Alcatraz Island

 Riding the ferry to the island,

the only way to get to the island.

Social Hall & Military Post Exchange 

 Home for each Prisoner

 Exercise Yard

The small hook in this picture is for the keys of the guards on the prison floor. If there was a problem with the prisoners, the guard could put his keys are the hook and they would be pulled up into the gun gallery where other guards were on duty and away from the prisoners.

 View of San Francisco from Alcatraz

The Cafeteria

 The military base layout.

The old military barracks down by the harbor.

Alcatraz was a military base before the prison was built on the higher part of the island.

Chinatown

We walked through Chinatown a couple of times because it was close to our hotel. One morning we walked through before the shops had opened and it was kind of strange and scary because everything was shut with bars across the entrances. The other times we went, the streets were teaming with people and the wares of each shop were spilling out onto the sidewalk. I really wanted a souvenir from here so Michael patiently followed me from shop to shop while I looked at and tried things on. I ended up with a beautiful knee length, silk dress.

Grace Cathedral

One of our last stops after a day of touring San Francisco on foot was the Grace Cathedral. The paintings, stain glass windows, and architecture are exquisite. I was so tired from walking all day, I didn't take many pictures. I was just grateful for some place cool, quiet, and peaceful to sit. Michael took a lot of pictures and I will have to get them from him some time. Here is the one picture I was able to get to come out (the others were too dark.)

Lombard Street

Almost every movie or show based in "San Francisco" features a shot of Lombard street. The street winds back and forth about the length of two blocks. It looks a lot wider in film then it does in real life. However, it was really neat to see in person and we took the stairs up the length of the curves to the top of the hill and watched the drivers very slowly maneuvering around the tight curves. 

Coit Tower: Views of and from

We hiked up to Coit Tower on our way to the harbor one day. It was closed for renovations so we weren't able to go inside. The tower is one of the highest spots in San Francisco and we had an awesome view of Alcatraz island and the harbor on each side.

Cable Car Museum

San Francisco has an awesome museum where we learned about the history of the cable cars. We were even able to see the machinery that still operates the cable cars today in action.

Did you know that cable cars require no electricity to operate? I didn't until we visited the museum. I also learned San Francisco is the only city with cable cars still in operation.

The lines of the cable cars being pulled around the city. 

Cable Cars through the Years 

More Working Pulleys 

This is what stands between you and a cable car stopping. 

Hope all the parts are in working order. 

Crossing the Bridge

We crossed a few bridges on our travels to and from San Francisco. These structures are awe-inspiring. The pictures here are of the old and new bridges from Oakland to San Francisco. The old bridge pictured in the background had cars travel over one another traveling in opposite directions. The new bridge we were on was wide enough to accommodate traffic traveling in both directions side by side.

Oakland, California Temple

We flew into Oakland on our San Francisco and so we stopped by the temple and took some pictures. The temple was closed that day because it was Monday so we had the grounds mostly to ourselves and had fun taking pictures.

San Francisco Trip

For our 10 year anniversary, Michael and I were able to spend a few days in San Francisco, California last April by ourselves. We were able to see everything on our list and then some. I had forgotten how much more we can do without the little people in tow and had to add things to the list to see and do after the first day. I was also able to take a lot of pictures which I will share in subsequent posts. Thanks, Mom, for coming to take care of the kiddos while we were gone!