ORIENTATION: Begins before dinner. We'll have an overview of the program ahead and review the up-to-date schedule, responsibilities, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, any other administrative issues, and answer your questions. Please be aware that local circumstances may require adjusting program elements. In the event of changes, we will notify you as quickly as possible. We appreciate your understanding.

Menus are contracted for the program and are designed to offer balanced, healthy meals for the participants. In addition to the regular Road Scholar meal plan, this hotel offers a vegetarian meal option. Unfortunately, there are no other special meal options. Participants with special dietary needs should be prepared to avoid certain foods or supplement the regular meal plan as needed.

Enjoy the remainder of the evening getting to know your fellow participants and discovering what you share beyond a love of lifelong learning.

The Balclutha is a three-masted, steel-hulled, square-rigged ship built to carry a variety of cargo all over the world. Launched in 1886 by the Charles Connell and Company shipyard near Glasgow, Scotland, the ship carried goods around Cape Horn 17 times.

The CA Thayer is a wooden-hulled, three-masted schooner, designed for carrying lumber. She was built in 1895 in Northern California at Hans D. Bendixsen’s shipyard in Fairhaven, CA.

The Eureka, built in 1890, is a wooden-hulled, sidewheel paddle steamboat. From the passenger deck up, she is nearly identical fore and aft. Her "double-end" design made disembarking quicker and easier. Eureka's large "walking beam" steam engine remains intact.

The Alma is a wooden-hulled scow schooner built in 1891 to carry bulk cargo. The flat-bottomed hull was designed to navigate the shallow waters of the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta and to rest on the bottom at low tide. With few bridges and connecting roads, scow schooners delivered goods all over the Bay and Delta much as trucks do today. By 1880 there were 250 sailing scows on San Francisco Bay.

The Hercules is a steam powered tug built for ocean towing. The 151-foot ship, of riveted steel construction, still contains her original triple expansion steam engine. Built on the East Coast in 1907, she towed her sister ship from Camden, New Jersey around South America to San Francisco.

The Eppleton Hall is a steam-powered sidewheeler built in 1914 in England designed to tow ocean-going colliers on the River Tyne.

The Wapama was constructed in 1915 almost entirely of Douglas fir in St. Helens, Oregon. A wooden steamship, it is the last survivor of the approximately 235 steam schooners that were built on the West Coast. (Vessel information courtesy of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park).

Once on the island you can stay as long or as short as you wish - there is a ferry departing about every half hour and you can return to San Francisco on any ferry. The group leader will let you know which ferry she will be taking back. There are numerous videos and exhibits on the island, as well as a complimentary cell house audio tour which covers the penitentiary era (1934 - 1963).

On arriving at the Alcatraz dock, you will be greeted by a park ranger who will give you a brief orientation including information on any special activities available that day. The weather on Alcatraz can be some what unpredictable and can change quickly - it may be warm and sunny in the city and very windy and cool on the island. Summer days can sometimes be as cool as winter due to thick fog and strong winds. We recommend dressing in layers.

There is no food service available on the island - only water is available on site. Eating, drinking and smoking are only allowed at the dock level. (Alcatraz Island information courtesy of the National Park Service)