These past two weeks have been extremely busy for me! A lot of stuff has happened, some good, some bad, I found out some things I didn't want to know, I had to work with the sick toddlers in the CDC, I will have worked two 50hr weeks by tomorrow afternoon... but I am going to focus on my trip to Alcatraz =)
Saturday morning I woke up really early and met with the two Chiefs of the HS "A" School, Payne & Elliot. All of the students were in the parking lot by 7:30 and we were carpooling to San Francisco by 7:45am. Over the Golden Gate Bridge and through the maze of Marina Blvd. and Bay St. we arrived at Pier 33, ready to catch the 9am ferry. I spoke with one of the Park Rangers telling him where we were from and that we were to meet with Ranger Cantwell. Unfortunately he didn't come over on the Staff Ferry, and by this point we missed the 9am departure. The loading crew was nice enough to let us board the 9:30 ferry first. Once we departed, the students all cheered when the Captain (a Coast Guard Auxiliary Member) announced that "Alcatraz Tour Boats are all Coast Guard Approved," and the rest of the passengers gave silent nods or claps of appreciation.
Once we arrived on the island, we were ushered to a small section away from the rest of the group, where we did end up meeting Ranger Cantwell (there had been a miscommunication about the meeting area) and our Tour Guide Maureen. We were given brief instructions then immediately lead to the first part of our behind the scenes tour... the secret escape tunnel from the laundry room. Al Capone actually ran the laundry room for awhile- evidently he was really good at folding underwear and socks. A portion of the movie "The Rock" was also filmed in there. The next stop was a walk through the gated garden, then we headed up into the Officer's Lounge, Gun Gallery, Medical Bay, Surgery Rooms, and Private Cells (such as "Birdman" Stroud). Many of these locations were featured in the movie, and I evidently sat in a famous bathtub that was "blown up" by a grenade in the film. There is so much history to the island, the officers, wardens, inmates, ownership by Native Americans, and more! I could probably go back and be just as interested as I was on Saturday.
I took 160 pictures - they aren't all in my albums because most of them are the students, seeing as I was sent as the official MWR Representative. Taking photos for the base's intranet site was my duty. I feel incredibly lucky to have gotten to go on this trip for the cost of my CG Hoodie- $29.99 tax free at the exchange on base. [everyone on the tour was required to wear Official Coast Guard apparel]
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