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Thread: Alcatraz

  1. #51
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    Wanted to bump this thread - I just returned from there - I thought it was a great tour! Yes it was crowded, I was with a group of 50 also, but the audio tour was very good. No I did not get any vibes or any feelings, no orbs in my pics, some were foggy but I think that was me with a new camera! Very cool, I hope they don't destroy it...it looks to me like they are rebuilding some of it.


  2. #52
    Nicki Guest
    I doubt weather they would ever tear it down. First of all it is one of the most popular tours in San Francisco and it brings in alot of money.
    I have been there many times through out the years. One of the best tours was on a rainy day during the Winter. Hardly anyone was there but longtime Captain of the Guards Phil Bergen was downstairs available for visits fromt the public. Very interesting man. The Birdman was a shithead, but Machine Gun Kelley was one of the nicest Inmates they ever had. He died in 2002 but here is his Obit and it tells alittle bit about him:

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...type=printable

    I have read of overnight visits to the prison but they are very expensive. It use to be if you signed up and helped with clean up such as getting rid of the weeds and such.....they would have a BBQ and you could spend the night in one of the cells. One of my friends did that and totally enjoyed the night there. Not sure if they do that anymore.
    Last edited by Nicki; 07-22-2008 at 10:23 PM.

  3. #53
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    Looks like possible spectra in this one???
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    "I will be buried in a spring loaded casket filled with confetti, and a future archaeologist will have one awesome day at work."

  4. #54
    D3LIVIĆ?N Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Nicki View Post
    I have read of overnight visits to the prison but they are very expensive. It use to be if you signed up and helped with clean up such as getting rid of the weeds and such.....they would have a BBQ and you could spend the night in one of the cells. One of my friends did that and totally enjoyed the night there. Not sure if they do that anymore.
    Oh my god I would LOVE to do that!!!! I have been there quite a few times including a few night tours which I would highly reccomend. The place is very umm drafty and dark at night if you know what I mean.

  5. #55
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    Alcatraz Island Website. -fun reading

    http://www.notfrisco2.com/alcatraz/

    click on the timeline to get a quick start.
    Delusion. Life's Best Coping Mechanism
    Check out Floyd's new Band:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHYA5iAAJg8

  6. #56
    motherogod Guest
    Hmmm. For some reason it immediately goes to Google search and won't stay on the page.

  7. #57
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    try this one entitled Alcatraz Escapes
    http://www.notfrisco2.com/alcatraz/escapes/index.html
    Delusion. Life's Best Coping Mechanism
    Check out Floyd's new Band:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHYA5iAAJg8

  8. #58
    Omerta Guest

    Regarding Frank Lee Morris, John William Anglin, and Clarence Anglin.

    Official FOIA FBI Synopsis of file:
    On the morning of June 12, 1962, guards at Alcatraz Prison discovered dummy faces in the bunks of Frank Lee Morris, John William Anglin, and Clarence Anglin. The three prisoners had escaped using a makeshift raft fashioned from rubber raincoats. Although an exhaustive investigation was conducted by the FBI, no evidence was located that they ever reached the shore and they are presumed dead.

    http://www.fbi-most-wanted.com/alcatraz-escape.php

  9. #59
    Forever-27 Guest
    Ive been to alcatraz many times. The tour is cheesey as to what matters. They wont allow you to go to many of the most interesting buildings. Believe it or not last election there was actually a measure on the san francisco city ballot that if passed would tear down the old prison and buiild a world peace center. It went down in defeat. Kuddos Jack-O-Lantern.

    Last night on the tv news they mentioned that 2 republicans had spoken about shooing away the tourists and sending the gitmo detainees to live on Alcatraz after obama closes gitmo. But I dont see that happening. Alcatraz brings in too much money to san francisco

  10. #60
    endsleigh03 Guest
    They just ran a Nat Geo docu on the three who escaped on the raft.

    They dug up bones for DNA analysis to see if they belonged to Morris and they did not.

    Good Docu, and the mystery goes on......

  11. #61
    Forever-27 Guest
    Just this week , some tourists were taking the tram up from the dock to the main cellblock when the tram nailed some pipe on the cell block wall ripping the thing off its track sending it down the hill. It injured 3 people.

  12. #62
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    It disappoints me that the Native American protestors destroyed so much there, that's my only complaint against them. I've always been fascinated with houses and buildings in strange places, like lighthouses with nice homes next to them, on their own islands. I guess the employee apartments are pretty much gone too? It does not take much to entertain me. I would like to see the touristy stuff too, by the way.

  13. #63
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    The one time I went to Alcatraz was in 1980. I got lucky that day because my tour guide was former guard Frank Heaney and our group was pretty small. He has since wrote a book about the place and you see him a lot on Alcatraz documentaries. It was there that I learned for the first time (for me) about the real Robert Stroud. Mr. Heaney set the record straight about what a sick jerk this guy was (he knew him), and seemed a little perturbed about how Stroud was portrayed in "Birdman from Alcatraz". Stroud was constantly getting thrown into solitary for his outbursts (ex: throwing feces at guards walking by his cell, which seemed to be his favorite thing to do). Mr. Heaney took us into solitary and let us stay in there, shutting the door. Total blackness. Also saw the paper mache head that was found in Frank Morris's bed. At the time I was there, it was kept in a display case in a basement. Coolest tour ever. Loved it!
    Cindy

  14. #64
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    Quote Originally Posted by microsonic66 View Post
    It disappoints me that the Native American protestors destroyed so much there, that's my only complaint against them. I've always been fascinated with houses and buildings in strange places, like lighthouses with nice homes next to them, on their own islands. I guess the employee apartments are pretty much gone too? It does not take much to entertain me. I would like to see the touristy stuff too, by the way.
    During my tour in 1980, Mr. Heaney mentioned some stuff that used to be there. They used to have a bowling alley there for the guards which was destroyed. Not too much left when I was there as far as guard quarters. Probably less now. Very sad.
    Cindy

  15. #65
    SquirrelNutZipper Guest
    When we visited last December I really enjoyed the evening tour. It was a cold, windy night so it added to the ambience.

    I was a bit disappointed though that I didn't get any 'vibes' from the place. I usually pick up on things like that but nothing came through.

    There's a restaurant here in Massachusetts that's reportedly has a lot of spirits wandering around the place - I can't go in the restaurant part of the building - I get lightheaded and have a hard time walking...and that was before the drinks started.

    The bar portion of the restaurant is fine for me but once I walk in the restaurant it's very uncomfortable. I've tried three times and each time didn't work...I now refuse to walk in there.

    So, I don't know if I'm hyper-sensitive to the vibes or not but I sure didn't feel anything at Alcatraz...but then again if I did I probably would have spent the evening sitting on one of the benches outside.

  16. #66
    Forever-27 Guest
    The salt air from the nightly fog is taking its toll on the main cell block. The concrete is crumbling and on the cell bars, the iron is rusting away. The indians burned the wardens house, the lighthouse keepers house and the guard apartments on the lower level of the island. The womens activity building next to the sallyport is long since burned also, its got trees and bushes growing inside of it.

  17. #67
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buttercup View Post
    It was there that I learned for the first time (for me) about the real Robert Stroud. Mr. Heaney set the record straight about what a sick jerk this guy was (he knew him), and seemed a little perturbed about how Stroud was portrayed in "Birdman from Alcatraz". Stroud was constantly getting thrown into solitary for his outbursts (ex: throwing feces at guards walking by his cell, which seemed to be his favorite thing to do).
    They should have called him "The Turd Man of Alcatraz".

  18. #68
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    When I was in the Navy we used to sail by Alcatraz from Alameda out to the ocean. I have been under the Golden Gate Bridge more than I have driven on it. I couldn't help thinking that the difference between my ship and Alcatraz was that my prison was moving. U.S. sailors at the time wore the same dungaree outfits that prisoners wore.

    There was an island nearby which the Oakland Bay Bridge uses as a stopover called Treasure Island. My last job in the Navy was supervising prisoners in the giant brig they had there, so at the time (1983) there were two island prisons in San Francisco Bay although Alcatraz was not being used at the time.
    Last edited by MagnusDippytack; 05-26-2011 at 10:14 PM.
    "Everybody is born, and everybody dies. Being born wasn't so bad , was it?"
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  19. #69
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    Quote Originally Posted by MagnusDippytack View Post
    When I was in the Navy we used to sail by Alcatraz from Alameda out to the ocean. I have been under the Golden Gate Bridge more than I have driven on it. I couldn't help thinking that the difference between my ship and Alcatraz was that my prison was moving. U.S. sailors at the time wore the same dungaree outfits that prisoners wore.

    There was an island nearby which the Oakland Bay Bridge uses as a stopover called Treasure Island. My last job in the Navy was supervising prisoners in the giant brig they had there, so at the time (1983) there were two island prisons in San Francisco Bay although Alcatraz was not being used at the time.
    My DW lived on Treasure Island when she was a kid. What's eerie is that her street name contained the same words as the street name where I grew up: "Bigelow Court". TI is a prime piece of property that is, at least the last time I was there in 1999, pretty much abandoned.

    The best man at my wedding used to be in the navy. I asked him what it was like being on an aircraft carrier. He told me (no offense to Joseph) that it was being 1 of 4000 sailors slaving away so that a handful of pilots could have their fun.

  20. #70
    STsFirstmate Guest
    I did two weeks of small boat SAR training out of the Presidio there in the late 90s conducted by the USCG. The water is really rough and unforgiving.
    I can't imagine anyone getting away by water and making it but apparantly if is routinely done if you are a distance swimmer.
    http://www.post-gazette.com/travel/2...aztr1006p2.asp
    Not for me. I will stay in the boat on this one.
    regards,
    Mary

  21. #71
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    Jun 2013
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    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alcatra...tter-suggests/

    Alcatraz inmates survived infamous 1962 escape, letter suggests
    very interesting

  22. #72
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    I would love to go and see Alcatraz but I am so far away (NZ). I hope they don't pull it down and decide on rebuilding it, then maybe in my lifetime I could get there to see it. So much history, memories, stories, escape attempts etc in those buildings yet to be explored by me.

  23. #73
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheDude View Post
    I wonder why it took almost 5 years for this letter to come out?
    [SIGPIC]Morgan[/SIGPIC]

  24. #74
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheWrath of MadelineKahn View Post
    I wonder why it took almost 5 years for this letter to come out?
    I wonder what source sat on this thing for that long could have solved one of the biggest mysteries of all.

    If Clarence is still alive I hope he writes back and their escape was true.

  25. #75
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    I think the Feds should make a deal with Clarence. It would be worth it to pardon him, stamp the file "Case Close," and satisfy our need to know.
    Stay in Drugs. Eat your School. Don't do Vegetables.

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