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My very good friend, PhotoscapeDesign, steered me to SmugMug and I'm very happy to be here! Up until now, all my pictures were being stored on my hard drive, making it "not much fun" every time I wanted to look at something. Not only do I enjoy taking photos - but I love sharing them - there is great pleasure in doing both :)

You have made your way to my page -- if you like what you have found and decide to sign up, feel free to use my referral code - hFZz0nexYW4i2 - for a discount. Thanks for stopping by!!

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Alcatraz / July 10, 2009 : The island received its name in 1775 when Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala charted the San Francisco Bay, and named this tiny speck of land La Isla de los Alcatraces, which translated to "Island of the Pelicans." The small uninhabited island had little to offer, with its swift currents, minimal vegetation, and barren ground. Long before Alcatraz became the nation's most notorious penitentiary in 1934, it was the first and largest military fortification on the Pacific Coast of the United States. Between 1859 and 1934, the island evolved from a defensive fort to a military prison and eventually to a federal penitentiary. Alcatraz was a prison almost from the very beginning. In 1859, 11 soliders scheduled for confinement in the sally port basement arrived with the Fort's first permanent garrison. During the Civil War era, soliders convicted of desertion, theft, assault, rape, and murder; citizens accused of treason; and the crew of a Confederate ship were imprisoned here. The army also used Alcatraz as a place of incarceration for Hopi, Apache, and Modoc Indians captured during the various Indian wars of the mid- to late nineteenth century and for military convicts during the Spanish-American War (1898). During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the newly created Bureau of Prisons became interested in the island as a place for a high-profile, maximum-security facility. Transferred from the War Department to the Department of Justice, Alcatraz reopened in 1934 as a federal penitentiary. Of the 1,545 men who did time on Alcatraz, only a handful were notorious - among them, Al "Scarface" Capone, "Doc" Barker, Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Floyd Hamilton, and Robert Stroud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz" (who actually conducted his famous bird studies when he was imprisoned at Leavenworth.) Most of the inmates were men who had proved to be problems in other prison populations - escape risks and troublemakers. Of the 14 attempted federal prison-era escapes, the best known occurred in June 1962, when Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin slipped into the water. They used raincoats as flotation devices and were presumably bound for San Francisco. Although their bodies were never found, they are assumed to have drowned. In total, 36 prisoners tried to escape the Rock; all but five were recaptured or otherwise accounted for.

Alcatraz / July 10, 2009

The island received its name in 1775 when Spanish explorer Juan Manuel ...

Updated: Sep 19, 2009 8:27pm PST

San Francisco City Tour / July 11, 2009 : Initially, we talked about whether or not to rent a car while in San Francisco. We decided to forego that expense, plus the cost of overnight parking at the hotel, and we were not disappointed with that decision. What we did decide to do was take "tours" to all the places that we wanted to see, since there is so much to see and do in San Francisco. This was our first full day in San Francisco and the first tour on the agenda was the "City Tour." It was a 5-hour tour that included several stops along the way - Chinatown, Palace of Fine Arts, Nob Hill, Grace Cathedral, Lombard Street, Golden Gate Park, Japanese Tea Garden, Alamo Square Park ("7 Sisters"), a Victorian Home Tour, and Sausalito. What was great about this tour is that there was a shuttle driver AND a tour guide, who actually got off the shuttle with the group and gave a guided walking tour at each stop. This was a great way to see so many of the sites that San Francisco has to offer - without the hassle of trying to maneuver the busy streets of San Francisco without getting lost and then trying to find a place to park.

San Francisco City Tour / July 11, 2009

Initially, we talked about whether or not to rent a car while in San F ...

Updated: Aug 29, 2009 4:01pm PST

Muir Woods / July 11, 2009 : Muir Woods National Monument is one of the last stands of old-growth coast redwoods in the world. Back in Gold Rush times, local forests were being felled right and left in order to build homes, shops, and other facilities for the thousands of people who were descending upon San Francisco. Because it was inaccessible, Muir Woods escaped the saw until 1905, when Marin County conservationist and politician William Kent and his wife, Elizabeth Thacher Kent, bought the canyon to save these redwoods. To protect the redwoods from logging, the Kents donated 298 acres of the land to the Federal Government. On January 9, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt declared the woods America’s 10th National Monument—and the first monument created from land donated by a private individual. Following Kent’s wishes, it was named for John Muir, the renowned conservationist who founded the Sierra Club. Thanks to the inspiration of John Muir and the generous gift of the Kent family, 100 years later we are still able to experience this ancient old-growth forest. We have been entrusted to carry on the legacy of Kent and Muir, protecting this awe-inspiring place for future generations and working towards the preservation of wilderness, wildness, and natural wonder.

Muir Woods / July 11, 2009

Muir Woods National Monument is one of the last stands of old-growth c ...

Updated: Aug 16, 2009 7:59pm PST

AT&T Park - Home of the San Francisco Giants / July 14, 2009 : In 2000, AT&T Park opened as the new home of the San Francisco Giants. With its breathtaking views and classic design, it was chosen as the 2008 Sports Facility of the Year by Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily as part of the inaugural Sports Business Awards program. The first privately financed ballpark in Major League Baseball since Dodger Stadium (1962), the Giants' new home features an inspiring nine-foot statue of America's greatest living ballplayer, Willie Mays, at the public entrance; Portuguese water dogs who fetch home runs that splash into McCovey Cove (named after another Hall of Fame Willie); an 80-foot Coca-Cola bottle with playground slides and miniature AT&T Park behind left field that has become a magnet for kids of all of ages; and mass public transit that rivals any sports complex in the world. The San Francisco Giants currently play in the National League West Division. One of the oldest of the MLB teams, the Giants hold the honor of having won the most games of any team in the history of baseball. They have the most Inductees in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Giants were originally known as the Gothams and had their start as a National League team in New York in 1883. They were the Gothams until 1885. They then became the New York Giants and played in New York through the 1957 season, after which they moved west to California to become the San Francisco Giants.

AT&T Park - Home of the San Francisco Giants / July 14, 2009

In 2000, AT&T Park opened as the new home of the San Francisco Giants. ...

Updated: Aug 13, 2009 7:40pm PST

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