Walt Disney World: California Grill

Date of Visit: November 17, 2016

California Grill is a restaurant I have been wanting to take Mik to for years and it did not disappoint. Mik particularly enjoyed the seating and the view even though he couldn't see much due to the way the inside lighting reflected on the windows and we weren't right next to the windows.

Getting to the restaurant was confusing as it isn't clear that you are supposed to check in on Level 2 to be able to escorted up the elevator to Level 15. We also found the monorail situation at the Contemporary annoying as it isn't clear which way you are supposed to get off the elevator and line up (much prefer the one general line and elevator is not just for Monorail set up at the Polynesian where we are staying even though the queue area and those elevators aren't enough to handle the evening crowds). In the future, we only plan to visit this resort how we have done in the past, which is to walk from the Magic Kingdom (or a bus perhaps if we're at another park).

Because we wanted to make sure we had room for dessert, we decided to share the tomato salad as an appetizer and ordered sushi instead of entrees. Mik chose the sashimi and I chose the tuna three ways.

Mik's favorite part of the meal was the dessert. He got the S'mores Creme Brulee.

Destination Info:
California Grill
Disney's Contemporary Resort
Lake Buena Vista, FL

President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home NHS

Date of Visit: November 5, 2016

Since we had visited the Jimmy Carter national park unit earlier this trip, it seemed natural to stop by the Clinton one when we were driving through Arkansas. At first it was confusing if it was accessible because the parking signs are only on the street by the railroad tracks, which has steps up to the Visitor Center. Mom went in and asked if it was accessible and discovered there is a parking lot behind the house. There are no actual handicap spots, but it's a decent size parking lot and we were pretty much the only ones there.

We got there right as it was the time for them to give a house tour, so we started with  the tour. The first floor is mostly accessible. Mik particularly liked that unlike most historic homes this one had no barriers keeping you from areas. Thus, it really seemed more like people had actually lived here. The second floor isn't accessible, but the ranger gave Mom and I the quick tour of it separately while the other one of us  waited with Mik downstairs.

Overall Mik enjoyed the stop because it was a really quick one. However, it is a little disappointing in that it seems a little too limited. They do have a small exhibit about Clinton and his family members, but it's kind of odd the only artifacts were basically campaign buttons.

Destination Info:
President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home NHS
415 W Division St
Hope, AR 71801

American Airlines Center: Portland Trail Blazers @ Dallas Mavericks

Date of Visit: November 4, 2016

Mik and Mom talk about going to a basketball game at a new arena every season to make progress towards having seen a game at every one, but in the past 5 years they still have only been to the Phoenix Suns and the Washington Wizards (this one at least was before it was our local team). As part of our current plan as we go road trip, we decided to finally try to see a game.

We originally tried to see the Memphis Grizzlies, but we couldn't get accessible seats. This has frequently been an issue and actually the biggest reason why their plans to get to more arenas haven't happened. We know in the case of the Suns it was often about getting to the right department that sold them and the Wizards we just have always bought the tickets at the box office. Thus, we considered just going to the Memphis box office to ensure they really didn't have any accessible tickets available. Then I realized we were near Dallas and was able to actually buy tickets on Ticketmaster.

Since Mom isn't exactly allowed to take the truck into parking garages (and Mom had Hyatt points for a free night), we walked to the American Airlines Center from the nearby Hyatt House. This ended up working out okay, but there is a lot of construction going on making it difficult to find an accessible route. There is a point we had to cross and the other side doesn't have a ramp, but at least this road is set up for entering the parking garage around game time making the traffic not an issue. The people directing parking were also willing to stop the traffic to let us just walk in the street until we got to the ramp at the next block.

We sat in Section 101. I had purchased two tickets for the wheelchair row and one in the row in front, but since they have a chair for each spot and plenty of room behind the row of chairs the usher said I could just sit behind Mik if I wanted. Mik liked that it was the level we entered and we didn't have to find an elevator. He also like the view of the game from this level.

Overall Mik enjoyed watching the game at American Airlines Center. However, it was a little loud for his liking. Also, it failed the cup holder test. The rows in front have them. Even the folding chairs in the wheelchair row have them, but when you move it out of the way for a wheelchair to roll into the spot the cup holder goes away.

Destination Info:
American Airlines Center 
2500 Victory Ave
Dallas, Texas

Fort Smith National Historic Site

Date of Visit: November 3, 2016

I had already been to Fort Smith, but I wanted to the Centennial stamp since we were pretty much driving right by it. I remember the museum being worthwhile, but let Mik decide what we do. He just wanted to visit the bookstore and walk around the outside exhibits (mainly to get the Poke Stops).

There are several parking areas around the Fort. The one closest to the building is just a few spots right off the road. Since the one handicap spot was already taken, we parked in the biggest one, which is on the other side of the Gallows. The handicap spots here are the furthest away and mostly work except they are currently doing work on the gazebo and blocking the sidewalk meaning it's confusing to find a path to the Visitor Center with a ramp up to the sidewalk (it's near the street).

Mik enjoyed walking around the fort, although the gazebo project also blocked the path down to the Trail of Tears overlook, so we couldn't quite fully explore the grounds.

Mik also liked that the Visitor Center entrance has buttons to open the doors. There was also a family restroom.

Destination Info:
Fort Smith NHS
301 Parker Avenue
Fort Smith, AR 72901

Burke's Book Store

 Date of Visit: November 2, 2016

After a disappointing search for books in Savannah with two out of the three bookstores being entirely inaccessible due to stairs and none having 1940s books, we both enjoyed visiting Burke's Book Store in Memphis. There were very few areas that Mik couldn't get to, but for the most part he could easily roll around and browsed his favorite genres.

The fact that they had a parking lot was also something that made this one of our favorite used bookstores we've visited because most of the time they end up only have on street parking, which often makes it difficult to get Mik out of the truck.

Destination Info:

Burke's Book Store
936 South Cooper Street
Memphis, TN 38104

Jimmy Carter National Historic Site

Date of Visit: November 1, 2016

I was close to having visited 100 National Park units, so I wanted to do it this year while it was the Centennial. I also wanted my 100th to be something cool. Thus, I chose Jimmy Carter National Historic Site because we have the same birthday and he is also Mom's favorite president.

We started our visit at the Plains High School Museum and Visitor Center. There are parking lots in front of and behind the building. We liked that it clearly pointed to the back parking lot for the accessible spots as the ramp entrance to the building is the back entrance. However, we did not like the parking spots because neither one had an access aisle. Since there weren't many other visitors no parked next to us anyways, but we still were blocking the vehicle next to us if they needed the wide access like we do.

The museum has several rooms set up as the school would have been, a movie showing in the auditorium, and a timeline style exhibit on Jimmy Carter. Mik enjoyed the movies about the school that included students talking about their time there.

Our favorite part of the museum was the Resolute desk replica.

After the museum, we walked over to the Plains Depot, which was the 1976 Campaign Headquarters. It was worth walking over there for us as we battled the two Pokemon gyms that were between the museum and the depot. We had Mom drive the truck over rather than walk back to the museum, though because there was a better handicap spot by the depot, though, and we didn't want to have to cross the railroad tracks and the highway again.

The Plains Depot has a good exhibit about its history as the campaign headquarters. The main part of the exhibit is up on the platform level, which has ramp access by the parking lot. The other part is not accessible from inside the building due to steps, but there is a door to it at street level.

Destination Info:
Jimmy Carter NHS
300 North Bond Street
Plains, GA 31780

Black Swan Books

Date of Visit: October 29, 2016

For the past few years I've been seeking out 1940s books at used bookstores when traveling. Mik enjoys browsing bookstores, but often he quickly gets bored because they aren't very accessible and he can't explore that much of the stores. While he didn't end up finding anything he wanted at Black Swan Books, he was actually the one we had to wait for to be done browsing because he could easily roll around the whole store.

Destination Info:
Black Swan Books
2601 W. Main Street
Richmond, VA 23220

Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site

 Date of Visit: October 29, 2016

We started our visit of the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site by watching the movie at the visitor center. The movie is very well done and definitely a must see. However, Mik was then ready to go and found the house tour not that interesting because he thought it was just then repetitive information. Thus, he thinks in hindsight it would have been better to see the house and then watch the movie (or really he probably thinks the movie is all you need to do here AND it is worth visiting just for it).

Mom and I both really did enjoy the house tour, but agree that the movie is the best part of an everyday visit here. The best part for our visit, though, was that one of Maggie Walker's relatives was filming an interview at the house and we got to talk to her and learn about how Maggie Walker's legacy continues to carry on today.

Not sure if the tour always begins from the back, but there is a ramp to the enter through the back, so that's how the tour began for us. The tour does also include the second floor, but it is not accessible nowadays, so we broke off and left the way we came in when they got to that part of the tour. Interestingly, Maggie Walker was in a wheelchair towards the end of her life due to diabetes and they had an elevator that used pulleys for her to get between the floors.

Overall accessibility was surprisingly good here, especially considering it is an old home and a smaller National Park unit. We did find the handicap stall in the bathroom almost too small, though. Also, it is just neighborhood street parking and some of the sidewalks are quite a mess from tree trunks pushing them up, but growing up in a historic neighborhood ourselves the fact it even has sidewalks the whole block is something.

Destination Info:
Maggie L. Walker NHS
600 N. 2nd St.
Richmond, VA 23219

Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom - The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Date of Visit: September 20, 2016

While Mik will usually do an accessible ride once per trip even if he isn't a fan of it, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is one I haven't been able to get him to do for years. The only reason I even got him to do it this time was it was raining and it was a way to stay out of the rain and waste the last hour until Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party began.

After riding it again, Mik is definitely against riding it again unless perhaps it's raining and I agree because if I'm going to have to ride alone I might as well just ride it when I go to the park to do the rides he can't do. It's not so much that he ends up riding alone that bothered him, but that the hunny pot is huge and yet designed in such a way that his wheelchair didn't fit (or at least they didn't give us enough time to try to get it all the way to the side) and have the seat come down for somebody to ride with him.

Destination Information:
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Magic Kingdom
Lake Buena Vista, FL

D23 Presents Bedknobs and Broomsticks: 45 Bewitching Years

Date of Visit: September 24, 2016

The D23 Presents Bedknobs and Broomsticks: 45 Bewitching Years event began with being able to shop the UNIGLO store before it's normal operating hours. That part we didn't so much care about, but it was worth going early for this part because it included breakfast. I thought the breakfast part was going to just be like fruit and pastries, but it included eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and french toast as well as fruit and some pastries.

The main event was seeing Bedknobs and Broomsticks at the AMC Theater. Before the movie there was a presentation about the making of the movie, which Mik particularly enjoyed. Of course, we also enjoyed seeing one of our favorite movies on the big screen for the first time.

Destination Info:
AMC Disney Springs
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom - Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party 2016

 Date of Visit: September 20, 2016

After not enjoying Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party two years ago, we kept going back and forth on doing it this trip. Finally, we decided to just do it because Mik really got into the treat trails when we did Disneyland last year and if it was bad again at least we'd get this year's Halloween card for my Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom collection.

Since we went into it with low expectations, it actually wasn't as bad as we remembered. In particular, the treat lines didn't seem that bad and we even learned afterwards that it was more crowded than normal because Sunday had been rained out and people were given tickets to come back on our party day. For one, the treat lines were queued up better making it easier to find the end to them then we remember from last time. Also, we found the lines all seemed to move quite smoothly and weren't anywhere near as long as some of the ones we did last year at Disneyland. We even ended up doing them all before 9:30pm.

The line that took us the longest was actually the rather short, but very slow moving line at Friar's Nook to buy a Ghoulish Strawberry Lemonade Slushy. It was a good treat and worth it, though.

Overall we did enjoy the Halloween party, but again not sure we would do it again at Magic Kingdom. The biggest disappointment was they don't have the healthy treat options like they have at Disneyland. Also, they don't do a pre-party thing, although it was raining until right before the party started, so that might not have been enjoyable anyways. Finally, we were disappointed that the guide map lists Werther's, but none of the treat spots were giving them out.

Destination Info:

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

Magic Kingdom

Lake Buena Vista, FL

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Journey Into Imagination with Figment

Date of Visit: September 20, 2016

I remember going on the ride featuring Figment before, but it's been awhile and this time it seemed different. Thus, it seems we probably haven't been on it since our first Walt Disney World trip in 2001 back when it was Journey Into YOUR Imagination.

Overall we enjoyed the ride. Mik particularly liked that the wheelchair accessible vehicle is spacious while also having a seat for me to ride next to him.

We didn't spend much time in the ImageWorks area you exit into, but Mik did enjoy trying out the conducting music part.

Destination Info:
Journey Into Imagination with Figment

Epcot

Lake Buena Vista, FL

Walt Disney World: Epcot - Soarin'

Date of Visit: September 19, 2016

We said we'd never do Soarin' at Epcot again unless they changed it to Soarin' Over Florida. While that isn't what happened, they did in fact change it so we were excited to give it another try, although we are sad that they also changed it in California.

Like last time, we used Fastpass+ for this attraction. I do miss that there is no aviation hall of fame to go through like in California, but since it's the Fastpass line you don't spend much time in line. However, you do still end up spending time waiting in the ramp hall down to where they assign you to rows and that is annoying because you're often stuck on the incline for awhile.

Overall we still like Soarin' as one of the few transfer rides I can do with Mik. However, we just didn't end up really enjoying the around the world version as much. Mainly, it just didn't seem quite as realistic throughout. Thus, we probably would one do this maybe every few trips and only with Fastpass.

Destination Info:
Soarin'

Epcot

Lake Buena Vista, FL

Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial

Date of Visit: September 15, 2016

After a hot and humid summer, it was nice to finally have a Thursday forecast that was clear and with a high below 80. We mainly had been waiting for a Thursday to go with Dad to get the rest of the NPS Centennial stamps on the National Mall, but we decided to also finally do Arlington House since we decided to take the metro to Arlington Cemetery and walk down the mall from that end.

The hill at Arlington Cemetery makes it quite a trek to get to the various sites, especially with Arlington House being at the top. The real annoying part, though, is the signage at Arlington Cemetery is horrible. It does have signs to the Kennedy gravesite and to the Tomb of the Unknown, but no where does it point which roads to take to get to Arlington House. Also, depending on where you are at the signs to the Tomb of the Unknown are pointing to the inaccessible stepped Crook Walk to it. Luckily, Dad had grabbed a map and we were able to figure out the most direct way to Arlington House (Mik wasn't up for the extra time to trek to the Tomb of the Unknown).

On the way to Arlington House, we stopped at the Kennedy gravesite. The stepped path up to the eternal flame is still not ideal and it is annoying that there is no ramp to get to the other part of the memorial, but at least it wasn't raining like last time we visited, so it wasn't slippery.

 We also checked out the Civil War Unknown Monument, which was on the path we discovered we needed to take to be able to get up to the Arlington House as the more obvious direct path is steps by the tour bus stop.

The paths around Arlington House and the other buildings are dirt/gravel, which Mik didn't particularly like, but for the most part they were packed down enough to be easy enough to push him through.

To visit the house there is a ramp up to the porch. The ramp up to the front door is a little awkward. Dad asked me to hold it open and I'm glad I noticed it had a stopper you could put down to hold it open because there really isn't room to stand to hold it open without getting run over.

The house is a self-guided tour and there are no signs to give any information (at least not on the first floor), but there is a ranger that you could ask for information. On the first floor there are three rooms to see and then you end up at the conservatory, which has steps down to it, so we turned around and went back out the way we came in. I think there is also a second floor and basement to tour, but since Mik couldn't access them, none of us visited them.

On the grounds, there is two slave quarters buildings, a flower garden, a kitchen garden, and a museum. The slave quarters buildings and the museum are all level with the path making them more accessible to enjoy. The slave quarters buildings just have the doors open. The museum has an automatic door button, although it wasn't working. The museum is small, but it provides a good timeline of Robert E. Lee's life and a little on the Custis family.

Our favorite part of Arlington House was L'Enfant's grave and the view overlooking D.C.

Destination Info:
Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial
Arlington Cemetery
Arlington, VA

Related Posts

• Arlington National Cemetery Metro Elevators
• Arlington National Cemetery Visitor Center
• President Kennedy Gravesite
• Ranger Dan post for Arlington House & Arlington Cemetery

The Birchmere: The Oak Ridge Boys

Date of Visit: August 28, 2016

The Oak Ridge Boys are definitely the ones you got to get there early for to get a good line number as we were 70 or so back since we arrived a little after 5pm and it was similar experience when Mom and I went last year. With Mik, though, they ended up noticing us and taking us through the gift shop to enter a little after they started calling line numbers. However, this time it wasn't sold out, so even if we hadn't been with Mik we easily would've gotten one of my favorite tables by the bar in the raised area to the left.

Mik liked The Oak Ridge Boys, but not as much as Brandy Clark (he's excited she's playing here again this year). They're still my favorite to see live, especially since they always change up their set list including often basing some of the picks on requests they get through Twitter before the show. Mik said he probably would only see them again if they played at The Birchmere, which is mainly because he again ordered off the specials (chicken fried steak) there are still several headliners he wants to try.

Destination Info:
The Birchmere
3701 Mount Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22305

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

Date of Visit: August 25, 2016

Fort McHenry has been our list to revisit since 2014 when we considered going to the Star Spangled Banner Bicentennial. Since we are trying to collect the National Park Passport Centennial Stamps this year, it seemed like a good time to finally go and it just happened to work out that our first free Thursday was the actual National Park Centennial.

Usually Mik is into the military history sites we visit, but neither of us found this all that great of a visit. At least the site is mostly accessible as the main part Mik couldn't access was the walkways up around the edge of the fort. I think it mostly wasn't enjoyable because it suddenly got crowded when we started to explore it, but it was also because there wasn't really any signage to help direct where to explore (the pamphlet also didn't even have a map of the park) and very oddly there wasn't a single park ranger (or even a volunteer) to be found except back in the visitor center.

Another area Mik couldn't access was the bombproofs, but he did enjoy that he could still look down in there. Most of the other exhibits were in the buildings in the fort with ramps added to the entrances/exits as needed.

Destination Info:
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
2400 East Fort Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21230