cell.One of the ‘better’cells, with lots of sunlight and the opportunity to have books, games or practice art.Look through a window in the library.For some it must have been torture and a few were able to break out and swim to freedom.Most didn’t.Broadway.Trying to feel what prison must have been in the days.What would they have been thinking about people visiting this place after all these years.Kitchen and food distribution opening.The floor, well worn.The powerhouse.Such a beautiful view with such a dark past.The warden’s house (the leftovers).The guard tower.The former federal prison operated from August 11, 1934 until March 21, 1963.Time to go back to the city.The Golden Gate Bridge in an afternoon haze.
