Around Alcatraz

Today we went up to take a look at Alcatraz. We met up with some friends, and took a tour boat out around San Francisco Bay. We thought we were going to get to spend half an hour on the Rock itself, but the tour company's definition of "at" only means "circling around". But we still got a good tour of the bay (Flickr).

We stopped by the Boudin Bistro for lunch. They claim that their bakery there on Fisherman's Wharf is where sourdough bread bowls got started. Nicole and I both love clam chowder, so this seemed like a good place to have lunch. We learned an important lesson, too: If you go upstairs, where they have nice tables with linens and a view of the bay, they charge you twice as much for the exact same bowl of chowder as if you walk up to the counter downstairs. Something to remember for next time. The bread bowls were very good, though, as was the chowder.

We also stopped by Ghirardelli Square, which is just down the street. We decided not to tour the factory (long line) but we got a delicious cupcake from Kara's Cupcakes. Try them if you get the chance.

I also enjoyed walking through a bit of the financial district, with the skyscrapers and glass mixing in with century-old Greek architecture. Ah, capitalism.