Our trip to The Rock turned out to be one of my favorite excursions of the trip.
We had managed to book ourselves on a dual tour of The Rock and Angel Island. So in the morning we headed out to The Rock. Upon arriving we were unable to dock thanks to a cheeky Sea Lion that had decided to stand guard on the gangway blocking the ship from docking. This seemed to stump all the park rangers who had no idea how they could shift the animal. After someone had found a large stick and administered some gentle prodding the animal was on its merry way.
After a short walk to the prison entrance we were handed our audio tour guide. This turned out to be the true highlight as the voice guides were the ex inmates and guards of the prison. We were able to experience all the different types of cell including the hole. Rather oddly the biggest cells were reserved for the worst criminals but rather sneakily placed in a wind trap.
The real life stories of the prisoners really hit home and portrayed the true horrors of prison life and the difficult acceptance of the outside world upon release. Some of the funnier parts of the tour included one of the ex inmates returning as a tourist so he could finally see inside the wardens office.
After our audio store and a quick snickers and dorito recharge it was time to board the hybrid ferry to Angel Island. Angel Island is truly picturesque and i would undoubtably return to spend a few days on the island camping. The island is an old military compound that protected the bay from any naval attacks, of which there was none.
A lot of the buildings lay as rubble but a few dotted around the island have been restored to former glory and are used as teaching aids for the local school children.
Back to the hotel and an early night for our early morning flight. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare but Delta managed to mishandle the entire ordeal and we only just made our flight, having to suffer some of the worst customer relations to date.
The flight was barely any better, no food on a 6 hour flight! thankfully I slept through the majority.
Arriving at JFK luggage retrieved time to grab a taxi. Slight problem all the taxi drivers serve Manhattan and had no idea where the Brooklyn mansion was. So with rough directions at hand we set off and true to form the taxi drivers simply ask directions of any driver who happens to be at a stop light.
Arrived at the mansion there was just one word WOW! The place is phenomenal, they even had a little food platter ready for us. Chicken wings, spinach and cheese, grapes, nuts and olives and oh least I forget the iced tea.
After our bite to eat we headed out into Bedstuy and stumbled upon Breadstuy where we had coffee and cake and wondered around the neighborhood. Managing to bump into our inn keeper at every turn.
Tomorrow Manhattan, so a few museums and giant cheesecake!