A/N: so I did this for my history clas while we were learning about Alcatraz, it was given as homework 'write a diary entry about a day at Alcatraz' so this is what came out. Just to let you know I've never actually been so dont trust everything you read....
Alcatraz - Diary Entry
Today I visited The Rock, in San Francisco. The Rock is famous for its prison Alcatraz. I took a boat from Pier 33 in the San Francisco Bay. It was a boat ride of no more than a few minutes and the ride was rough.
Once we had stepped of the boat one of the first buildings scene was the visitors centre. But as I looked around I noticed an assortment of buildings, such as the prison itself, a lighthouse, a guard tower and the rangers station. From the visitors centre we were led by a tall, older man and he took us up to the prison. One of my first impressions was that it was a place of horrible happenings in its day.
As we entered the prison itself, the tour guide began to explain some of the history, such as when and why it was built. And while he was explaining this I was feeling alright, but as we got deeper into the prison and we saw the tiny cells, the personal belongings and the beds in which the prisoners stayed, owned and slept in, the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand on end. The tour guide was very informative and full of information.
The cells smelt old and a little sweaty from the prisoners staying there and from how small the cells were. Also as we walked along the corridors of the prison there was the odd creak of a cell door, the faint footsteps of other tourists but, if you are superstitious they could have been the faint footsteps of prisoners past. At every corner I felt afraid that something was going to jump out at us at any moment. I also felt as though something or someone was watching me. And when I fell behind the group and lost them for a minute I instantly became afraid that I was going to be stuck here until another group of tourists came along. But then after what felt like a lifetime I heard voices around the corner and when I followed them I saw my tour guide and I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding.
After about another hour or so inside the prison we finally stepped out into the fresh air and I felt like I could breathe again and my nerves had slowly dissipated as we were led to the next stop on our tour. We ended up in the Wardens House, and I felt a sense of... power. The Wardens House was just like a small apartment, with a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and a sitting area. But that was all in the back when you first open the door you see an office space with a desk and chair. It was simple, nothing fancy, not that I expected it to be, it is just the Wardens House.
So we spent a few more minutes looking around before we left and were led back to the visitors centre. Once there we were given the choice to visit the little gift shop or to head back to the boat to go back to the mainland. I decided to visit the gift shop, to buy a little memento of my visit. I bought a key chain, a pen and a little booklet of the history of Alcatraz. After I had paid for the souvenirs I headed back to the boat and went back to the mainland. Luckily the boat ride wasn't so rough on the way back.
