Today we headed back into San Francisco for something that the kids have wanted to do for a loooong time…Alcatraz!

We drove in again and I was totally prepared to park in our normal garage and walk the mile down to the Alcatraz landing but Young Jedi wanted to park closer and not walk, go figure. This was way out of my comfort zone but I didn’t want the kids to miss out because I’m a big suburban wuss, so I put on my big girl pants, turned on my Google Maps and hoped for the best. So we’re stuck on the Bay Bridge in traffic and of course Young Jedi has to pee. So I try to get through he city as fast as possible (that’s a joke right there because you can’t get through San Francisco fast, AT ALL!). I finally found a garage with a Starbucks across the street, which also fit the requirement of being close to the Alcatraz dock. We park, run to Starbucks and they have no bathroom! What!?! Starbucks and Nordstrom are my go to public potty places. They direct us to the Levi Corporate building. So we rush over there, because of course he has to go really really bad! Anyway, it turned out an added bonus to our bucket list day cause Levi’s is an icon in SF but we’ve never thought to go in there. We peed and then wandered around for a few. It was cool even though I had to explain what Levi’s are to my kids. Lol. I’m like “it’s like gap, but different, or old navy, but different.” They even have a museum so they wandered around that a bit.

Then we were off to the ferry launch. The kids were beyond excited to go not only on the boat but to Alcatraz! Young Jedi was all about standing and taking in all of the sites and sounds and even smells (dead fish smells that is!). Lol. But he looked so happy standing at the edge of the boat seeing San Fran get farther away and taking in the Golden Gate Bridge and watching Alcatraz come into sight. He even spotted dolphins swimming in the bay which sent everyone running to gather around him as he showed them all what he spotted.

Sporty was a little more nervous but I finally got her to pose for a picture while she was up looking for the dolphins. Doesn’t Young Jedi just look soooo happy here!?! I love seeing it because it usually looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Once we were on the island, they were in awe of everything. We did the whole audio tour and Young Jedi was completely engaged the entire time. It had been 15 years since I had been out to Alcatraz so I loved hearing the tour. I forgot how great of a tour it is but also how eerie it is. Sporty was too creeped out to go in the cells, I had to do a lot of coaxing to get the pictures I got, but Young Jedi is always up for humoring me with a good photo opportunity.

It was a beautiful, great day in the city. Our last one as residents. But I will say, I will not be missing driving in the city or Bay Area traffic. It was a long 2 hour drive home but it was full of laughter after a fun day checking off another item from our bucket list!