Now that we can see Alcatraz Island from the deck of our house, I thought it was finally time to plan a visit. Robert hadn’t been since he was a teenager and the kids and I have never been. Tickets sell out 2 months in advance, even on weekdays. And we really lucked out,  it was an unusually warm day – high in the mid80s and sunny.

The Alcatraz tour is highly recommended. The ferry trip is short – only 15 minutes from Pier 33 and not crowded. The views of San Francisco are terrific, and the self-guided tour is quite excellent. I didn’t know this, but Alcatraz has beautiful gardens that are maintained by volunteers who come over from San Francisco. Not surprisingly, a good part of the island is off limits to visitors as there are now established colonies of birds who come to nest on the island. We saw several seagull chicks as we walked around the island. We visited recently in June, near summer solstice on a bright clear day around noon. The sun was fairly blinding, as you’ll see in the photos.