That's right, yes I got the chance to sleep an overnight on Alcatraz island -- The Rock-- in a cell! It was crazy! 35 companions set out from pier 33 in San Francisco on a boat ride to the island, equipped with sleeping bags, food and a spirit of adventure and it was just plain cool. Here's the Rock coming closer on the horizon...
We BBQ-ed on the dock for dinner and did a little service project for them by moving a couple hundred chairs up-island, so it kinda felt like scout camp! Then set off on the regular tour. Lots of History on that island. It was Military owned first with 109 canons and a citadel with a moat to keep pirates out of the bay. After the pop culture prison days, the Native Americans occupied it and made a political stand there for a couple months so now it is a National Park still showing signs and scrawlings of that occupation. (This is our group--not the Indians)
Then the fun stuff. Ranger John, a very knowledgeable if somewhat schoolmaster disciplinarian of a guide, led us to our cells and we each claimed a cot. With 35 friends all running around, it really did feel like May Hall in the dorms at college just fewer vending machines and not quite as nice of creature comforts. Oh yeah, and the doors were all bars instead. Whatever. We were in D-Block, which is solitary confinement so none of the cells faced each other but faced the windows looking out towards San Fran. It was almost a nice view squinting through the barred windows and bullet proof glass.
We went on the regular tour and it was wild to see where all these crazy things happened with escapes and a breakout attempt that led to a mini war for a few days in the 40's. You can still see the blast marks in the concrete floor where the marines dropped grenades in from holes in the roof.
Then we started getting extra special treatment. Ranger John led us on a moonlight hike around the island on Agave Trail and down to the Parade Grounds that were hewn from a rocky cliff to make a place for the military to practice marching. (Oh and Barenaked Ladies and Train played a concert there as well.) Then around the edge to the north side of the island where one prisoner was actually shot trying to escape, then through the Carpentry Shop where Al Capone worked, and into a secret tunnel linking the two sides of the island. At its opening is where they shot the final scene of The Rock, with Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage where he shoots off a rocket and stabs himself in the heart with an antidote syringe from the VX-gas.
Then up up up the ship ladders they put in the walls to get to the Officer's Club where the original pool table still is, and in the gun galley where you can gaze down at all the prisoners. There's even little port holes for your guns in case you need to shoot an inmate or regulate a riot. Whoa. The kitchen was super creepy so we'll leave it at that.
We played some charades in the mess hall to round out the evening and then retired to our cells. Now remember, the cells are all metal with open bars for doors and sound reverberates quite well through metal. So of course someone invited a snorer and it was out of control. No for reals, it was rattling the walls. I flipped around for an hour before getting so frustrated I had to leave the cell block and go for a walk. 4 other people were up too, so we cruised the island all to ourselves and took some more pics around the ruins and down to the dock. The moonlight on the water, the sun almost coming up, all the lights of San Francisco, even sounds from the city faintly wafting across the water. (And occasionally Jason the SWAT team guy that was there for security would flit in and out of the shadows. ) Kinda peaceful really.
What an interesting psychic prison to be 1.2 miles away from a world you can't touch. So close and yet so far from all of those pieces of life that we all love--friendships and freedom to choose and act. Hmmm, reminds me of Stadium of Fire from BYU campus on the 4th of July when you're safely confined within the bars of the MTC...
The next morning, bagels and donuts on the dock and back we went across the water to a pier of waiting tourists who stood puzzled and questioning as we stepped off the boat with sleeping bags as if we had just slept on and escaped from The Rock--and we had, and we did. What a night. That was a once in a lifetime experience for this man and much more fun than counting time for life in a one man cell.
No cookies before bed at Alcatraz... (or Cinnamon Toast Crunch either it turns out...) Nice to be home...munch, munch...
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