This past weekend we made the trip across the country to see our good friends Teal and Laren Carlock. And, when I say we, I mean all of us, me, Chris and Reed. It was Reed's first airplane ride and first trip out of the surrounding states of Georgia. What better way to introduce him to travel than to take one of the farthest flights possible in the United States. He doesn't have his passport yet, which I need to work on getting, so this is technically as far as he can go, although I guess we could've gone to Alaska.
We started our trip on Thursday with an evening flight in hopes that Reed would sleep for at least half of the flight. We fed Reed his dinner once we got on the plane and gave him his bottle just about an hour and a half into the flight. Shortly thereafter, he went to sleep. Oh, precious baby! He was such a little angel on the flight. While he was awake, he played peek-a-boo with the lady behind us and tried to get anyone's attention within eye shot of him. Unfortunately, when Reed gets excited he screams with glee. Thankfully the lady didn't play peek-a-boo with him the entire time.
Reed on his first ride on the train at the airport.
Playing under the chairs at the airport.
Reed and I on the airplane. Notice the TV on the back of the seat. Those kept Reed quite entertained.
Reed and Chris on the plane.
Trying to keep him entertained.
We made it to San Francisco just before 8 p.m. Pacific time. The Carlocks picked us up and we headed back to their apartment in Burlingame, CA. What a cute place! Their apartment is in an older building with lots of charm. We chatted with them until way late eastern time, but it was worth it since we hadn't seen them since October.Friday, we spent the day exploring the city ourselves while Laren and Teal worked. We purchased tickets to Alcatraz for Friday because Laren had already been 3 times. I can imagine how she feels not wanting to go to Alcatraz for a fourth time. I think I did the Freedom Trail a few too many times in Boston. I definitely started planning visitors trips so that they could do it while I was at work, lol!
Laren dropped us off at Pier 33 to catch the ferry to Alcatraz. It was a very cool tour of the former prison and I highly recommend it for anyone who makes a trip to San Fran. I actually met a couple at Laren and Teal's church on Sunday who grew up in San Fran and have never been there. What?!?! I guess I can kind of understand that it's just a tourist spot to them. Regardless, it is cool to see it and hear about it from the people who were there and lived through it.
Reed on the boat ride over to Alcatraz. He loved it.
Bay Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
Alcatraz
Downtown San Francisco
WARNING: PERSON PROCURING OR CONCEALING ESCAPE OF PRISONERS ARE SUBJECT TO PROSECUTION AND IMPRISONMENT.
The Warden's House sitting on top of the hill with the lighthouse behind it. This was the first lighthouse in operation on the Pacific coast.
Military Chapel
Guard Tower
Showers.....ugh!
Example of a cell. Man, they had tons of room, lol!
Famous Inmates. Notice Al Capone on the far left. His crime is listed as tax evasion. I assume that that's all they could get him for. He was transferred from a prison in Atlanta, never knew that.
Chris in solitary confinement.
Don't leave me in here!
Bar spreader used in one of the escape attempts.
Marks made by grenades dropped in during one of the attempted escapes.
They painted where the knives hung so that the guards would know if a knife was missing. Unfortunately, that didn't keep a few inmates from getting stabbed.
After the almost three hour tour of Alcatraz, we headed over the Fisherman's Wharf to grab some lunch and see the sea lions. The sea lions might have been my favorite part of that day. I probably could've sat there all day watching them. They were too funny. Instead of wasting our time with the sea lions, we walked along the water toward a park that has a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge. After spending some time relaxing and letting Reed walk around, we decided to start the process of getting back to Burlingame.
The sea lions!
What a great view!
Reed practicing his walking skills (I seriously need to write a blog about that!).
Thankfully Teal gave us excellent directions for taking public transportation home and thanks to the iPhone for being our backup. We took a bus and the Caltrain to make it back to Burlingame in about an hour. Not too bad at all. I do get a little paranoid about figuring stuff like this out, but it was no problem at all! Teal and Laren got back to their apartment not too long after we did and we headed out to dinner at one of their favorite local restaurants that serves yummy Asian food.
Reed on his first train ride, which came after his first bus ride.
It was actually Chris' first train ride as well.
And, that was our first day in San Francisco in a nutshell. To be continued......
Love it!!! So glad you got to see san fran and catch up w Laren and Teal! Reed is sooo freakin cute-he's getting big!!!! We will be in s. Carolina in July-I know you guys are moving, but we will have to talk..
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