San Francisco 2005 Trip Report - Part 4

Day Seven - Tour Day

With only two full days left in San Francisco, Lisa and I used Friday for the city tour and Alcatraz tour. We headed down to Fisherman's Wharf and bought tickets for a 3 hour Grayline tour of San Francisco. The tour was on a brand new double decker bus. The tour guide was a riot. He had a nice, biting / sarcastic sense of humor that I really enjoy. The tour itself covered North Beach (the heavily Italian neighborhood), the Castro, Twin Peaks, Golden Gate Park, the bridge, downtown, the financial district, and a lot of other little areas I can't quite remember.

It was a nice, entertaining overview of the city with little tidbits of local history scattered throughout. I went in thinking that $40 per person was a little steep, but I think overall it was worth it. If I had it to do over again, I think I would have scheduled a tour like that at the beginning of the trip. It was ideal for getting an idea of the overall layout of the city as well as getting an idea of what points of interest at which you would want a closer look. We sat in the top level, which was great for viewing. Unfortunately, the moving tour bus wasn't conducive to taking pictures.

And finally, our very entertaining and informative driver. I'd tell you to ask for him by name, but he had 5 or 6 name tags in case anyone complained about him:

After the tour, we headed to the totally free arcade museum on the wharf which our tour guide told us about. It only takes about 5 or 10 minutes to look around, but it was still interesting enough to recommend. The highlights of the "games" were the "Drunkard's Den" and "Opium Den." Those sure take back to my younger days:

After that, we still had almost an hour to kill before our Alcatraz tour. We spent it wandering around checking the shops and watching the street performers and con artists that had collected for the spike in tourists on 4th of July weekend. My absolute favorite was watching this group run the classic shell game with 3 Sprite bottle caps and a red foam pea. When we first spotted them, the guy running it was working with a plant, to show how easy it is to win at the game:

Con man: Watch closely, I go like this, then I go like this, now tell me where it is.
Plant: So, how much is it for me to play?
Con man: You can play for $30 or $60.
Plant: Ok. I want to play.
Con man: Show me money.
Plant: (Shows him the money without actually handing it to him) That one right there.
Con man: There it is. You win $60. (Doesn't actually give her her winnings somehow)
English tourist: That's pretty good. You look like you know each other.
Con man: Yeah, and you got a big mouth. You better get the fuck out of San Francisco!

At this point, several of the lookouts start crowding in on the tourist and get a little shovey until he leaves. Quite exciting. Lisa and I wander off so as to avoid the possible fist fight. However, the pull to see real live con men taking advantage of unsuspecting tourists is just too much to resist. Around 20 or 30 minutes later we find ourselves wandering around looking for the group again. As my incredible luck would have it, they were still there. Oddly, there were still roughly 6 people there that were there the first time. I'm sure it is just a coincidence. The same plant was still there, still unable to grasp how the game worked:

Con man: Watch closely, I go like this, then I go like this, now tell me where it is.
Plant: So, how much is it for me to play?
Con man: You can play for $30 or $60.
Plant: Ok. I want to play.
Con man: Show me money.
Plant: (Shows him the money without actually handing it to him) That one right there.
Con man: There it is. You win $60. (Doesn't actually give her her winnings somehow)
Random tourist: Man, I've only got $25. You gotta let me play.
Con man: (Takes the money) Show me. Nope, that's not it. Anyone else? (Directed in Lisa's general direction) No pictures.

Too late:

Now, this may shock you, but I think the game is fixed. Usually it's done with walnut shells and a foam pea, but the idea is the same. When you slide the shell forward, the foam pea catches on the edge, and squeezes itself out the back, where the guy picks it up, typically between his ring finger and the base of his thumb. Then, if he wants to show where it was, or allow his plant to successfully find it, he simultaneously drops the pea and moves the shell backward. This catches the pea and squeezes it under the shell, thus depositing it back in the shell. Very nifty, and much more reliable than three card monty.

The other con we saw was one where these idiots pretend that they're some sort of law enforcement official. As you walk by they say something like, "Sir, sir. You dropped your smile. I'm going to have to write you a citation for littering..." Or maybe this one, "We have reports of someone in the area meeting your description. I'm going to have to cite you for being under her influence..." Although I'm not sure exactly how it works, I think that at some point you're supposed to give them money. I can't really see anyone falling for that.

After all that fun, it was finally time for the Alcatraz tour. After heading over on the boat and getting off on the island, you immediately realize that Alcatraz means "Island of Bird Shit."

The whole place reeks of it. We headed up to the "big house" to take the audio tour first. It was pretty interesting to hear a lot of the history and semi-personal stories of the prison. I hadn't heard about the hostage situation they had at one point or about the Indian occupation after the prison had closed. It was definitely worth the time and money, although I don't think it has much replay value.

There are plenty more Alcatraz photos over on Flickr.

The final highlight of the day (besides drinking back at the hotel) was me mock threatening a kid for going into the ladies room to hassle his sister while Lisa was also in there. You can see the terror in his eyes:

- posted by Robert @ 7/31/2005 05:48:00 PM