So as today is Clint Eastwood’s birthday….
Happy birthday
So I thought that I would do a post that relates to him in some way…
So this adventure took place around three years ago. So you all know what that meanes, we’ve gotta go back in time…
So about three years ago I was a junior in college and getting ready to start my finals. And I’m sure there are plenty who remember how that feels. Your mood flips faster than the weather in Wyoming. From stressed out:
To sad and unsure that you even know what you are doing:
I was a part of the history club, and we decided that this was the perfect time to take a trip.
I’ve got to get out of here.
We tossed around a bunch of ideas like going to the Scottish Games, Alcatraz Night Tour, Exploratorium, Wine Tasting, Cheese Tasting, etc. Of course it took forever for everyone to decide but we finally settled on Alcatraz.
Now I have always wanted to go to Alcatraz. I have been a big fan every since the Clint Eastwood movie based on a true story, Escape from Alcatraz.
The story is about Frank Morris. He was sent to Alcatraz because he escapes every prison they put him in. They placed him in Alcatraz because it was impossible to get out of.
Not only because of all the guards, as said in the trailer, but the location. Alcatraz is in the bay of San Francisco, which if you have never been there, has freezing cold water year round. Mark Twain once said:
“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”
Not to mention the coordinates of the prison has a horrible pull of the current that if you managed to try to escape by swimming, the current would keep you from going forward, and you would eventually die from hypothermia.
So the story is that Frank Morris comes up with this way to escape Alcatraz by digging a hole through the vent in his room, creating a facade to hide the digging, paper mache heads and fake bodies, and a raft. He teams up with three other guys, but unlike the movie one failed to escape through the vent because he had a pipe blocking his path, not that he was afraid. No one knows whether the three drowned or escaped. Their bodies and persons were never seen again.
But I was so jazzed to learn more about the island. Beside the Frank Morris story, Al Capone actually walked there as he was imprisoned there. How cool would it be that I was where one of the greatest gangsters was?
I mean he did horrible things, but it still is slightly cool
And to be somewhere CLINT EASTWOOD ACTUALLY SPENT TIME!!? MY FANGIRLNESS JUST EXPLODED!
Words cannot explain my excitement.
You definitely made mine!
And then of course Sam Neil when he filmed that show Alcatraz (on my to-watch list).
It was great
So I was sooo excited.
And it didn’t disappoint. The bay was beautiful, and so was Alcatraz. I didn’t know that the families of the workers lived with them on the island, so there were beautiful gardens and flowers growing.
And the complex was used for so many things. During the Civil War they kept it as fortress and military prison, Native Americans were housed there, it was used as a jail, and most recently a famous author had a show there.
It was so cool being there. So much information, and such a history. Plus the architecture was amazing.
So we were able to see the rooms of Frank Morris, the brains, and his compatriots. It was pretty cool how they kept everything the same for the tourists.
But because we were the Night Tour, things definitely took a creepy turn.
Like the hospital room. Full of these older, slightly rusty tools, and at night with a weird light. I wouldn’t want to stay long in that room.
Getting out of here
Or the Isolation Chamber?
The isolation chamber was were you were sent when you were causing trouble or if a guard hated you. You are in a small cell with nothing in it, and the day it is okay. But when it is night, it is pitch black in there and super creepy.
It was right next to the library where they were doing a lecture I wanted to attend, and that was the only way to get there so we had to pass through it. Oh man, it was scary.
Creepy!
And another kinda creepy factor? There were tons of seagulls everywhere. It felt as if I was in The Birds and they were just waiting to attack.
Not gulls but this was what it felt like.
But it was a lot of fun and even though it was spooky, I definitely recommend it to anyone.
For more San Francisco adventures, go to I Left My Car in San Francisco
For more stories from my everyday life, go to A Bump in the Night
In other news, as I said before today is Clint Eastwood’s birthday so I’m going to celebrate the best way I can!
Just a few of his films.
MARATHON!!!
For more Clint Eastwood, go to A Cowboy’s Christmas
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