Embassy Suites Atlanta - Galleria

Date of Visit: July 14-15, 2017

When I booked the Embassy Suites Atlanta - Galleria using Mom’s points, I really thought I had selected a mobility accessible room, but the reservation email didn’t mention it. When checking in we asked if it was an accessible room and it wasn’t, but they checked what they had available. They didn’t have a roll-in shower (of which we learned they only have 1), but had other ones, which was fine with us except when we got up to the room we discovered it just meant it was only with the hearing accessibility features.

While it is slightly inconvenient to not have the larger bathroom, the rest of the suite was plenty spacious that we didn’t bother to try to change it, especially since we were just staying the night. Also, the bathroom was pretty typical hotel size and not small like when you end up at places with the sinks outside the bathroom such as most Best Western and Hyatt Place non-accessible rooms we’ve experienced.

Mik really enjoyed the living room area as even when the sofa bed was out there was still plenty of floor space. Not that he had any need to use it this trip, but he also liked he could reach and use the microwave, which was about the only thing that made it seem like potentially an actual mobility accessible room.

Overall this hotel was a good pick for this trip as it was very convenient to go to the ball game at SunTrust Park. We drove to the ballpark, but they do offer a shuttle as well. I would just be more particular next time about making sure I’m getting a room with accessible bathroom.

Destination Info:

Embassy Suites Atlanta - Galleria
2815 Akers Mill Road SE
Atlanta, Georgia, 30339

Best Western Travelers Rest/Greenville

Date of Visit: July 13-14, 2017

As we were booking on the road, we were not surprised to not be able to find an accessible room. In fact, we had a hard enough time booking anything without getting closer to Atlanta than we really wanted for the day, especially considering Mik ended up wanting to go to the Zentrum and we backtracked to it in the morning before continuing on to Atlanta.

We ended up with a room with 2 double beds. Overall it wasn’t bad, but the beds were extremely high and the double size seems even smaller so high up. Also, the bathroom was quite small, but not too different than we get stuck with the non-accessible rooms at Hyatt Places. The only real problem with the room was that the shower was confusing/broken. It was hard to figure out how to get hot water and then when you did it got stuck too hot.

The breakfast area was also problematic. There is not really enough room to roll into it much less through it. Partly it was due to all the tables being occupied, but even if it was empty with all the chairs pushed in it seems like it would of been hard. Another problem is half the seating is a high table. Luckily, one group noticed those were the only available seats when we were trying to find a place to sit and offered to move so we could sit at a regular table. The food was as expected, though, and Mik enjoyed having a waffle.

Destination Info:
Best Western Travelers Rest/Greenville
110 Hawkins Road
Travelers Rest, SC 29690

The Zentrum BMW Visitors Center

Date of Visit: July 14, 2017

As we were almost to where we had decided to stop for the night on the way to Atlanta, I pointed out the BMW Visitor Center sign as we went past the exit. Mik actually expressed interest in visiting and at first we were going to do it on the way home, but it is only open on weekdays. Thus, we decided we could backtrack to it and move visiting the Martin Luther King, Jr. NHS to Saturday.

There isn’t a whole lot to see at the BMW Zentrum, but we still found it a worthwhile detour, especially since it is free. Mik really enjoyed seeing the old BMWs, but he also liked checking out the current models.

Destination Info:
BMW Zentrum
1400 SC-101
Greer, SC 29651

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park

Date of Visit: July 13, 2017

We spent most of our visit to the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in the Visitor Center. Mom saw the movie, but Mik again wasn’t interested. Instead, we enjoyed the exhibit area.

We found the exhibit to be a good size in that it has a lot of information about the site and events along with artifacts while still being not that large of an exhibit overall.

One of the most interesting parts of the exhibit was the wall of windows that look outside to where they have put up some silhouette soldiers kind of as if the battle was going on.

We also walked some of the trails near the visitor center. The trails seem to be mostly paved paths and we certainly would’ve done a lot more of it including the other stops on the driving tour if it hadn’t been so hot and humid.

Monument Row behind the visitor center was the main part of the trail we checked out.

Mik also liked when we went into the woods behind the parking lot while waiting for Mom to finish checking out at the store. The trail didn’t have anything specific to see as far as we went (first sign, which really wasn’t far at all), but we liked that it did have information signs to read like when we did the Henry Hill Loop Trail at Manassas.

Destination Info:
Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
2332 New Garden Road
Greensboro, NC 27410

Booker T. Washington National Monument

Date of Visit: July 13, 2017

When we were taking pictures outside the visitor center, they were starting the movie. Mik wasn’t really interested, but Mom and Dad went in and saw it. We saw the end of it when we went in and found it was being done in the bookstore instead of their normal theater because that area was under construction.

After the movie, we did part of the trail down to the plantation. The trail down to the reconstructed slave cabin is paved without much of a grade.

The cabin is not accessible to go into, but you can see most of from the doorway.

The smokehouse is nearby and the grass isn’t hard to go through to go look into it (visitors aren’t allowed inside). Past here you can go down to the tobacco barn, but it was hot and humid and Mik wasn’t interested in a grassy/wooded area trail excursion.

We did, however, go down the part of the trail that is paved for the horse barn and chicken and duck lot area. This part of the trail does have quite a steep hill and really there isn’t much to see except Mik did enjoy seeing the turkey in the chicken and duck lot.

Overall our visit to Booker T. Washington National Monument was somewhat of a disappointment. Partly it’s just hard to really enjoy outdoor sites with the humidity. It was also hard to enjoy the trail when there were no signs even just labeling what building we were looking at. The main thing, though, was that the visitor center was under construction and the exhibit area wasn’t available.

Destination Info:
Booker T. Washington National Monument
12130 Booker T Washington Hwy
Hardy, VA 24101

Manassas National Battlefield Park: Stone Bridge Trail

Date of Visit: June 18, 2017

The Stone Bridge Trail is one of the accessible trails (or at least partly accessible) at Manassas National Battlefield Park. It is also one of the stops on the driving tour, so it has a parking lot next to it.

The Stone Bridge Trail is a rather short trail that is mostly a paved path that goes up to the Stone Bridge. The trail is only considered accessible up to the bridge.

Right before the bridge there is a bump to go over and the bridge is not technically accessible due to the slope, but it's not that difficult to go across the bridge. The trails on the other side of the bridge are where it really is no longer accessible partly due to it being a stepped trail down. While not much of a trail, Mik still found it interesting to be able to check out the bridge.

Destination Info:
Manassas National Battlefield Park
Manassas, VA

Manassas National Battlefield Park: Henry Hill Loop Trail

Date of Visit: June 18, 2017

The park actually does have some wheelchair accessible trails, but we ended up not getting around to checking them out except Stone Bridge Trail because we wore Mik out doing the Henry Hill Loop Trail. I am glad we ventured out on this trail first, though, as it was an interesting overview of the battle and while not technically accessible it was quite doable (amazing what a difference the new wheelchair makes as it would've been hard to impossible with his last chair except maybe with the freewheel).

The Henry Hill Loop Trail focuses on the history of the Battle of First Manassas (Bull Run), which mostly took place around the hill. The trail is mostly through low grass, although some parts are more dirt and gravel and there are definitely uneven pothole parts.

The first main stop on the trail is the Henry House, which was destroyed during the battle and rebuilt after the war. There is an exhibit with a movie and history on the house inside, but it is a huge step to get inside that has a big rock as a step making it not really doable to get inside with Mik. If it has just been regular two or three steps, we might've taken Mik inside because once inside it seems you can easily roll through and he would've found it interesting.

Even not being able to go inside the house this part of the trail has several things to see as there is a family cemetery where the only civilian casualty of the battle is buried and an 1865 monument.

Most of the bad parts are past the Henry House as you loop over to the Southern line cannons. You could probably easily skip the worst parts of the loop, which included a steep hill down and right back up, and still get a feel for the whole trail if you went to the Henry House, back to the Visitor Center, and then over to the Jackson statue and Southern line instead of following the whole loop trail.

Following the loop we went past some of the Southern line marked with cannons and over to the Jackson statue that commemorates where he got the Stonewall nickname.

Destination Info:
Manassas National Battlefield Park
Manassas, VA