Surprise, we're in...: Day 1: Alcatraz!

Hello from our random, last minute Christmas trip to California! We will be spending the next week checking out the sights of San Francisco.

Our Priceline hotel has exceeded expectations on all counts. We are in the financial district, and our hotel is both hilarious and awesome. Our room is comfortable, and has a nice view. Our only real compliant is that there is no in-room coffee maker, but thanks to the wonders of online reviews, we knew that was going to be the case and came prepared.

No, YOU brought an electric kettle with you because you consider tea a necessity.

We have been very fortunate in our Priceline "Name Your Own Price" gambles, but this hotel has been our most impressive win. The "hilarious" comes with how they describe everything. Apparently expensive things have to have fancy names. For example, we don't have a lobby, we have a "hub." The hub, per their website: "A modern reinterpretation of the traditional hotel lobby, the Le Meridian Hub offers an array of opportunities for guests to gather, connect, and be inspired." We just checked in yesterday, so we will have to get back to you on how the lobby inspired us.

According to my room key, you can enjoy a "24 hour soundtrack curated by Nouvelle Vague" by going here.

Also, there's a scale in the bathroom in case you want to see how much vacation weight you're gaining in real time.

We decided to have ~~breakfast~~ an Eye-Opener at the hotel this morning just to scout it out. Fancy people call morning meals eye openers. We were invited to "embark on a culinary journey with handcrafted creations"

My journey included eggs, bacon, potatoes, and toast.

Kirk decided to explore a handcrafted ham and cheese omelette with potatoes and an English muffin. Speak your truth, Kirk!

Our "culinary journey" cost about half of what I spent on the room itself, so we think we will be skipping the hotel breakfast for the rest of our stay. That said, it was pretty tasty! The breakfast room was really comfortable, and the coffee was great!

We decided to visit Alcatraz for our first San Francisco activity. I bought tickets online the same day we booked this trip, and I was glad I did. When we got to the ferry, there was a sign saying that they were out of tickets until January 4!

We walked from the hotel to the ferry in about 20 minutes, but got there early so we went to visit the Pier 39 sea lions.

They were pretty loud!

The Fisherman's Wharf had lots of cute shops, but we did not have much time there. We'll have to go back!

Christmas tree

A specialty store for left handed people (The Leftorium?)

Alcatraz was really interesting. There is a lot more history to it than either of us realized. It started as a military garrison. Confederate prisoners were sometimes sent there during the civil war. It became a federal prison in the 1930's.

Kirk models.

Cathy showing what's left of a PX/Officers Club that burned down. They had a bowling alley for the staff and families on the island.

To get to the island, you have to take a short boat ride. It took about 15 minutes to get across.

The first light house on the West coast.

View. It's a pretty small island.

We're fresh off the boat here.

Guard tower

There was a short orientation video that went over the history of "The Rock." It was really interesting to hear about all of the things that it was before it was a prison, and to hear about the people who lived there. The soldiers, and later the correctional officers, had their families with them on island. Children grew up on the island! They took a boat to San Francisco every morning to go to school. The wives of the officers could take a shuttle boat to do their shopping across the bay, or they could rely on the general store on the island.

There was also a Native American occupation on the island after the prison closed. There are still signs of the occupation around today.

It's hard to read, but the graffiti reads "Home of Free Indian Land"

Once we got to the prison block, there was an audio tour. (It was included in the price.) The cells are really, REALLY small. REALLY. SMALL. Each man had his own cell, but even so- very small.

Cathy's arms are longer than the cells.

This is an example of the fake head that the infamous escaped prisoners used to fool the guards.

Rows and rows of cells

Eventually, the prison became to expensive to maintain and it closed in the '60's. It pretty much fell apart once nobody was taking care of it anymore. There were many areas that we could not go into because it was too dangerous.

This was once the Warden's house.

There was a great view of San Francisco! The city is only a little over a mile away. Once of the stories on the audio tour said that on New Year's, if the wind was just right, they could hear the music and laughter from a local yacht club's annual party.