T-shirt #24: ALCATRAZ 506938

I sometimes get funny looks when I wear this one. Some people ask me how I got this shirt, and I usually say they give it to you if you spent enough time there. I got it when I was in San Francisco following a cross-country road trip with a few college buddies. We left the day after graduation, and drove from Mass to Chicago to Kansas City (with a short stop in St. Louis because I wanted to check out the world’s only floating McDonald’s…see picture) to Denver to Las Vegas to Anaheim for a couple of nights then up to San Fran. Some highlights, lowlights, and revelations:

* Going to the top of Sears Tower in Chicago

* Seeing nothing, because we were surrounded by clouds (see picture)

* Seeing the Arch in St. Louis

* Going to the world’s only floating McDonald’s (see pictures)

* Finding out how freakin’ wide the state of Kansas is

* Seeing what Las Vegas was all about (if you haven’t heard, there’s a lot of gambling here)

* Taking pictures while driving on the highway (see picture)

* Having a Crohn’s attack and seeing the sign that said Next Rest Area 100 miles

* Going to Dinseyland for the first time


* Going on Star Tours and The Indiana Jones ride (on the Indiana Jones ride, I was sitting in the sit with the fake steering wheel, and embarrassed my friends by getting into “hero” character and pretending I was really driving the jeep)

* Being on Alice in Wonderland when it broke down, and Disney employees had to escort us off the ride (see picture of my friends Drew and Patrick inside the ride)

* Using the CB radio my friend Drew wired to speakers to make random P.A. messages to unsuspecting pedestrians...Once when we were in San Fran I said something like “This is God. I want everyone to scream in 5 seconds.” Then I counted down, and was surprised when just about everyone in earshot screamed.)

* Going to my first away Red Sox game (they lost to the A’s after a Mo Vaughn throwing error to home plate)

* Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge (see picture)


* Touring Alcatraz (see pictures)


* Going to the forest where they shot Return of the Jedi (see picture)


* My favorite memory of this trip was when we were walking down the San Fran boardwalk and noticed a bunch of people behind barricades like they were waiting for someone to show up. My friend Patrick told us it was for the premiere of “The Rock”, and they must be waiting for the stars to show up. As we continued down the boardwalk in between the eager fans, I pointed over to somewhere random and said to my friends (but so everyone else could hear), “Hey, it’s Sean Connery!” Everyone looked….and I laughed. Then everyone looked at me. I kept laughing, and my friend just shook their heads.


* Putting my feet in the Pacific Ocean (see picture)