Approaching Alcatraz – San Francisco, California

For all the times I’ve been to San Francisco, I’ve never been to Alcatraz, the infamous maximum security prison located in the middle of the bay. This visit was our most touristy and expensive activity. The park ranger claimed it’s in the top ten most visited tourist sites in the world. I found that hard to believe but that may explain why it was so crowded and hard to get into. During Christmas time, nearly all the boat rides to the island were fully booked. Instead of the usual $40 per person, we paid more than double to go through a travel agency.

We had wonderful weather for nearly the entire San Francisco trip. But the night before and the day of our big Alcatraz tour, the weather turned drizzly and with increasingly heavier rain as the day progressed. I was disappointed at first, but realized that the foggy, overcast day added a sober aesthetic to the Alcatraz experience, which actually complemented the prison tour. I think it also adds to the mood of this black and white.

I was, of course, outside to make good photographs of our approach. The rest of my family was decidedly more comfortable inside the warm cabin.