For much of its history, Alcatraz was actually a military post, one of the first fortified bases on the west coast in fact. Today it's a strange combination of ruined buildings, landscaped gardens, seabird sanctuary and tourist ghetto.
The boat ride over is only about 20 minutes but when it lands, about 400 people all follow the orientation advice and head for the cell block first. Tip: do everything backwards, then you won't be stuck in the herds of wierdly silent tourists all shuffling around with the audio tour playing in their headphones.
From inside the rec yard you really get a sense of how tantalising it must have been for inmates with enough cred to sit on the top steps and see how close the city was. Equally, for those inmates at peace with their alloted sentence, the sheer amount of work that went into the gardens offers another glimpse of life on the rock.
Just think, Jimmy "The Greek" and "Machine Gun" Kelly trod the rec yard before you, not to mention "The Birdman" himself.
ReplyDelete"Doing bird" vs "free as a bird" - interesting paradox.