Being a tourist at home

Sadly, I lost my phone while in the city this weekend, so I don't have any pictures from my weekend.  Boo.  But I will say it was eventful.  I tried to show my friend Eric a little bit of everything the area has to offer.

Via http://www.beazleyhouse.com/

We went out to Napa and visited a couple vineyards.  One of which was Castello di Armorosa.  Castello di Armorosa is basically as close as you can get to seeing an authentic Italian castle...without actually going to Italy.  Essentially  the story is that this guy, who has too much money,  decided years ago he wanted to build a real castle.  So, he flew all of the supplies and workers from Italy to build this thing and they were not allowed to use modern means to build it.  They had to build it like they would have centuries ago, all by hand. Some of the castle's highlights include: a moat, a drawbridge, defensive towers, an interior courtyard, torture chamber, a chapel, knights' chamber, and a "great hall."  Sadly we didn't do the official tour so we only got to see about half of all of this stuff...next time.  And remember this is all a winery too!


We also checked out Bodega Bay.  It wasn't the nicest day but, hey, it's hard to complain when you're at the beach...even if you do have to wear a coat.  I also introduced him a place in the area that has THE BEST crab sandwiches and clam chowder.  Seriously.  Best.  Ever.


And of course we visited the city.  We walked around Little Italy a bit and visited Union Square...Union Square is sort of the "hub" of San Francisco....shopping, fancy hotels, theaters, and so on.

Via Wikipedia

And, last but most certainly not least, we visited Alcatraz.  Now, I must admit I never really thought about Alcatraz much.  Don't get me wrong, I know it's a super popular touristy thing to do (and I am NOT too proud to do super touristy things) and it was totally on my to-do list in the area...I mean how many infamous prisons that held some of the most notorious criminals in this country's history does one get to visit??...but it wasn't something I was just dying to see.  But, okay, with that said, it was awesome...awesome and creepy (but not as much as you might think).  There's an audio tour that's given to you as part of your admission to the cell house.  (If you ever go to Alcatraz, do the audio tour.  Yes, you feel like a tourist nerd, but it's 100% worth it...plus everyone else there is a tourist nerd too.)  Anyway, when you're doing the audio tour there's a part where this guy basically says (I'm totally paraphrasing), "You see those bullet holes in the wall and cracks on the floor? Those cracks are from the grenades used by the Marines when trying to take Alcatraz back during the riots when some inmates took over the prison for three days in 1946 ."  That's when it hit me...holy crap, this place is real!  It's not just some crazy fictional place you read about or see in movies.  This stuff really happened!

Once a week they have a night tour of Alcatraz, I think a coworker/friend and I will be doing that this weekend or next.  I know I'm crazy to do Alcatraz two weeks in a row...but after going during the day I totally want to do the night tour and so does she....I really hope it's as creepy as I think it'll be!

I had to get one corny touristy thing from the gift shop while I was there, so I got a pack of cards of some of the prisoners...they're like baseball trading cards but the front has their mug shot and the back has all their background info: why they were in prison to begin with, criminal record, why they were at Alcatraz, escape attempts, final whereabouts, and any additional remarks!  They're funny (the whole baseball card thing)/disturbing/interesting.  $14 well spent if you ask me.  Here's the front of Al Capone's card:

Creepiest mug shot ever? Yeah, maybe.

I almost named Kenai "Capone"...I should have done it...especially since he is quite the little trouble maker.  I told one of my coworkers this, she just laughed and said I totally should have gone with Capone for him...it's perfect for him.  Maybe Kenai will have two names now.  Hmmmmm....  :oP

Oh and another interesting tidbit...one of the more notorious inmates who stayed at Alcatraz...Robert Franklin Stroud AKA the "Birdman of Alcatraz"...lived in Juneau, AK when he committed the homicide that landed him in jail.  Yeah, Alaska! Represent!  We weren't even a state yet, but we won't let a thing like that stop us!

That pretty much sums up the weekend...well the highlights anyway.  Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures but my stupid phone fell out of my purse somewhere in the city (and my left hand is black and blue from it being accidentally slammed in a car door..those would be some of the not highlights. Oy...)

---Edit @ 7:52pm---
Awww, my friend just text me and said the night tours are booked up until July.  Sad face.  But now we're talking about checking out the castle again (she has some passes for a free tasting).  I suppose that will have to do.  ;o)