Today Rosa and I went on an Alcatraz tour while the Hirs' caught up on some last minute shopping. Alcatraz is an island in San Francisco Bay which has been used as a fort, a military prison, and for some 30 years a federal prison which housed some of the most infamous inmates in US criminal history, including Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly. The tour starts with a ferry ride to the island and from there on you can walk around alone, join a National Park ranger for a guided tour or take the self guided audio tour of the penitentiary.
This proved to be one of the most interesting days of our trip. Alcatraz has been immortalized in dozens of Hollywood movies including, "The Birdman of Alcatraz" and "The Rock", and it was great to actually be there and hear and see the reality. As a prison Alcatraz was shut down in the 1960's and today it is under the control of the National Park service and supported by lots of volunteers. Altogether a wonderful and informative day.
This will be the last blog for this trip. I've had lots of comments by email from all of you who have followed our adventures - thanks for that. Tomorrow is our last day. We check out of our hotel at noon, and we'll head out to the airport around 7pm. From then on its all endless queues, lots of security checks and an interminable flight home, but it's all worth it. We've had an unbelievable adventure and everything occurred just as we planned it.
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