Adventures in Alcatraz & San Francisco

On Wednesday, we had the chance to meet up with Janetha and her family to tour Alcatraz and be tourists in San Francisco for the day. I <3 her family ~ they are all just as awesome as she is.

Since we arrived early, we had time to do a little wondering around Fisherman’s Wharf.

One of my favorite things about San Francisco is all the performance artists and all the colorful stands.

You all might remember that we only put up a “Charlie Brown” Christmas Tree each year.  So, when, we sort of have a tradition of finding someone’s Christmas Tree to take pictures in front of

I never realized how nice it is to visit the Wharf when nobody is there yet, really.

I LOVE Biscoff Cookies and have been searching for their spread ever since I found out they had a Biscoff Cookie Spread.  I was SO EXCITED that they have a Biscoff store on the Pier. I made sure to stock up on the spread (which tastes just like the COOKIES!) and bought a few cookies too

I decided to whip up a batch of my Healthy Cranberry Orange Scones to bring to everyone.  I think it is so cool that everyone actually ate the scones and LOVED them, including the kiddos (see, her family is just polite ).  I even warned them that they were healthy and that didn’t stop them. 

After dishing out the scones and snapping our pic, it was time to board the ferry to head on over to Alcatraz.

Janetha is good, she actually remembered to take a picture of all of us (source!)

The Husband was freezing the entire trip…this totally reminds me of South Park & Who Killed Kenny

The ride to the island is pretty short, maybe 15 minutes.

After an all informative movie, we were off to explore the prison.

Don’t be fooled, this is a “mini” truck

They have you enter the prison and be “processed” like all the prisoners that arrived.

This is where they left their belongings and got their uniforms.

They showered…..

We got cool headsets that tell the story of life at Alcatraz ( I LOVE the narration because it really helps you understand what it was like for the people locked up).

These were the standard cells.

All the walkways were named, like Broadway, Michigan Avenue, Times Square.

No guns were ever allowed on the galley where the inmates were kept.  Instead, they kept the keys hanging out of reach like this.

Solitary confinement.

My favorite story of the tour was about the Escape from Alcatraz where a group of prisoners used “spoons” to dig their way out.

Can you believe they were able to dig holes this big with just a spoon?!

The dining hall…..what exactly is “stewed fruit” anyway….sounds kinda ick.

The hugest soup pot and ladle I’ve ever seen.

They actually painted the exact shapes of all the knives on the cabinet wall so the guards would know if one was missing and what size was taken.

After our tour, we were starving, so we busted all shared some Biscoff before we hoofed it up through China Town to go to the restaurant Janetha has been wanting to try.

Sear’s Fine Foods

I started off with a FANTASTIC Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad that came with candied walnuts and homemade Raspberry Dressing.  I think I could’ve just eaten a huge plate of this and called it good.

I was so excited when Janetha said she wanted to share with me because there were too many tasty sounding things I wanted to try.

Butternut Squash Ravioli’s!

butter, sage, shallots, parmesan, a pinch of nutmeg

Grilled Chicken Breast on Focaccia~ Quite possibly one of the BEST sandwiches ever.

flame roasted peppers, basil pesto, tomato, market greens, melted provolone

I know that Sear’s Fine Foods is known for breakfast, but, seriously, their lunch food was pretty up their on my list of “fine” eats too!

Since we both have a thing for “mini” anything, we couldn’t pass up sampling their Swedish Pancakes.

It’s totally normal to have pancakes for dessert, right? ;0

I am not really sure what makes pancakes “Swedish” but I totally want to find out and make them.  These were light like crepes, but, dense and chewy like pancakes.

At the end of your meal, you get a token to spin their slot machine for FREE food on your next visit.  The boys disappeared to “gamble’ pretty quickly

The rest of the day was spent chatting it up, walking around and getting stopped by this Green Peace Advocate who wanted them all to join.

Such a fun day…..good friends, good food, good fun…..lots and lots of walking!

I LOVE Janetha and Marshall…..I wish they would just move to California already and be closer (Common J…..Lake Tahoe has the best snow boarding mountains I hear!)

The perfect ending……a little Biscoff Spread straight up on a spoon. <3!

If you are ever wondering if you should buy the spread, BUY IT, you will LOVE It if you LOVE the cookies!

Quick Side Note ~ Can you all believe I got up at 4 AM to hit all the Black Friday Sales and I LOVED it?!  I think it is because I haven’t been able to go for the past 5 years because we are always travelling somewhere….

Last year we celebrated our 1 year Wedding Anniversary on top of a hill in St’. Kitts looking where the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean…..

Today marks our 2nd Wedding Anniversary ~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US (as The Husband keeps saying!)

Night all!