I locked the alternator on my 97 7.3. but I was less than 5 miles from home so I 'muscled' the truck home with minimal brakes (no vacuum pump) and armstrong steering, believe me a 350 4x4 with big tires steers wickedly hard with no assist.
Took all of 15 seconds to grenade the belt, little warning, just a shrill scream like squeak and it was gone. I put on a Gates Fleetrunner Greenstripe and a new alternator and bought a spare Gates for the toolbox, just in case.
Your high buck stay at the Ford garage reminds me of hunting out west. Most of my game meat in the freezer costs around 300 bucks a pound. Wife always chides me about that.