Mike   Journal: Day Eight   other journals
	We woke up at 7am, we were very exhausted and I made the scrambled eggs which it was very tasty. We were very excited about going to Alcatraz Jail Island and there were have a lot of history. We walked to the BART to get on Powell Street and when we go there, there was many people lined up for get on the cable car because we don’t have time to wait. So we decided to walk through the tons of blocks to get there and we have to hurry because the boat will leave about 1pm. Then, we arrived at Pier 33 where we will ride the boat to Alcatraz and we have to wait for awhile so we decided to eat our lunch. It was very interesting what people are doing and one crazy thing I saw was the bird that seemed want to eat something so I gave some pieces of ham but the bird just flew away! Huh! Before we entered the boat, we did hear the big horn and it was a warning sign for an emergency such as the earthquake. It was very, very LOUD! We took the pictures of the Alcatraz quotes from the bulletin board. Most quotes were really had many good points about Alcatraz and one is “Alcatraz was never no good for nobody.” While we got in the boat, we went to the top and there was a very pleasant view of Alcatraz Island and San Francisco. There was very windy and cold so I put my sweatshirts on. We arrived to Alcatraz; we saw many birds flying around here and we wonder why there were a lot of birds more than San Francisco. We got out of the boat and we heard from the National Park Service about some of those areas that we can’t enter because of the protection of the wildlife birds. Then, we walked through some old buildings such as the officer’s house and I saw a lot of birds’ guano. We entered one building that has the historical movie about Alcatraz and there were a lot of things that happened there because of a former county jail and the government kicked out the Indians which tried to expand the Indians’ culture. It made me fascinated because there were some paintings on the entrance that said Indians lived on that island! Then, we walked through some ruins of building from the fire of 1970 and there were a lot of signs that we can’t enter because of wildlife birds. But we can only take the peek in the buildings. We decided to go to the Alcatraz cell house and we saw the huge building which we will take a tour in the cell. Most of us can’t use the audio tour so Anne and Charise used the audio for interpreting to us about the cell. We followed Anne through of all cell areas and Anne explained to us what happened in almost each cell. Most of the cells are very important because some men did have the trick such as make the hole with spoons that can go through the hole then they climbed up to the second floor. The other bad man used the bullet to stretch the bars so he can get through and get the key. He thought that the key can enter the door which it was the way out but it wasn’t working. So he got busted and was brought back to the cell. And the dining room has the plentiful foods which they didn’t have to fight for the foods. But one time, the men were very sick of spaghetti that took them to eat almost everyday and they just flipped over the tables! They were very enraged because they wanted to have various foods but that is the way it was. We saw the isolated cells which the double doors had closed such as at first, the bars then the door closed. It was a very dark room and the men usually played some game such as flip the coin to the floor then looked for it. Some cells were very serious and some are not. If the cells were very serious, the men have to stay there for 24 hours and got out of the cells in one time in a week. I can’t really imagine how they can suffer! If the cells were not really serious, the men could go outside and play some sports such as baseball and the “BRIDGE” cards game. The cell has the library which they can read the books and there were some tutors such as English and math. At the end, we were very fascinated how Alcatraz fell because they didn’t have the money to support it. The LAST quote was “Alcatraz was never no good for nobody.” After of all, we went to get a view of the San Francisco cities and took some of pictures of the wildlife birds’ babies. It was very cute when the mother stayed with the babies and mother just keeps looking at the babies. Then, we went back to the boat and we saw the Golden Gate Bridge which we will go there tomorrow! After we arrived to Pier 33, we went to looking for the restaurant for our dinner and we wanted to go to that place where we can see the sea lions, but we decided to go other restaurant called Fog Harbor which Anne Nutt’s favorite because of sourdough bread! We entered and walked through many tables and then we sat on the chairs. It was looking like a 4 star restaurant because of all of the windows and tables were so clean and some decorations. I ate clam chowder soup which it said was the best in the SF and it was really good! I ate the sourdough bread which it was very tasty and I felt like that I can steal them all! I ordered the swordfish and side of garlic mashed potatoes which it was really good but lucky I didn’t feel nauseous later on. After that, we went to Ghirardelli Square and there were many chocolate places! First of all, we have to go the restrooms which we have to go to other place which have the elevator to go downstairs. It was kind of weird! We entered the Ghirardelli’s store and there were chocolates everywhere. We got some chocolate candy bars which it was mouth-watering because caramel covered chocolate! MMM! Then, we went to eat ice cream which was very luscious and I ate one scoop vanilla ice cream with dark Ghirardelli chocolate hot fudge!!! It was very full of chocolate flavor! We wanted to walk off the ice cream so we went to the Lombard Street. Before we go there, we walked up very steep hills but there was a very nice view of the sunset on the ocean and Alcatraz! It was honestly beautiful! We arrived at the Lombard Street, there was very, very curvy road with steep turns such as go deep right then go to deep left and repeated. We were like WOW! I can’t imagine how I can drive the car through that road and I will be panicked when I drive through that! I saw one van which has a right rear flat tire but the van just kept going fast in the turns. We have to get bottom of the stairs because we can take our pictures. The stairs were almost like Mrs. Winchester’s stairs which have the small steps. Then, we took our pictures near the wrong way sign and had a nice view of the Lombard Street! After that, we went to Powell Street to get on the cable cars and there was very long waiting line! Finally, we were on the cable car and Anne told me to keep holding on tightly on the pole! I said OKAY! When, the cable car was moving and we were very amazed how we did walk up the steep roads! One time, I tried to look back and the car tried to pass the cable car but I was already scared because the car can smash me! AHH! But nothing really happened. When, Kangni took a picture of me and she screamed because I looked like the ghost! Finally, we arrived to the BART and we were very exhausted!! We did chat about our funny day and explained how the Ghirardelli chocolate tasted! YUMMY! We went to the cottage and we just slept right away! My favorite place ever in SF was Alcatraz because it was filled with remarkable history! We can’t wait for tomorrow trip to Golden Gate Bridge and Muir Woods!
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