Escape from Alcatraz

Many of you already know that Bryan is a bit crazy, so of course he fitted right in when we visited Alcatraz in his bright orange ``Alcatraz Psycho Ward'' hoodie (which ironically we purchased in London!).

If you have to be in prison then Alcatraz would be the place to be -- the view across to the San Francisco mainland and the Golden Gate Bridge is amazing, made even better because the city turned on fabulous weather while we were there.

The prison was decommissioned in 1963 due to high running costs and delipidated buildings. There was no death row but during the 29 years ``The Rock'' served as a federal penitentiary some inmates met death -- eight inmates were murdered by other inmates, five committed suicide, while 15 died of natural causes.

A total of 36 prisoners tried to escape the rock during this time, and all but five were recaptured.

Of course these are the five that made their famous escape from Alcatraz in June 1962, their plight immortalised in the movie Escape from Alcatraz starring Clint Eastwood. Their escape was also recreated by the Mythbusters crew who declared the escape was plausible.

Looking at the solid brick walls of the prison and the rocky shoreline -- and considering the large number of guards on duty at the prison -- it is hard to believe the inmates carried out such a complex plan which involved digging out the air vents of their cells with various hand made tools over a long period, placing hand-made dummies in their beds to trick guards, then climbing through the walls and over the fence into a life raft fashioned from over 50 raincoats acquired from other inmates.


Many say the men perished in the ocean during the escape, but many others, including former prisoners, believe the men successfully escaped to Mexico.