My Uneventful Escape from Alcatraz and How I Lost $11 Worth of Salt Water Taffy

I have returned from SF/Napa Valley. It was honestly the coolest trip I have ever taken and the absolute best way to spend my 30th birthday.

The trip began slightly marred because my head got really plugged up and I could not get my right ear to pop, so while I thought I was shouting, everyone else heard it as slightly above a whisper.

Anyhoo, I made it to Alcatraz, which after all the carrying on I did, people probably thought it was the whole reason I went. It was a beautiful day for a ferry ride to prison. The Alcatraz tour was really cool. It was self-guided so you went at your own pace. I saw the heads that the famous escapees made to fool the guards. I saw solitary confinement. It made me really glad to never be in prison. Living day to day there was torture. They could hear freedom wafting across the bay from SF. Many people's families were told that they were dead. It made me feel a little sorry for them. Until I was riding the ferry back and I realized, they were criminals. They deserved to be in jail. But I liked hearing about it and thought it was interesting all the same.

Then I walked Pier 39. I saw seals. And I bought a clam that was cracked and had a pearl in it. I had the best crab cakes of my life and some clam chowder. And I ended buying a lot of salt water taffy to bring home to my nephews.

My friend, Jen and I found a tour that was on an old trolley car. It took us throughout the city. We saw all the different neighborhoods and the guy pointed out all the different architecture. We saw the Golden Gate up close (fortunately, no one jumped while I was there). We drove through Chinatown and their Little Mexico district. And when the tour was over, when it was dark and raining, the tour guide drove us back to our hotel so we didn't have to fight for a cab. While waiting for the concierge to bring us our bags, I used the restroom. And left my bag of salt water taffy on the back of the toilet. And remembered only when we were on the middle of the Bay Bridge on our way to Oakland. Needless to say, no one got any salt water taffy, not even me.

But honestly, I am not ruining the end of my tale by saying that was the worst thing that happened during my trip. And that wasn't that bad at all.

Return tomorrow (or in a couple of days) when I continue with my actual birthday in the Napa Valley.