Trip to San Francisco

The weekend before last I had to go to San Francisco for a conference. It was a short trip, I was gone just three days, but it was my first time away from Hunter - so that was a little hard. But I was so busy I didn't even really have time to have any "mommy moments!'

Leaving bright and early Sunday morning for Sea-Tac! Could Motor Pool have given us a MORE obnoxious car to drive over? LOL. We were getting looks all the way to Seattle. That is Robbi, she went with me. Go Wildcats!

Flying in style. Fruit and cheese plate. And yes, those are gin and vodka bottles - we got thirsty.

 Flying in to San Fran, you can see the Bay Bridge and part of the Wharf.

 AT&T Park, where the San Francisco Giants baseball team plays. Sorry the picture isn't great, the taxi cab drive was going about 100 mph.

As soon as we landed we raced to our hotel to drop off our bags and then we caught another taxi to Fisherman's Wharf to get on the boat to see Alcatraz. We booked it months in advance, because they sell out way ahead of time. When we were there they were sold out until mid-September. I am glad we did, because it was pretty cool!

 The Rock!

 Huge cruise ship we passed.

 The Bay. Beautiful view from the boat.

I tried to do a panoramic picture - they are kind of hard, but I think it turned out pretty well.

 Great view of Bay Bridge.

  Getting closer! Doesn't it look creepy with the fog!

 We're here!

 I was surprised at how tall the island is. By the time you ended the tour you walked up 13 stories. 

This used to be the dance hall and bowling alley. It used to have quite the little community on this island. All the men that worked at the jail had their wives and kids live with them on the island. A lot of people grew up here, which I thought was crazy!! Only feet away from some of the worst felons in the world.

 Tell me this isn't creepy?!?!

 Another building, if I remember correctly it was laundry facilities.

 It never occurred to me, but we are surrounded by salt water. So they had to ship in fresh water for the water tower every few days. One of the main reasons they closed Alcatraz, it was so expensive to run.

 The morgue, this is as close as I got...

 One of the cells.

 This is called Broadway Street. The tour was about 45-min long and you listened to it on headphones. It guided you through the entire prison. Was very cool and VERY interesting! One of the prison wardens narrated it.

 Some of the most notorious inmates.

 Solitary.

 This is where I would be hanging out.

 The guards' uniforms.

 This is where visitors would enter.

 As many of you know, a few guys did escape. This is one of the hole's they made and used. They then went up a super narrow shaft in between the cells to the top of the prison and were able to escape. They were never found, but most believe they died during the swim to land. The water is very cold and very choppy. But who knows?

 During another escape, where the inmates were caught, a few of the guards were killed. The president called in the Marines and here are the marks in the floor from where they dropped grenades. 

 Dining Hall. A lot of fights happened here...

 A picture of the last inmates leaving Alcatraz, after it was closed.

 Robbi and I in "jail." The guy taking the picture for us kept saying to stop smiling! You were in jail! LOL. So  apparently my jail face is quite angry.

 Back on land! Visiting Alcatraz was pretty cool and I highly recommend it if you ever go to SF.

Fishermans Wharf. Do you see the sign for Bubba Gump Shrimp?

 Very cool ship!

 We walked pretty much the whole length, it was neat.

 Not sure why anybody would drive down here. Look at how all the seagulls sit (and poop!) on the cars.

 Dinner time! Alioto's was delicious! I had seafood spaghetti! Full of all sorts of yumminess!

 The view of Fisherman's Wharf while we waited to be seated.

 The view from our table! Beautiful!! You can barely see the tops of two peaks of the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. That was the most we saw of the Bridge, stupid fog! Sunday was really our only day to do the touristy thing. We were in the conference all day Monday and Tuesday, and then flew out Tuesday evening. So I think we hit all we could on that day! I was so tired, but it was neat to see everything!

 Downtown SF. Our hotel is about halfway up the block on the right, our conference was directly across the street.

 The view going the other way. Union Square was just a few blocks down this street. 

 How come the beer while waiting for your flight home always tastes the best?

 We got out of Sea-Tac and noticed the Blue Moon. Very cool!

The trip was good, but I was ready to be home! I missed my family!! Plus, I missed Ellensburg. It became painfully obvious that I have left my days as a "city girl" behind...lol. I love Ellensbur -, small town, not a ton of people everywhere, I hit one stop light on the way to work, etc! Good to be home!!