Despite being in San Francisco for specific writing marathon purposes, Liz and I managed to fit a whole lot of sight-seeing into our weekend there. Among these were probably two of the most opposite extremes: landmarks for the family friendly Full House, and a tour through the most notorious Federal Prison in all US history.

First we checked out the actual house used at the Tanner residence. It’s just a house that random people live in now, with a “No Tresspassing” sign out front. Clearly they aren’t fans, since they also chose to recently paint the iconic homestead a dark, jarring blue. Without knowing the address of this famed location, you’d hardly recognize it anymore. Whatever happened to predictability, am I right?

The Painted Ladies, however, are a San Francisco staple. These lovely houses sit along the ridge of a hill next to a bustling and beautiful park, and can be seen in the intro/theme to Full House, when they’re all having that picnic. Fun fact; apparently aside from an episode when Comet goes missing and they search the streets of SF for him, pretty much every other scene in the show was actually shot in LA.

Next stop was Alcatraz. I visited “The Rock” as a pre-teen, but Liz had never been there. My memories of the place were fuzzy, so I was more than happy to go back.

It was just as I remembered. Cold, creepy, and full of fascinating tidbits. The audio tour is narrated by actual ex-guards and inmates, which just makes the whole experience that much more surreal and spooky. We had such a great time exploring the island, soaking up the history, and learning the lesser known details and uses of this crazy island along the. Sure the place is heavily inflated by bad Hollywood movies, but that doesn’t make it any less of a worthwhile place to visit.

Homey, isn’t it? I can’t imagine spending any amount of time here let alone the numerous years most inmates endured. What a strange place. What a massive amount of history locked within the icy grip of the bay. I highly recommend you take the tour if you ever get the chance.

Next post will be my Night of Writing Dangerously wrap-up, which is also my very first bucket list item! I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts on the event with you all.