Day 4: Alcatraz

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Tuesday began with a slight sleep in and some washing at the local Laundrette.

Come 10am and the girls were still in bed, so kym and I snuck off to Mama’s on Washington square for breakfast. We had spotted it earlier in the trip and saw queues there each day. My bacon, eggs and potatoes were superb while Kym’s crab patties looked delicious! No wonder there were queues.

The girls got moving in time for us to get to pier 33 to catch the boat to Alcatraz!

Alcatraz was brilliant with the highlight the cellhouse audio tour, where we heard and saw the history of the prison. Some very impressive crooks spent some time on the rock including Al ‘scarface’ Cabone. He was in for tax evasion. I suspect there were worse crimes than that but that is all they could prove.

The rock was a tough place to be. No wonder prisoners wanted to escape. There were 14 attempted escapes. One successful escape saw three prisoners in 1962 get off the island but (unlike the movie) it is believed they drowned. They had dug s hole in their cell wall using metal spoons!!

We also discovered that a number of American Indians occupied the island for 19 months in 1970/71 (aboriginal embassy style) to raise awareness of Indian issues. Eventually they were removed but it helped change government policy for the better.

Once back in San Fran we headed to the cable car on California st. We bravely sat on the outside and travelled up the steep street all the way to the end of the line.

While waiting for the cable car we had some excitement as at least 10 SFPD officers appeared out of nowhere to arrest a homeless man who had obviously done something wrong, although it was not clear what it was. Kym and the girls retreated into an ice cream shop to watch the action. I went a bit closer to sus it out. It was all very Nypd blue-ish!

We made our way into the suburbs to find the house used in “full house”, one of Bella’s favourite shows!

We were lucky enough to also stumble across one of San Francisco’s hottest and trendiest restaurants in the pacific heights area, called Noosh, for some pre dinner Turkish style snacks snacks and a drink, followed by teriyaki chicken ( one big Zoe’s favourite dishes for dinner) at a nice store called glaze.

We then caught an Uber to the famous crooked street at Lombard st, where we saw a line of cars navigating the 8 switchback turns.

What a final full day in San Francisco! Bella does not want to leave. It has been impressive. Much more than just an attempt to break up the flights for jet lag purposes. Three perfect blue skies days have helped! Early- ish to bed now for An early morning pick up to the airport. NYC beckons!

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