A New and Improved Alcatraz
If your family’s summer vacation takes you to San Francisco you should seriously consider making a pit stop at the city’s notorious Alcatraz penitentiary. If you play your cards right you will be one of the first to tour the newly refurbished facility. Alcatraz has just undergone a $3.5 million dollar makeover that has made the Big House more visitor-friendly.
Don’t get the wrong idea—the place is still as dank and depressing as ever, but it now has enhanced audio tours, restored cell furnishings, and new archival displays. The prison also has a new exhibit, which includes inmate artifacts that provide a broader perspective on what daily life entailed for the prisoners, Alcatraz employees and their families who lived on the island. Other improvements include a bigger gift shop that sells must-haves such as Alcatraz soap and dummy-head pillowcases, modeled from those created by three escapees. The facility, which opened to visitors in 1973, attracts 1.4 million people a year, which is why reservations are advised.
Wandering Wallaby
What would you have thought if you were sitting at the Salt Lake International Airport and suddenly saw a marsupial bouncing on the tarmac? If you were my young daughter you’d probably try to jump after it. Luckily, airport workers were able to catch up with what was discovered to be a wallaby (a smaller version of a kangaroo) last week during its jaunt around the airport. According to airport officials, the wallaby escaped from its kennel during a flight change in Salt Lake City and “hopped across the tarmac.” The marsupial’s hop-about was brief, as airport workers captured the wallaby within five minutes of its rush to freedom. According to news reports, the wallaby is now enjoying his new digs at the Roo Ranch in South Dakota. By the way, the owners of the ranch reportedly named the little guy “Tarmac.”
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