Alcatraz Mixed with Crazy Parrots Equals Gluttony

The next day we were up at around 8:00AM but not by choice as much as by the crazy druggie couple screaming on the street about a cell phone and how they needed some meth.  It really wasn’t that big of a deal as we needed to get up anyway if we wanted to get everything we wanted to done.

So we headed downstairs for our free breakfast.  I have to be honest, though I enjoyed the Hotel Bijou a lot due to its kitschy style and cool staff I didn’t much care for the breakfast crew.  Whenever we went downstairs, we would find that half the food options were missing so we would be left with cereal and maybe a piece of fruit.  Where the hell were the eggs and the bagels?  We don’t know and the staff didn’t really care at all.  They were rude and stunk!

Chinatown!

But we got our fill and moved on for the day.  Our first stop was for a little shopping as we were in a prime shopping area.  So we hit a handful of stores, though nothing really caught my fancy so I grabbed a coffee and enjoyed the people watching as the others finished up.

After the crew had met up again, we headed to Chinatown.  You can’t go to San Francisco without a visit.  As we walked past the dragons guarding the brick arches, a familiar feeling swept over me.  I am originally from San Francisco but hadn’t been in Chinatown since I was a kid.  It totally took me back in time as I remember coming here with my family to have Chinese food before grabbing some shrimp chips and wandering around the city. 

I will say that Chinatown is a lot smaller than I remember it being, but then again, when you are a kid everything seems grander.  Also, I am used to the Chinatown in NYC which is large and crazy!  There are vendors and restaurants everywhere in NYC’s Chinatown.  Also, it is a little rougher around the edges in comparison to San Francisco’s.  In fact, I was pretty impressed by how clean and organized it was, though the peddlers will work you hard for a sale.  In the end, I did by a pretty scarf to take home with me as NYC winters are harsh and this scarf looked like it could handle the job.

Taking the F Train

We also looked at a few balloon toys as one of my friends wanted to buy something for his close buddy.  Luckily, a very nice Chinese woman stopped him from buying it as it was supposed to be an offering or gift to someone who has died.  None of us saw that coming.  She was actually very nice about it an explained the custom to him and suggested he get something a little more appropriate for the living. 

After he found a gift, we crossed the street to pick up moon cakes at a local bakery.  Moon cakes are chock full of unhealthy goodness and are quite delicious.  Really, they are fat surrounded by more fat, but damn they are good.  They are generally eaten during the Mid Autumn Festival with green tea, though I think they are available year round. 

After eating our desserts, we headed over to a restaurant that we had heard through the grapevine was the best food in Chinatown.  Well, I am happy to say that this was not an exaggeration.  Honestly, this was the best Chinese food I have ever eaten.  I had the walnut and honey shrimp on rice and as a group we shared dumplings and the best salt and pepper squid I have ever eaten.  If squid is not fresh or prepared wrong, it sucks!  This was amazing!  Also, the walnut honey shrimp was ridiculously good.  This place was so damn amazing, I think I have been ruined for life.  Dramatic, but true! 

Alcatraz

After lunch, we waddled over to the F train as we had tickets to see Alcatraz around 3PM.  The lines to the ferry are long but we kept ourselves entertained by watching the people pose in front of an image of Alcatraz.  I hate these things, I really do.  They have them everywhere now.  Why do I need a picture of me and company in front of a fake set up of Alcatraz?!?  It’s not like it is some sort of resort or the Eiffel Tower, it is Alcatraz!  It was a crazy ass maximum security prison!   Still, they require that everyone takes the obligatory photo, so we acted all bad ass for the photo making the photographer laugh at our stupidity.

After the photo, it was onto the Ferry.  I am not a fan of water or ferries.  Why?  Because they sink, I have seen it in the news, though not in San Francisco.  Still, I really hate them thanks to the whole water thing.  So, I hid behind a glass section of the ferry snapping photos from behind the glass periodically before disappearing behind it again.  It was as if I was in a shoot out.  In the end, the ride was pretty painless and only took 10-15 minutes. 

Watch Tower

Alcatraz is a self guided tour which is always nice.  This gave all four of us time to go our separate ways for a few hours so that we would not strangle each other later from over exposure.  Though we met up a few times to take some amazing action shots inside the cells; some of the shots even included posing with toilets.  Look, Alcatraz is depressing, so after a while you really have to break it up by turning that frown upside down.  Unfortunately, to save the reputation of some in the group, I will not be posting any of the cell photos.

I have to say, I really enjoyed the tour and found the history really interesting.  There are many stories including the prisoner take over of a cell block and how a group of three guys actually escaped Alcatraz though it is believed they died in the bay somewhere as they were never found on land where the authorities were waiting for them.  Still, nobody knows for sure what happened to these guys.

Another interesting fact is that families actually lived there.  They even had a school and various holiday parties for the children of the wardens and other workers of Alcatraz.  The best story was probably about how the children would go into the cell blocks and sing Christmas carols bringing many of the prisoners to tears.

If you go to Alcatraz, you may want to bring a coat as it is very windy in the middle of the water.  I can’t even imagine how cold it must get during the winter.  These guys must have been frozen in the cells as the structure doesn’t seem that weather proof.  The other odd thing is that the view from the recreation yard is an amazing panoramic view of the San Francisco skyline.  I can’t imagine being taunted by that view everyday.  So close to humanity, yet so far.  Yes, I know many of them deserved to be there, but still, talk about dangling a carrot in someone’s face.  In the end, I really enjoyed my excursion to Alcatraz. 

Filbert Steps

After the ferry ride back, we decided it was time for dinner.  But first, we decided that we wanted to see the Coit Tower up close and personal.  The easy answer would be to take the transit up to the top and enjoy the view before heading to the pizzeria.  But no, I suggested we walk up the Filbert Steps as it would be faster in the long run and more adventurous.  Sure, if everyone in the group was training for the Olympics.

The Filbert Steps are 300+ steps that lead you past a bunch of cute houses surrounded by foliage and crazy parrots that mock you from their hiding spots in the trees.  Yes, it sounds like a crazy dream after a night of wild binge drinking, but it is indeed real!  Angie looked at me like I was insane after staring up at the first few flights.  At the time, I had no idea there were that many steps, I really didn’t.  From where we were standing it looked like there were maybe 75 steps total.  By the time we were halfway up the stairs, half of the group was huffing and puffing and giving me the “I hate you look.”  Okay, maybe I had overestimated the amount of steps, but it was a good way too burn off the moon cakes we had eaten earlier!

Filbert Kitty

As we took a breather, Angie informed me that there had been a grey kitty about 100 steps down.  I love cats.  A lot!  How the hell did the grey kitty escape me?  So like a mad women, I ran all the way back down until I spotted the little she devil.  She was adorable and playful, but feisty.  After about 10 minutes, I realized I was holding the group up and ran all the way back up to the top of the steps.  Yes, I took the steps two at a time until I got to about the final thirty where I took a breather.  At the top the other three stood talking to a local about the tower.  I finished the walk and met up with the others taking in the mighty tower.  Luckily, we had all survived the experience and continued on to have a fine evening of amazing pizza and delicious gelato.  We decided after our gluttonous day that it would be best if we walked around San Francisco at night to walk off some of the damage. 

San Francisco at night is a lovely thing though at times chilly.  At the end of the eveningt, I had to ask myself what had taken me so long to go back?  Yes, I live in one of the biggest and craziest cities in the US, but I was totally digging San Francisco’s vibe.  It had been too long since I had visited.  Unfortunately, I would be leaving the next day so we decided we would be getting up early yet again to take in as many sites as we could before time was up.