Feb 18 2002
Day Three
Our attempts to sleep in this semi-holiday morning were sabotaged ruthlessly by: 1. our loser neighbor downstairs, whose idea of a good time is to blast the local classical music station with extra bass while marinating in the stench of cheap cee-gars; and 2. our neighbor on the Vallejo Street side, who is retrofitting the former Brooks Brothers’ private enclave, including jackhammers at 7:45 a.m.
So much for recovering from being amateur tour guides.
Although our neighbors are annoying, the weather behaved perfectly yesterday. We took a cab across the city to Cliff House, where John’s father and stepmother were greeted by their first sight of the Pacific, looking its best in the bright sunlight. We had lunch overlooking the ocean, and it was so warm in the sun that John’s folks actually retreated into the shade, a real treat for them in the middle of February. They live in Ontario, Canada, where their neighbors tell us they have gotten an extra six inches of snow since they arrived here.
We drove back via Golden Gate Park, and headed out to Alcatraz in the late afternoon, for the night tour.
John and I have both been to Alcatraz a few times, but seeing it at night is really different. Not only do you get stunning views of the city and Bay at sunset, you see the city all lit up after dark. And you gain a new appreciation for what it was like in that cold, dark prison at night, with the sights and sounds of the city so close, but so far.