moma nyc Travelers have any number of ways to check their e-mail and access the Internet on the road. Of cour

Visible from Fisherman s Wharf, Alcatraz (aka The Rock ) has seen a checkered history. Juan Manuel Ayala, moma nyc who named it after the pelicans that nested on the island, discovered it in 1775. From the 1850s to 1933, when the army vacated the island, it served as a military post protecting the bay shoreline. In 1934 the buildings were converted into a maximum-security prison. Given the sheer cliffs, treacherous currents, and frigid temperatures of the waters, it was believed to be an escape-proof prison. Among the gangsters who were penned in cell blocks A through D were Al Capone; moma nyc Robert Stroud, the so-called Birdman of Alcatraz (because he was an expert in ornithological diseases); Machine Gun Kelly; moma nyc and Alvin Karpis. It cost a fortune to keep them imprisoned here because all supplies, including water, had to be shipped in. In 1963, after an apparent escape in which no bodies were recovered, the government closed the prison. In 1969 a group of American Indians chartered a boat to the island to symbolically reclaim moma nyc it for the Indian moma nyc people. They occupied the island until 1971, and in 1972 the Rock became part of the Golden Gate National moma nyc Recreation Area. The wildlife driven away during the military and prison years has begun to return the black-crested night heron and other seabirds moma nyc nest here again and a trail has been built that passes through the island s nature areas. Tours, including an audio tour of the prison block and a slide show, are given by the park s rangers, who entertain their guests with interesting anecdotes.

Fort Point (& 415/556-1693), a National Historic Site sitting under the Golden Gate Bridge, was built in 1853 to protect the entrance to the harbor. You might recognize it from Alfred Hitchcock s Vertigo. During the Civil War the brick Fort Point was manned by 140 men and 90 pieces of artillery to prevent moma nyc a Confederate takeover of California. Rangers in Civil War regalia lead regular tours and sometimes fire the old cannons.

Travelers have any number of ways to check their e-mail and access the Internet on the road. Of course, using your own laptop or even a PDA (personal digital assistant) or electronic organizer with a modem gives you the most flexibility. But even if you don t have a computer, you can still access your e-mail and even your office moma nyc computer from cybercafes.