The Rock: Alcatraz Island.
I watched the movie “The Rock” a few weeks ago in anticipation of our half-day excursion to Alcatraz Island. In one of the opening scenes, a rogue U.S. military officer and his subjects seize modern day Alcatraz, slamming shut the prison bars on a group of unsuspecting tourists and taking them hostage. Needless to say, I was hoping they wouldn’t be filming the sequel while we were there.
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BowlingJoe in jail where he belongs
We woke up on Wednesday and headed to breakfast at one of the oldest places to eat in San Francisco, Sears Fine Food (circa 1938). After last night’s pizza it was best to take on something tame like oatmeal. Sears was okay and somewhat pricey as we thought they put a premium on their longevity.
Alcatraz Island was a worthwhile and historically significant destination despite the fact that we were shuffled into a couple of different queues starting 45 minutes or so before boarding the ferry that would take us there. I won’t attempt to give any history lessons here but a couple of things struck us about the self guided tour we took with the headphones: First, those prison cells were really small and sparse. And if you’re someone who is insistent upon privacy in the bathroom, well…..forget it. Second, it really must have messed with the prisoners’ minds knowing that freedom was a couple of miles away and they could see (and even hear) it.
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Never pass up a chance for an In-N-Out Burger
Walking around Alcatraz can work up an appetite. And since it was lunch time, we headed into and past the chic, pricey Fisherman’s Wharf restaurants (if you have limited time in San Francisco and skip The Wharf, you’re not missing much) and on to In-N-Out Burger. For our money this is the best hamburger-fries combination fast food in the country. We try to visit at least once when we’re on the road in the Southwest. The burgers are fresh and tasty, while the fries were potatoes that morning.
After lunch we put ourselves on a bus to the Coit Tower, a structure built in 1933 atop Telegraph Hill. There are some terrific views of the city from the hill and even better ones from the top of the tower. Unfortunately we never got there. The elevator was broken and there were a couple of guys from Otis Elevators attempting to fix it. It occurred to me that I may have just discovered another legitimate definition of coitus interruptus. So we ended up biding our time taking in the depression-era fresco murals on the ground floor of the tower.
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SF city view from Telegraph Hill
Instead of taking a bus down the hill, we stumbled upon a faster and far more interesting way to travel: The Filbert Stairs. They’re steep, many blocks long; they go through vegetation, past residences and are a lot of fun – to go down. I need oxygen by just thinking about how tough the going would be if we were punishing ourselves by going up them.
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One of the fresco murals at Coit Tower
After a much needed hour rest at the hotel, we took a Muni train to AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants and headed to the nearby 21st Amendment Brewery for an ale prior to checking out the stadium digs. We circumnavigated the stadium before actually going in and found it to be a pleasant walk, particularly on the other side of the right field fence, strolling along the water at what’s known as “McCovey Cove”. The Cove is a popular splash landing spot for home runs and long foul balls and attracts the attention of kayakers and other boaters with fish nets during games.
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A steep section of the daunting Filbert Stairs
AT&T Park is clearly on the upper tier of the new baseball stadiums, although I’d rank it slightly lower than our own Safeco Field, mainly due to the fact that you can see the game at the Safe from pretty much anywhere along the first level concourses. The food, however, is better and more diverse than what you can get at Seattle’s ballpark (it is San Francisco after all). BowlingWidow went with the tried and true garlic fries and sausage dog with veggies combo. I went with the chicken and rice Cha Cha Bowl from former Giant Orlando Cepeda’s eatery past centerfield. Very good stuff. Orlando even had the good sense to have an optional habanero sauce to go with it.
If you go to a game and it’s at night, make sure you dress accordingly as it gets really cold, a fairly common theme throughout the city. Oh, yeah….the Giants beat the Atlanta Braves by a score of 6-3 as ex-Mariner (and isn’t everyone an ex-Mariner?) Randy Johnson won his 299th career game.
Top: AT&T Park
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Center: Orlando's - Home of the Cha Cha Bowl
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Below: Giant glove and Coke bottle from behind the right field wall
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