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Old 20 Oct 14, 12:16 PM  
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k4ti3-x
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The Golden + Silver State Mega-trip! Sept 2014 [Day 3]

Friday 30th August 2014
Very photo heavy today!


We managed to have a good sleep last night! Went to bed about 9ish and woke at 7. Then it was the usual routine of hour in bed checking Facebook and emails then starting to get ready from 8am.
We went down for breakfast just before 9 I had fruit and toast and rob had 3x toast. Went back up to room and got our bag packed for biking the bridge. Even though it had been warm the past few days we knew it was likely to be freezing on the bridge so we got our hoodies on!

We still had till 11am on our bus tour tickets from yesterday so we headed around to union square and had about a 15min wait for a grayline bus. We got off at no1 on the stop - fishermans wharf and walked along to blazing saddles at the Hyde cable car turnaround. We had our groupon ready and declined the $6 insurance per bike as it didn't cover theft or vandalism. We opted for the helmets and they took a $200 deposit on robs credit card.
We were soon off - it was odd being on a bike again after so long. Not 100% sure where we were meant to be going we just followed the other bikes ( we did have a map but it wasn't very clear). Had a small hill to get up which was a killer on the thighs! We then stopped to get some pics at the top of the hill.



Still a bit nervous on the bike here!

We then cycled down along a dedicated cycle path all the way along until we got just under the bridge - got some more pics. It was easy once we had got going and it was a nice ride. We went under the bridge and got some pics and there was a man in the water surfing - he must have been cold!








Sorry for photo overload there!

Then had another hill to cycle up which I ended up giving up half way through and pushing the bike up and then we were onto the bridge!
It was only open on the east side (got great views of the city and Alcatraz) but it was very busy, and no1 seemed to stick to their sides so there was a lot of bell ringing and stopping. Very windy on the bridge but took some pics and videos!


All too soon we were across the other side and started the decent into Sausalito. It is a very steep hill down into the village. Brakes were on the whole way (this part isn't a cycle path just a road). Cycled through the village - a lot of cyclists I can imagine all the locals getting annoyed by the masses of them! We found the free bike park and locked up our bikes and helmets.


We had a wander around Sausalito which i a beautiful little town and choose somewhere for lunch. Walked down to Scomas but the menu looked too fancy for us so we headed back the other way. I went onto trip advisor and found no1 was Fred's coffee shop - it was a long walk! The city had been a bit chilly this morning but now it was 1pm and hot! We didn't realise how far along the cafe was otherwise we would have biked along. We eventually found it and took a seat outside. I ordered the American melt which was fried egg cheese and bacon breakfast sandwich. (They serve breakfast until 2) and Rob ordered a tuna melt with fries. I had a mocha and Rob stuck to a coke. ($35)



It was very good and nice to sit outside too. It was here I realised the next ferry was 2:10 and the one after that was 3:45. The 3:45 one would get us in about 4:20 and we had the night tour booked for Alcatraz and we needed to be at the dock for 5:30! I didn't bring the tickets as I thought we would have plenty of time to get home and changed before Alcatraz. It was only 1:20pm just now as long as the food came quickly we could make it! However my watch had stopped working as when the food arrived I checked my phone and it was 2:10 so we had definitely missed the first boat! Starting to panic I looked at my emails and it had a code on it for our tickets so I hoped if we went to the ticket office and showed the code and ID they would be able to issue us with tickets because if not we would have to pay for a taxi back to hotel then another back to the Alcatraz landing - expensive! We took a leisurely stroll back to where the ferries left from and there was a queue of people forming already we decided to get in it but we were already pretty far back. Another ferry was on at 3:15 we already had our tickets from blazing saddles so we didn't need to queue and get them too. Got on the ferry and sat downstairs to be close to the bikes. Getting off the other side was a bit chaotic everyone and their bikes desperate to get off! We ended up taking ours upstair to get off as the lower deck was too crowded. Got off and cycled along the cycle path of the Embarcedo to Alcatraz landing. Rob stayed with the bikes while I went and asked about the tickets no problems just showed email and ID and we got tickets. We were told to be back here for 5:20 for our 5:55 tour. We hopped back on the bikes and got to pier 39 where the bike path ended! We weren't sure where we were suppose to be going.
Saw some on the cable car area others on pavement and some more on road. We tried the pavement but it was too crowded to just went on the road. Was a busy area as it was getting into evening now. Managed to navigate our way back and the bike rental and handed them back and payed $22 for our 2 ferry tickets. We then took a leisurely walk back to Fisherman's wharf where we went into pier 39 area and bought some magnets and baseball hats in preparation for our convertible car and bad hair days! $15. Had a look in a few more shops to kill a bit of time then heading along to Alcatraz ferry.
On our way along we saw a man butt naked singing on his bike riding along the pavement, kids started chasing him with their phones out trying to get a photo! Got out tickets checked and pic in front of fake Alcatraz then waited for boarding.
Started boarding around 5:45 and we sat outside to be able to get some pics.






Ferry over was fairly quick and we disembarked and found out there was only 100 on the night tour bonus! Took the walk up to the main entrance and walked through the shower room and picked up our audio tour. I won't give away too many details as I don't want to spoil the tour for those who are planning on doing it. Got some good photos and learnt about all the different areas. I had watched escape from Alcatraz and the tv show Alcatraz so I knew quite a bit about it before hand but I loved being able to see it for myself and you got to see the cells where they escaped from.








Also got to see the hospital and when it opened it was properly dark outside so was quite creepy. Went back through after we had finished the tour to get some pics with no other people around. We went and listened to a talk on famous inmates Al Capone and another was due to start but it was getting really cold. We had a look through the gift shop and the books and the. Headed back to ferry.




We were there for 2 hours and thought that was a good amount of time to see everything. Started boarding on the ferry and went over in the dark. Got off and went up to pier 39 for a taxi as it was now 9:15 and we didn't fancy getting public transport. Taxi was $15 with tip. We headed in and went up to bed while we went on the iPad and watched a bit of tv. Went to sleep at 10:30 - out latest night!
Was a busy but very good day!
Total spends -

Food, ferry crossing & taxi = $72
Katie spends - $15
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Old 20 Oct 14, 12:52 PM  
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abiknox
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Great day! Well done on getting the bridge & Alcatraz done on the same day!

The night tour looks good, I was tempted with it but also wanted to make the most of our mornings thinking we would be jet lagged. Always next time though. getting the bikes up to the second deck of the ferry is crazy isn't it!?
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Old 22 Oct 14, 03:11 PM  
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k4ti3-x
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Originally Posted by abiknox View Post
Great day! Well done on getting the bridge & Alcatraz done on the same day!

The night tour looks good, I was tempted with it but also wanted to make the most of our mornings thinking we would be jet lagged. Always next time though. getting the bikes up to the second deck of the ferry is crazy isn't it!?
Thanks I didn't even realise we had planned it that way - thought I had booked Alcatraz for the Thursday night! It was really good - the sunset was amazing! Haha I couldn't quite believe we had to do it - luckily someone took mine for me as I have no upper body strength so would never have managed!
Thanks for reading
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Old 15 Nov 14, 04:19 PM  
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Wow a busy day, fab photos!
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Old 24 Mar 15, 04:03 PM  
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Helen0705
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Great day with some lovely photos .
I went to Alcatraz about twenty years ago ( I feel very old saying that ) and really enjoyed it and would love to take my two boys there one day.
Good on you for cycling too !
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