Saturday in San Francisco, Part Two

After our morning at the Farmers Market and the Embarcadero, we made our way to Pier 33 where we would be taking a ferry to Alcatraz. When Chip and I went to San Francisco last fall, we were in the middle of the government shut down, which meant all national parks (Alcatraz included) were closed. Thankfully the government had their act together (more or less….) during this trip and we were actually able to go tour the island. The ferry ride was a lot shorter than I had expected, part of me had expected it to be as long as the one to Nantucket, but before we knew it, we were arriving at the dock. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Alcatraz, but I have to say it was a lot more interesting than I had anticipated. The audio tour was just the right length and provided so much information on the history of the jail, complete with stories about different inmates there and the various attempts to escape.

On the ferry

Dad spent most of the ferry ride outside checking out the views

Watching a race as we got to Alcatraz

Getting into Alcatraz

Famous Alcatraz inmates

Chip checking out one of the solitary confinement cells

Inside the old library room

It was a little windy…

Our view of the city from Alcatraz

We finished our tour at Alcatraz around 3:00. Once we got back to San Francisco, we took a very tight cab ride to our rental home (see the evidence below) before packing up and heading to our hotel. Saturday was actually my parents’ 28th anniversary, so we spent the evening having dinner at E’ Tutto Qua. Looking back on our trip, that was hands-down the best meal during our time in California. It was so genuinely Italian that as soon as we walked in the door we were greeted by a loud “Party Lopez? Over here” and then a bunch of Italian shouting between waiters as we got seated at our table. Anytime we would serve ourselves more wine, the waiters would walk by shouting “Salute!” or would otherwise be speaking Italian to each other about food orders. The manager even came by at one point and told us all about how he created some of their signature dishes (order anything they recommend. It’s all delicious). The environment was great, the food was amazing, and it was so fun getting to celebrate my parents’ anniversary together. Cheers to you, mom and dad!