Alcatraz & Warriors Game

February 16, 2009 - It has been a few days since I "blogged in" so here is a brief synopsis of the highlights of SF (at least the tourist highlights). Sarah and I arrived in SF on Tuesday pretty worn out from the drive south from Seattle but more importantly worn out from just being on the road. We used the days in SF to relax, do laundry, catch up on Top Chef (Hoshea is no longer our favorite), and to pretty much do nothing if that is what we wanted. With all that said I told Sarah that Alcatraz is a must if visiting SF so we booked a ferry and jumped aboard.

Many people will tell you that SF weather is crappy and if you really want "good" weather you need to go to southern California. As you will see from the upcoming pictures this just is not true. Not only did we have 53 degrees and perfect sun but it didn't rain once the Thursday we went out to Alcatraz. I have been to SF 5 or 6 times now to visit Warren and Katie, mostly in the winter, and each time the weather has been great. On to the pictures.
I made sure to post this picture rather than the pictures I took of the Golden Gate because the Bay Bridge does not get nearly the amount of credit that the Golden Gate does. Granted the Bay Bridge was built after the Golden Gate and it only links Oakland to SF (no one likes Oakland in SF) it still should get some respect. I am not an engineer but in my opinion the Bay Bridge is a more impressive feet of engineering than the Golden Gate and caught on the right day it is equally as beautiful. SF is on the right and Oakland is on the left.

Pulling up to the island of Alcatraz really is an impressive experience. It was first built by the Union army as a third fort to defend against Confederate raiders on ships leaving SF harbor filled with California gold. Soon after the Civil War the fort was converted into an army prison for poor soldiers, deserters, war criminals, POW's, and Indians. It was not until 1934 when the Bureau of Prisons opened the doors of Alcatraz to be used as a Federal Penitentiary. The first inmates were predominantly bank robbers and other existing prison inmates deemed too dangerous to be kept in their current facility.

I have said before in my blog, and many of you know this about me, that I really REALLY like lighthouses. I thought this picture turned out beautifully.

The following picture was taken from the area overlooking the parade grounds. This area was not accessible to the inmates but rather the guards and Warden. It is a pretty spectacular view of the city. It is almost surreal that one is standing in a prison and has this view.

There are four major corridors that run the length of the prison cell block, C/D St, Broadway, Michigan Ave, and I forget the last one. I love this picture and thought it was really great for the girl from Chicago.

This cell was a recreation of one of the famous inmates that participated in the Great Escape from Alcatraz. They dug through their ventilator grill to gain access to the utility corridor. From there the inmates scaled up the 3 story building go through a fan intake and climbed over the roof and down the cell block. They had made rafts and life preservers to assist in their swim. No bodies were ever found and to this day it is debated if it was the only successful escape from Alcatraz. Clint Eastwood starred in a great movie about the story called Escape From Alcatraz.

After we got back from Alcatraz island we walked over to pier 39 to see the sea lions. It is one of the great tourist things to do while in SF. Unfortunately for us the sea lions were rather docile on this day. Usually they are pretty playful and are barking a lot.

The old street car that runs along the Embarcadero. This picture reminds me of that Dockers commercial that came out a few years ago.

On Thursday night we the four of us all took the train (BART) over to Oakland to see the Warriors play the Trailblazers. Face value = $80.00; We paid = $60.00 - please call me the master negotiator. I am like Kevin Spacey in the negotiator I am so good. "Get me Sabien!!!"

Our seats. I wish they were not behind the basket but they worked out just fine. Everyone really enjoyed the game and it actually turned out to be really competitive. The Warriors won after nearly giving up a 15 point lead. Take away from the game for all the NBA fans out there, Brandon Roy could be as good as D-Wade or Kobe if he wanted to be. By that I mean he has the pure athletic skills, physical size, and flashes the same killer instinct. It just seems he sometimes lacks the confidence in himself to take over the game. Greg Oden is at least 3 years away from being an NBA ready player let alone a star. Looks like Portland blew another historic draft with the way Durrant is playing in OKC. Finally the Warriors are one of the more entertaining teams in the NBA to go see play. They are undersized, don't run set offenses, and play absolutely NO defense. They are super athletic and they don't listen to Nelly (their coach) at all. This all adds up to a real life video game team playing night in and night out. Go see them play if you can.

Katie needed a little face time on the blog and this picture is setting up a not too distant post called "Travels with Chins" or my new Indian name. Move over Christopher their is a new double chin in the family.

We drove up to Tahoe on Sunday afternoon and will be up here until Thursday. My Dad flew out to meet us and to make use of his Epic Pass. The snow forecast called for multiple feet of snow in the South Lake region beginning Saturday night and continuing into Tuesday. After one day of skiing I can safely say that Heavenly got 5 - 7 inches at best and the weather people out here are full of shit.

Hope all are well.