Gwilliam Gazette : San Francisco

I'm a little late on this post.....as it actually happened mid-September as a quick weekend trip. You know me, rule #1 of travelling is go where the deals are. So when $15 dollar (each way) flights popped up to Oakland, how could we say no?? And when the hotel is free, you have to go.

Upon arriving, we quickly got the rental car, and headed to our first stop, which was Muir Woods. Only 2 species of Redwoods remain in the United States - both in California. This smaller Redwood National Park is just north of San Francisco and seems like it's very distant from the big cities. Very quiet, relaxing and very calming. The Redwoods here are pretty "young" with most of them being only 800 years old, with some approaching 1000.

Right away, your anxiety calms and you breathe in the fresh air and just walk around and enjoy being there

We then headed for an ocean view overlook just a few miles away

Several of these bunkers remain from WW2

Our rental car was a pretty sweet ride - we got lucky. There weren't very many cars to pick from - 3 actually. It was this, an Altima and a pickup truck!

We then checked in to our hotel, which was in Jack London Square in Oakland, it was called the Waterfront - and literally was on the water.

We were upgraded to a "suite" which just meant it was bigger and had floor to ceiling windows all over

Although our room didn't face the water, this was our view of the shopping square

The next morning we headed out early to Alcatraz - as we've never been

We were there very early in the morning and it was so strange to see Pier 39 with nobody there!

As we left on the ferry, Coit Tower was just staring at us...asking us to come visit.....we'll see

Where the prison clothes were handed out

This was the basic cell. See the small vent under the sink? Remember that.....

One of the few attempts to escape, involved a few inmates making heads of themselves with soap they saved over a long period of time. Three bank robbers spent months planning the escape.

They used spoons to dig out a small hole behind the vent and found a drainage pipe they were able to climb up. They were never found.

This was one of the few places they could go outside for some rec time

Remember Coit Tower? Well, sure, why not. It was close and we'd only been there years and years before but we drove to it. This time, we walked the 380 steps up to it. The steps go through the side yards of the many apartments and houses in the area. These people use the steps daily to get to their houses. Most of the people live on the steep hillside and landscape what they can to be a beautiful oasis in the middle of the big city. It's quiet too, other than your puffing and huffing as you say "are we there yet?"

You can go up the tower, steps again, but we had enough steps for one day

This was a geocache - one of the many murals inside the tower.

Going back down was so much easier! And fast! About half the time

By this time, it was early afternoon and Pier 39 was looking more like you'd expect

If you couldn't find a magnet in this store, then you weren't looking hard enough

This funny sign was at several cash registers to help tourists figure out the money!

Very yummy sourdough breads being made at Boudin

To finish out the day, time to ride the cable car

I wonder if this is any good?

The next day we headed to Angel Island, as we've never been. Coastal Miwok Native Americans once inhabited the island about 2000 yeas ago, and for almost 100 years from the Civil War to the Cold War, the Federal Government took control of the island for military bases, a quarantine station and an immigration station. No cars are allowed, so you can walk the 5 mile perimeter road, take a tram, or ride bikes. There are also lots of hiking trails. We opted for the bike option.

In the late 1800's, the island was used as a quarantine station where a large hospital was built and ships from foreign ports could be fumigated and passengers and crew suspected of carrying diseases were kept in isolation.

During the early 1900's, the island was then used as an Immigration Station and processed about 1 million immigrants coming to the United States. Any Chinese immigrants however, were not allowed to be processed and instead, were detained anywhere from 90 days to 2 years, while their applications were "considered".

During the Civil War, the island was used as an Army base to protect the San Francisco Bay. During WW1, the island was a place where returning troops were processed. During the Cold War, the Army built several Nike Missile Bases.