Wandering around the West Coast - Day 15 - Alcatraz, Union Square, Cheesecake Factory & a Cable Car

[jocat]

Index is here.

Day 15 - Tuesday 8th August 2017

We woke up at 8:30 am but struggled to get moving this morning. I eventually got up and in the shower about 40 minutes later. We ate breakfast in the room, which was a muffin each that we'd purchased yesterday as a snack and not eaten. We pushed the boat out and opened an orange juice from the mini bar. It was actually quite good in terms of value at a cost of $4, but it was a large bottle that gave us a glass each.

We got ready and left the hotel at 10:10 am, to walk up to Pier 33 to catch the 11:00 am crossing to Alcatraz. With the exception of about 30 seconds, it was actually quite a smooth crossing.

As you can see, it was a little bit cloudy!

Upon arrival on the island, we had a short talk, then went to watch an introductory video in the small theatre section there. We then walked up the various switchbacks to start the audio tour through the cell block itself. I found it fascinating and the audio tour really added something to the experience.

We spent 3 hours walking round, and I particularly enjoyed the photo exhibition in the industrial area building, depicting the last day of Alcatraz, as well as the audio tour itself.

We wandered back to the dock and caught the 2:30 pm ferry back. We were both hungry, and as it was still cloudy, we scrapped our tentative plans to do anything that involved views and caught an Uber up to Union Square to grab a bite to eat and do some shopping.

We found Macy's and after looking at some handbags that I could not afford, decided to head up to the Cheesecake Factory on the 8th Floor. There was a bit of a queue, but they thought we'd be seated within 15 minutes. We went to the outside area while we waited, admiring the city views.

We were seated at around 4pm and ordered a Diet Coke to share, as well as a JW's pink lemonade (it is my initials after all) and a Lagunitas IPA for Martin. I ordered a lunchtime special of a small pizza and a small Caesar salad and Martin ordered a mushroom burger.

When the food arrived, it was huge! A massive salad and a dinner plate sized pizza too. I ate most of my salad but only managed two pieces of pizza, so had a box to take the rest back to the hotel. We had some cheesecake to go too, as we were just too full to eat dessert at the time. I chose the white chocolate and raspberry truffle, while Martin ordered the banana cream cheesecake. The bill came to $85 plus tip, which included a second beer for Martin too.

We walked up to the Chinatown gate from here, then turned around and went past Union Square again, heading to the cable car turntable at Powell and Market Street. We purchased two single ride tickets for $7 each and joined the queue. We had about a 40 minute wait to board, but were kept entertained in the queue by one of the street entertainers nearby, as well as a slightly bonkers man opposite.

When our cable car arrived, we managed to be on the outside, with me initially sitting and Martin standing and hanging on. When a few people got off at a stop, I too took the opportunity to ride the cable car standing on the outside. It was great fun actually and not as scary as I thought it would be. We were stopped for a while due to a problem with a cable car up ahead, but were kept thoroughly entertained by the driver, who has us all interacting with people in the street.

Unfortunately, the cable car we boarded did not take us where I was expecting it to! I thought it would drop us off at the turntable next to our hotel. It seems we caught the wrong one as it dropped us off a few streets away at Mason Street. Luckily we'd got a map with us and it only took a few minutes to walk back to the Argonaut.

We got back to the hotel at around 7:30 pm with the intention of charging our phones whilst we got changed, then going back out for a drink. That wasn't to be. As soon as we sat down, fatigue took over, so we ate our cheesecake and put our feet up instead. I think Martin also ate a couple of pieces of my leftover pizza. We then did a bit of browsing online, looking for ideas of how to spend tomorrow as we had a spare day in our plan.

[Melbatb]

I went to Alcatraz 27 years ago and I can still visualize many of the photos you took! It really does have an effect on you!

The cable car looks like fun!

[tocpe321]

Looks like another great day, Jo.

We didn't do a cable car in the end, but they look really good.

[Pussycat Doll]

Lovely day and more lovely food!

[WileyCoyote]

Another fab day. Love the pics of Alcatraz and great choice for lunch, fab food there. Not surprised you were tired when you got back to the hotel, you've been so busy, very brave to "ride the side" of the cable car, go you ... Good fun though.

[Animagus]

Alcatraz is a must do I think. It sounds really interesting. We've never actually eaten at a Cheesecake Factory but, judging by your pictures,I think we will have to one day!

[Jake71]

Alcatraz was amazing, we did the night tour. We didn’t do the street cars, just grabbed a photo at the turntable next to the Dylan’s tour meeting point. We never got to Union Square either. Your day sounds really good but tiring.

[summersun]

great day x