I decided to post the pics from the trip in batches. There’s way too many to put ‘em in one post.:PAnyway, first day in, we landed in LAX. We stayed over my aunt’s place overnight, and then we flew to San Francisco the very next day (fun, eh?) I haven’t been to SF before, so I was pretty excited to check it out, and it didn’t disappoint me! The weather’s really nice, and I love the look and feel of it. I’m seriously now a big fan of San Francisco.XDWe stayed in the Argonaut Hotel, located at the Fisherman’s Wharf, and it’s really, really pretty. I would recommend it to people who’ll be visiting SF. Anyway, we arrived there around 230 in the afternoon, and by 430, we were hoofing it to Pier 31 (if I remember correctly) to go on the ferry that goes to Alcatraz. Yep, Alcatraz, the infamous prison island. We made it to the night tour, and it was pretty cool, because they toured us around the bay before we headed off to Alcatraz itself. It would’ve been cooler if it didn’t start raining. Yep. It was raining, and there was a short hike to get to the building proper of Alcatraz itself. Perfect weather to explore a prison island.XDAnyway, while we were in the ferry (and then on the audio tour when we got on the Rock itself), I found out from the tour guide that Alcatraz had served other purposes aside from housing ”the most hardened criminals”. Apparently, it served initially as a lighthouse, and then as a fortress in the beginning (to defend San Francisco when the gold rush started), before it became a prison. Originally, it only housed prisoners-of-war, and then it became a federal prison. Eventually, it was closed down, partly because it was too expensive to maintain. A few years after it was abandoned, Native Americans came there and tried to claim it as theirs, since they said their own lands were acquired by the government. Their stay there lasted two years. Eventually, the place was turned into a tourist attraction. Yeah, nerd mode attack, I know.XD I was absolutely fascinated with the place, especially about the escape attempts and all the stuff that happened there. Some were pretty gruesome, but it was still very interesting.I was pretty surprised when we got on the prison itself. Here I was expecting blood spatters, broken glass, and whatever, but it was hardly that. In fact, there’s a stretch of jail cells that were painted pink (I think that was the Broadway part, not too sure though)! I also was anticipating hauntings (I’ve watched way too many horror movies XD), but I didn’t see a single ghost, and I don’t know if I should be happy or disappointed about it.:P