Visiting the clink

I've always been a fan of Sean Connery, but it pains me to tell you that he is not part of the Alcatraz United States Penitentiary tour. This came as quite a blow, but I was able to recover. CW & I got tickets in advance of our latest San Francisco trip. I made us miss our designated boat (I thought the walk would be nice & short; turns out it was nice & long). We were still able to catch the next boat, and finally check out what is probably the most famous prison in U.S. history.

The island itself has seen several uses. It was originally a military fort, charged with protecting the fair city of San Francisco. Nobody ever really wanted to attack the city, so the soldiers mostly lolled about firing canons into the bay. The reason that Alcatraz is so well known, of course, is because it was a prison, and held some names like the Birdman and Al Capone. After the prison was closed in 1963, it was used by some Native Indian tribes to stage a protest for several years.

For now, I shall let the pictures do the rest of the talking, though they may not have a lot to say.