Entertaining guests from out of town is exhausting. Ann and Lynne had made a detailed list of must-see Bay Area “attractions” – some of which I had been successfully avoiding for nearly 25 years. Places like Fisherman’s Wharf, The Haight, Lombard Street, the Painted Ladies, Chinatown, Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco cable cars and Alcatraz are not high on my list of favorite destinations. It turns out though, that it can actually be fun cramming all of this into a one-day visit to San Francisco. Photo-ops abound. I’m reminded just how wonderful it is to live in the Bay Area!

This was my first visit to Alcatraz, and I found it to be well worth the trip. The audio tour paints a vivid and often moving picture of what life (and death) was like on The Rock.