ALCATRAZ
Spooky, a bit unnerving and utterly spellbinding!
Before we left on our USA holiday, I wanted to go to Alcatraz. I don't know why I was so insistent, but I finally convinced Mr G that we should go. It turned out to be a terrific experience.
This famous prison, Alcatraz, sits in San Francisco Bay. It is spectacularly visible from San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf and lies in between the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge.
This magical little island's image was transformed though by becoming known as the harshest, grimmest and the most inhospitable prison in USA.
The magical little island
The men who were incarcerated there were most likely unaware that they lived on probably the most prime piece of real estate on the West Coast.
The prison sits on the highest point
The first inmates arrived at the federal prison in August 1934. There were four cellblocks and many hundreds of individual cells including a mess hall. Problem prisoners were segregated in ‘Isolation’ a dark sealed off cell with rations of only bread and water.
I visited this site in October 2009
You can see the island and the prison easily from Fisherman’s Wharf. The trip across the bay by ferry gives you the added excitement of a Bay cruise! It only takes about 15 to 20 minutes and we disembark on the old dock.
The view from Fisherman's Wharf
We pass the Guard Tower and begin the walk up the steep hairpin bends of the road towards the prison walls.
The uphill walk to the top
I stop for a breather
If you can’t walk the distance there is a small motor train that can take you up. It’s much better to walk as you can enter the administration buildings along the way and take in the stunning views.
Administrative buildings
We peep in the Morgue windows before we enter the main building entrance.
Once inside you are decked out in the ‘sound system’ that will give you a guided tour of the whole complex. On the tape you will hear the voices of inmates such as Leon Whitely (possession of weapons) and John Banner (bank robbery), and Officers Patrick Mahoney and Ron Battles to name a few.
The Recreation Yard
They take you through the Cell Blocks, the Recreation Yard, the library, and you can even enter some of the cells. That certainly gave me a chill.
Feeling spooky in a solitary confinement cell
Prisoners
We are even guided through the officers department at the far end of the building. Their conditions outside the 'walls' seemed quite acceptable.
Obviously someone had a sense of humour
In the 29 years that Alcatraz operated as a penitentiary, 36 prisoners tried to escape. 31 were recaptured and of the five who escaped, three were immortalized in the movie Escape from Alcatraz.
On the tour you view the tunnels and the escape route of the escapees and even the plaster head shapes they made to tuck up in their beds to fool the officers. It is baffling how in such exposed living conditions that they could manage the whole thing.
Down the corridors of cells
The prison looks surprisingly light and airy now but it's hard to imagine what the smell and the noise would have been like at the time.
The solitary confinement cells are on bottom of this tier
The prisoners were marched to the mess hall for their meals. We were told there were gas cylinders embedded in the ceiling for release if riots broke out. They were never used but stabbings did take place. It was quite bizarre to sit at the tables and try to imagine who had sat there before.
A great view of San Francisco
The tour was quite long, detailed and took us in and out of the building where the views looking back at San Francisco were quite breathtaking. This view is truly one of the perks the officers must have enjoyed!
Outer buildings
The last inmates left the island on March 21 1963. The reason noted for its closing was the high operating costs and deteriorating buildings.
Goodbye Alcatraz........
I thoroughly enjoyed my half day Alcatraz experience and would recommend the tour to anyone wanting to do something a little different when in San Francisco.
copyright Gigi Gilchrist
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