Let me begin by saying that if you ve never read Gennifer Choldenko s book Al Capone Does My Shirts

Waaaaay back in December I hopped age to rent a car on a plane (or two or four really, if we re counting the return trip) and flew cross country to visit my awesome friend Liz out in San Francisco. Between fluctuating ticket prices, arrival times, and my own concern about jet lag (How early did we end up going to bed in Vegas?) age to rent a car I ended up flying in a day early, which left me with some wandering time by myself while Liz and Kevin were off at work.
Let me begin by saying that if you ve never read Gennifer Choldenko s book Al Capone Does My Shirts it s fantastic, you should get your hands on a copy.  Yes, it s a kids book, but it won a Newbery, and, if that isn t reason enough, it has one of my favorite endings of pretty much any book ever.  It just does.  And if you know me, you know how much I read, so that s saying a lot.
Of course the book is set in Alcatraz. age to rent a car  You see that rock jutting up out of the water amidst all that gray ugliness?  That s Alcatraz.  Now take a look at all that gray ugliness yep that s really misty rain.  I was cold.  I was wet. But it was so worth it in the end.
This is really the first big building you see when the ferry drops you off on the island.  The INDIANS WELCOME was added during the Indian occupation that lasted from 1969 to 1971, technically the third Indian occupation.  Though the first one was rather short lived.  ( This article by the National Park Service explains it all pretty well, if you, like me, thought the only ones ever to occupy the island were the prisoners, those who worked there, and their families).
Yes, families lived on the island with their children( Al Capone Does My Shirts actually focuses on the kids that lived on the island when it was still a prison).  That ruined looking building on top of the hill next to the lighthouse, is the warden s house which burned down in 1970 during the  occupation.
I wish I had gotten better pictures of the gardens; although I think the rocky green hillsides and ruins look pretty cool.  I remembered to bring my umbrella, so I explored to my hearts content, and tried my best to learn things. There were actually gardens on the island, if you ll believe it.  The military first occupied Alcatraz as a fortress, and then around 1861 they began turning it into a military prison.  Sometime around 1865 (according to the Gardens of Alcatraz website) they got it in their heads that the island could certainly be prettier, so they began to bring in soil from other places (Alcatraz isn t nicknamed the rock because of its fertile soil just saying) and planting things.  The gardens were maintained age to rent a car until the prison closed in 63.
As you re walking around outside, you do get to see a lot of untamed greenery, but there are actually areas where the gardens have been restored thanks to the efforts of the Garden Conservancy, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and the National Park Services which began in 2003.  If you re interested in seeing what it looks like, check out the link up above.  Beautiful gardens just aren t something I expected to see while touring a prison.
The prison does in fact have an inside.  I may have taken a few wrong turns while wandering around outside.  It took me forever to get to the audio tour but I got there eventually.  Above is the cafeteria.