Walking around Fisherman's Wharf

I was warned by a friend before we went to San Francisco that mimes would be everywhere... And sure enough, there they were... it was so awesome.. They had loud music playing and were dancing all over the place. I decided to give them a couple bucks to get a picture of them, and they cam out and danced with me. It was hilarious.


Me and the mime...

A shot of the wharf... there were boats everywhere, and it kinda smelled like fish.. .go figure..

After Alcatraz... LUNCH!

After Alcatraz we were sooo hungry. So we went to the Hard Rock Cafe and ate lunch. It was a blast. And the salad that I had was soo good... yummmmmm...

Inside Alcatraz

As a part of the tour they give you these headsets to wear as a part of an audio tour. This way you can walk around the cell block at your own pace with out a tour guide. It was really awesome.. even though we kinda look like nerds.. =) Ok, well, I look like a nerd.. Sarah always looks good...


This was one of the typical jail cells... Very small. But one of the escape attempts made on the island was actually made by using a spoon to carve out the vent that you can see at the bottom of the sink. Crazy, huh? Those guys made it out and into the water, but were never found.

This is the library. The prisoners could not actually go to the library. All the books were brought to them. Most of the prisoners were in their cells for 23 hours out of the day. Crazy people like Al Capone, and others who were "high risk"
One of the worst things that former prisoners said about the prison was the view that they could see from the prison. San Francisco sat just far away enough from them to taunt them... The view is really nice, huh?

Alcatraz

This is just another shot of the island from the ferry, but I like it because you can see a lot of the buildings. The big building at the top of the island is the main cell block.
This is the building right on the dock where they would unload all prisoners... people such as Al Capone... cool huh? This building was first built by the military to be a bomb resistant shelter. But as the military weapons progressed, the shelter became not to bomb-proof. The rooms at the top were added later to act as apartments for the guards and their families to stay in.


The tower behind me was where the guards would have to sit all day to watch the island.

Our Trip to Alcatraz

This weekend Sarah and I were able to end her trip in a great way! We decided to take the day on Friday and go to San Francisco. It was a BLAST! San Francisco is only about 2 hours from my house in Monterey and it was really easy to get to. The night before we left we booked tickets for the Alcatraz tour on-line and also booked a hotel room so we could stay the night. On the way to San Francisco we got stuck in some crazy traffic, so by the time we made it to our hotel to park, we only had about 15 minutes to BOOK IT to Fisherman's Wharf and catch our ferry to Alcatraz. So, we ran about 9 blocks, and made it in perfect time. This is a shot from the front of the ferry as we came upon the island.


It was SOOOOO windy on top of the ferry, but sooo much fun.

The Monterey Aquarium

The Monterey Aquarium is not quite as big as the Baltimore aquarium, but it was a lot of fun! There was so much to see and a lot of it was hands on. There were several areas that had touch pools, and even a special floor just for kids to play in. The room below was a cool room because over your head was a giant pool that you could watch little fish swim around in.




I thought the penguins were sooo cute! They were taking turns sliding down the rocks into the pool.

More Good Times

Sarah and I went to the outdoor mall here in Monterey, and they have this excellent jewelry shop there. So, I decided that I would by us matching rings... haha... Iknow that all of you can tell which hand is mine.. =)

Sarah taking FOREVER to order her meal.. .Sheesh...

Poor Clark... he gets so sad when I leave him during the day...

Our Day at the Beach

Sarah and I FINALLY had a good day of weather, so we decided to take advantage of that and go to the beach. This is the beach that is about 5 minutes from my house. From this spot you can see across the bay to Monterey and Santa Cruz. I think that this is one of the most beautiful places here. I know that the water looks nice, but don't let it fool you. This beach is NOT for swimming or laying out. The water is FREEZING all year long, and the beach has TONS of sand flies that bite all over you.


This is the view of Monterey across the bay.