The Rock (1/16)

Hey Y-all,

So today was a fabulous day off. After our late night and the comedy club we were all woken up by a text from our professor summoning us to the bike shop just down the road. We swiped our cards, grabbed the bikes and rolling down the pavement toward a giant red object.

That object eventually turned out to be the Golden Gate bridge, not Clifford. We rode across the bridge and then stopped in a small parking lot to decide what our next course of action would be.

Little did I know when we started out riding that I would decide to follow our in-form cyclist professor up a huge hill and number of miles to Bonita point. Yet, the scenery on the way to and at Bonita point was absolutely gorgeous.

After meeting up with some of our classmates back at the hotel, we headed to grab some lunch at the In and Out burger joint just down the street. From there we met up with the rest of our class and walked toward the Alcatraz cruise ferries. We had decided to go on a night tour of Alcatraz or "The Rock."

I was instantly intrigued when I found out that we were going to Alcatraz as the house that I am currently living in is named the rock. Eager to gather photos and stories about the notorious prison for my housemates, I set out with a feeling of anticipation.

We slowly circled the island and heard a couple of stories about the collection of buildings on the island. We walked slowly throughout the fortress for a couple of hours listening to an audio guided tour that was narrated by former guards and inmates. A number of very high profile prisoners were kept at the prison, including Al Capone. Many of these prisoners were sent to The Rock because they had exhibited bad behavior in other penitentiaries. There were three main escape attempts in Alcatraz history, the one occurring in 1962 being the most interesting. This particular escape seems to have a lot of parallels to the escape story in the movie The Shawshank Redemption. We concluded our stay on Alcatraz with a haunting cell door demonstration and boarded the return boats with the slam still ringing in our ears.

We winded our evening down by getting some chow at a noisy bar on Pier 39 called Wipe Out. We willing fell into our beds after stumbling back to our hotel from dinner. A day off well spent - exercise, history, sun, food and friends. What more could you ask for?

Later

Adam