ACCESSIBLE ATTRACTIONS: London, England

Our ratings are...

Fully Accessible - You can access all of the attraction, with no problem, in any type of wheelchair.

Mostly Accessible - You can access most of the attraction, and all of the important parts of it, with your wheelchair.

Partially Accessible - You can access a good deal of the attraction but some parts are inaccessible and some important parts you'll miss.

Inaccessible - Kind of speaks for itself, avoid if you're in a wheelchair.

Here's London, England...

Tower of London - Partially Accessible. You will get to see just about everything except the original inner tower. The Beafeaters here are very good with making sure wheelchair users get the maximum benefit from their tour. Carers are admitted free and the Tower Hill Underground station, across the street, is also wheelchair accessible with a lift.

London Eye - Fully Accessible. Carers admitted free here, too. Ride is smooth as glass and really not that scary at all. Views on a clear day are incredible.

Westminster Abbey - Partially Accessible. Some side chapels and the underground graves will be inaccessible but there is still a lot to see here.

Churchill War Rooms (formerly Cabinet War Rooms) - Fully Accessible. Fascinating first-hand glimpse to the spot where England coordinated the war effort in World War II.

Old Globe Theatre - Mostly Accessible. The recreated theatre of the Bard is a very good accessible attraction on the south bank of the Thames.

Royal Naval Observatory (Greenwich-Prime Meridian) - Fully Accessible. It is a rather long tube ride and a long hike up a hill to get there, however.

Transit - All Black Cabs are accessible and expensive, all but two bus lines are accessible via the back door, many Underground stations are accessible, click here for a map.

ACCESSIBLE ATTRACTIONS: San Francisco

Our ratings are...

Fully Accessible - You can access all of the attraction, with no problem, in any type of wheelchair.

Mostly Accessible - You can access most of the attraction, and all of the important parts of it, with your wheelchair.

Partially Accessible - You can access a good deal of the attraction but some parts are inaccessible and some important parts you'll miss.

Inaccessible - Kind of speaks for itself, avoid if you're in a wheelchair.

Here's San Francisco, California...

Alcatraz Island - Mostly Accessible. There's an accessible uphill path to climb and the ferries going over do not have accessible bathrooms on board. Other than that, you can go pretty much anywhere that is open to the public in this former prison.

Cable Cars - Inaccessible. Instead, use the accessible vintage streetcars that travel along Market Street to Fisherman's Wharf.

Coit Tower - Inaccessible.

Golden Gate Bridge - Fully Accessible. If you're not afraid of heights, you can walk across the bridge on the northbound side.

Ghirardelli Square - Mostly Accessible. You'll need to detour around a bit to get to the accessible entrance on the side.  Some parts of shops and restaurants are inaccessible due to stairs but you'll be able to see everything that's important.

Fisherman's Whart - Mostly Accessible. Again, some of the older shops may have stairs here and there but you'll be able to see most of the shops here.

AT&T Park - Mostly Accessible. Except that there's only one elevator location for fans, creating a choke point, the rest of the home of the Giants is completely accessible.

Ferry Building (market) - Fully Accessible. Can get very crowded, however.

Cable Car Barn and Museum - Fully Accessible. You can't ride the cable cars but you can visit this fascinating museum and watch all the machinery that runs the cables under the streets.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

ACCESSIBLE ATTRACTIONS: Toronto

Our ratings are...

Fully Accessible - You can access all of the attraction, with no problem, in any type of wheelchair.

Mostly Accessible - You can access most of the attraction, and all of the important parts of it, with your wheelchair.

Partially Accessible - You can access a good deal of the attraction but some parts are inaccessible and some important parts you'll miss.

Inaccessible - Kind of speaks for itself, avoid if you're in a wheelchair.

Here's Toronto, Canada...

CN Tower - Fully Accessible. Elevators will take you all the way up. Be aware that you'll need to pay an extra fee to go to the very top.

Rogers Centre (Skydome) - Partially Accessible.  Hopefully, they don't still charge extra for wheelchair seats like they did when we were there.

Maid of the Mist (Niagara Falls) - Mostly Accessible. Elevator will take you down to the dock and ramp onto the boat. Bathrooms on board are not accessible, plan to go beforehand.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

ACCESSIBLE ATTRACTIONS: Paris, France

Editor's note: It's fall, so that must mean we have a new bolts 'n nuts feature for our midweek posts here at The World on Wheels. I am always in the dark when we go to a new destination as to what attractions are accessible with a wheelchair, so I am going to start a new series that I wish I had before visiting these places. 

We're going to call it Accessible Attractions: and list the attractions we've tried at various travel destinations with a wheelchair and let you know, quick and easily, if it's accessible or not.

Our ratings are...

Fully Accessible - You can access all of the attraction, with no problem, in any type of wheelchair.

Mostly Accessible - You can access most of the attraction, and all of the important parts of it, with your wheelchair.

Partially Accessible - You can access a good deal of the attraction but some parts are inaccessible and some important parts you'll miss.

Inaccessible - Kind of speaks for itself, avoid if you're in a wheelchair.

Here's Paris...

The Louvre - Mostly Accessible. You'll be able to get to just about every corner of this massive museum but will have to take an occasional long detour around stairs. Elevators are scattered about but can be hard to find at times. Carers are admitted free and disabled guests can go to front of the lines, such as the massive queue to see the Mona Lisa.

Eiffel Tower - Partially Accessible. Elevators will get you up to the first two levels. Although the top is served by another elevator, wheelchairs are banned for security reasons.

Metro - Partially Accessible. A handful of stations are accessible but most of the system is not. Accessible buses are widely available. Check this page for accessible Metro Stations, and this list of accessible Paris bus lines.

Walking Access - Paris is a wonderful city to walk in and is Mostly Accessible, however some side streets have very narrow sidewalks that will be too narrow for many chairs.

The Lavender Lost...

Our lavender plants are well established and provide much beauty and fragrance to our yard and patio.

Vigorous growers, they produce scads of blooms and grow to nice, large orbs of purple and green.

Earlier in the season, I'll cut back the blooms to encourage a second one.

Late in the summer, though, the plant is spent and it's time to cut back.

This is a good time, too, because once the flowers are gone, so are the ever-present bees who might get a little riled when you stick a big pair of loppers into their midst.

Chop, chop, chop...and now the garden waste bin is full.

I'm done for this year, the plant now has plenty of room to fill back up. Just need to sweep up this mess and I'm finished for today.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

How to Eat Your Dragon

One plant I really love in our garden is the dragon fruit. This tropical cactus does very well in our climate and I'm hoping to get more production out of it.

We have two varieties, one with white flesh and the other a vibrant, hot-pink flesh like a watermelon on acid.

It's time to eat this one.  Eaten straight, it's ok. Slightly sweet but a bit bland.

The best, we've found, is to cut it up in cubes and very lightly sprinkle a little powdered sugar on it.

This amps up the natural sweetness and the taste is as stunning as the looks of the fruit.

Best of all, I went out this morning and found more flower buds on the plant. More fruit to come...

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

NEW YORK BASEBALL TRIP - Part 2

In part 1 , we had great, cheap hot dogs; went to a Yankees game; and paid our repects at the World Trade Center site.

The next day it’s bagels for breakfast again as we do some sightseeing and shopping around Manhattan in the morning.

For that, we head downtown to the South Street Seaport, a nautically themed shopping area facing the East River.  It's kind of quiet and not a lot going on.  We browse some of the stores, but frankly, there is nothing here that you can't get at any of a hundred other tourist spots.

Taking our leave, we head up to the city hall with it's beautiful fountain and gas lamps before heading back to the hotel.

In the afternoon, it’s time to get ready to go to our next game. We’ll be seeing the Amazin’ Mets take on the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium.


Unlike Yankee Stadium, the subway stop at Shea is not accessible. It could easily be made accessible…the exit from the elevated station includes a spiral ramp down to the parking lot but it stops about 10 feet from the ground with a set of stairs leading the rest of the way down. Why not just continue with the ramp?

This means that we take the train one stop past Shea to Flushing-Main Street where the station is accessible. Outside are dozens of bus stops, our job is to find the one that goes back to the stadium. I see an MTA worker in an orange vest and ask him. He’s friendly and points us to the correct stop where we catch a 48 bus back to Shea.

When we called for tickets at the number listed on the Mets website, a friendly gentleman helped us out and quickly sold us three seats very close to home plate. They were very good seats.

Inside the stadium, however, friendliness from the employees was in short supply. From the snack bar to the gift shop short, rude service was the order of the day. It was not anywhere near the great service we got at Yankee Stadium.

The Scoreboard Sums Up the Weather

The game itself was good. The Mets came from behind to beat San Diego. There was a light drizzle and it was chilly during the entire game but it was never stopped. A highlight was seeing George Thorogood sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame during the stretch standing on the dugout just a few feet away from us.

After the game, we made our way back to Main Street on the bus, got on the subway, and made our way back to the hotel.

In the morning, it was time to checkout and the doorman helped us flag down a van taxi. He couldn’t quite work a miracle to find a fully accessible one, but this would do. The van took us over to Penn Station where we boarded a southbound Amtrak heading to Philadelphia.

Next week, it's on to Pennsylvania for more baseball and Amish country.  Stay tuned...

-Darryl
Copyright 2010 - Darryl Musick

NEW YORK BASEBALL TRIP - Part 1

We love New York. If you saw our first trip report to the city, you can see we were a bit intimidated but that soon passed. I would never pass up a trip to this great city.


In our ongoing quest to see every Major League Stadium, this time we’re headed to the Big Apple. Our flight is scheduled to leave John Wayne Airport in Orange County at 6:30 in the morning. We’re on Frontier Airlines today and have comfortable bulkhead seats at the front of the plane.

We taxi and wait. Although Frontier schedules a 6:30 departure, airport rules don’t let any planes actually leave until 7:00am. The flight attendant tells me they do this so they can push back and be first in line.

It’s a comfortable, direct one-stop flight (in Denver) to La Guardia Airport in New York City. Out front, we get to the taxi stand and immediately the dispatcher tries to get us into a regular sedan that is in the front of the line. We explain that the wheelchair won’t fit and we at least need a minivan. He won’t budge…until I ask him to tell me how to get there by bus since there isn’t a taxi that will work. That does the trick. He loads us in a minivan that was about sixth in line and off we go.

Our hotel for this trip…our third to the city…is the Beekman Tower, adjacent to the United Nations on 1st Avenue. It’s a roomy two-room suite with a dine-in kitchen and marvelous views. We were able to book it just between to high periods and got four nights for just a touch over $200 a night, including taxes. A quick online check shows that normal rates run from $276 - $350, still not a bad deal for a good Manhattan neighborhood. The tub was doable and the toilet tiny, but we managed.

The next day, we took the subway up to the Bronx to see the Yankees play the Detroit Tigers in the old Yankee Stadium. You could see the new stadium going up over the left field side. The corridors are were very narrow but our seats above first base were very good but the view was just a bit obstructed by the second deck.

The Yankees required us to write in for tickets but we were rewarded with a great location for the three of us for only $86. The staff was very helpful and the concession workers very friendly. Say what you will of the Steinbrenners, they make sure their fans are treated well. I’d go into the complete specifics of the stadium’s accessibility, but since it is demolished now, it just seems a waste of typing.

We met a couple from Tennessee sitting next to us that were at the game to complete a dream of their son, Wes, who had been killed in an auto accident. It’s a sad story, but they’re wonderful people who are honoring their son as they get on with life.

The Yankees went on to win the game and Tim says this is the best baseball experience he’s had other than being at the playoffs in 2002 when the Angels took it all.

The Rooftop Bar and one of the Views From the Bar

Back at the hotel after the game, we went up to their magnificent rooftop bar and had a couple of martinis. There is a mostly accessible deck where you can get a view from all directions around the hotel. Drinks aren’t cheap…around $10 for a happy hour martini…but just this once.

The next morning we have breakfast at one of the most wonderful bagel bakeries we’ve been to, Tal Bagels, just a couple of blocks north of the hotel on 1st Avenue. Hectic and delicious, you need to know what you want before you hit the counter…they will have no patience with you if you don’t. When you do decide, get in line, order quick, pay at the end, get your food, and find a table. You’ll have one of the most mouth-watering experiences you’ll every have.

It’s off to the subway, heading downtown. It’s time to see just what those idiots did to us on September 11th…the ruins of the World Trade Center. A cobbled-together walkway in the buildings surrounding the site give you a view of the giant hole that used to be the world’s tallest buildings. It’s accessible but in fits and starts as you sometimes have to take an elevator to another level or go out to the street for a few feet…but we make the circle slowly. It’s a sad and somber reminder, looking into that grave, of man’s inhumanity.

I wish they would be faster about erecting the replacement building…as long as that hole is there, al qaeda gloats.

Back on the subway, we head up to the upper west side for one of New York’s great cheap eats, Gray’s Papaya, located just outside the accessible subway station at 72nd and Broadway. For a couple of bucks, you get two delicious hot dogs and a glass of fruit juice. We go with the management’s recommendation and choose papaya. For some reason this goes real well with a hot dog.

On a previous trip here I limited the amount of food we had here so we wouldn’t be full when we had dinner at Tavern on the Green. My wife later told me she wished I had just cancelled those reservations and let her and Tim eat to their heart’s content. Today, she got her wish…which was an extra two hot dogs, I guess.

They are great dogs. Savory, tasty and packed in a natural casing that provides a great snap. Fine dining Gray’s is not. There are no tables or chairs…you just stand at a narrow shelf that wraps around the room and eat. Still, one of New York’s best food deals.

One of the Views from our Room

We finish the day with a walk through Central Park before heading back to midtown and our hotel.

There's more, stay tuned for Part 2...

-Darryl
Copyright 2010 - Darryl Musick

PENNSYLVANIA - Part 2

It’s a pleasant 60 or so mile drive from Philadelphia to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We have just spent the last week in two of the largest cities on the east coast, loving our time in both of them…as long as you discount the bad time we had with our original Philly area hotel. As fun as that was, what we’d like…at least my wife and I…is a little slower pace to decompress before we return home.

Our hotel will actually be about 20 miles beyond Lancaster in the town of Mountville, about half-way between Lancaster and Columbia. We are staying at the MainStay Suites and get a wonderful, two-room suite with a roll-in shower overlooking the swimming pool. Next door is a miniature golf course and snack bar.

After unpacking, we hop in the car to do a little exploring and get some lunch. I had read about the bridge connecting Columbia to Wrightsville on the other side of the Susquehanna River. It’s the longest, multiple arch concrete bridge in the world, stretching in excess of 7,000 feet. Alongside it are the remains of a previous bridge that was destroyed by the Confederates 
during the Civil War.

  We made our way over there under darkening skies and stopped at a park next to the bridge to take in the view. It started to rain a bit so got back in the car and decided to drive to the other side on this old (1930) two-lane span. Then came the deluge.

A thunder storm of biblical proportions hit. Lightning was flashing all around us. By the time we got to the middle of the bridge, visibility was less than 100 feet. We had nowhere to go so we kept going until we got to the other side.

Tim’s going bananas at this point and my wife just wants to turn around and go back to the hotel. The rain eased up just a bit, so we make the U-turn in Wrightsville and go back.

That letup was just temporary as the downpour returned. We made it back to the other side and started back towards Mountville. Lightning still crashing around us. A bolt struck a utility pole as we passed, showering us with sparks. I pull into a shopping center and park under a covered drive-through lane in a closed bank for a few minutes.

The storm is not letting up. Eventually, we decide to push on, slowed by the lack of visibility when I see such a sight. With the rain coming down in buckets, lightning crashing, and thunder roaring, I see a twenty-something lady walking along the side of the road in a halter top, cut off shorts, barefoot, and smoking a cigarette without a care in the world.

They must think us Californians are such wimps there.

After a couple of hours at the hotel, the storm has passed and we decide to get some dinner. My wife had seen what looked like a fast-food seafood place on the way back and she was craving some crab cakes. We went there but they wanted an arm and a leg. With a kitchen and dining area, we decide to go to the local supermarket…Weis…and get some food to make in our room.

Pretty quickly, my wife finds some crab cakes in the seafood department. They were delicious and only $5.

The skies have cleared and the next morning we drive east of Lancaster into Amish country. Lincoln Highway, also known as highway 30, turns from expressway to four-lane road. According to the map, we’re there but instead of seeing bucolic farms and wooden bridges, it’s shopping centers, fast food restaurants , and tourist stops. Well, I take part of that back. An old wooden bridge sits in the parking lot of Dutch Wonderland, a local amusement park and miniature golf course.

A little farther down the road, we see Dutch Haven. It’s another very touristy place with antiques, blankets, crafts, jams & jellies, and more. We pull in because the sign says “free shoofly pie.” Why not?

We make our way in, which is a little tricky because they have a seldom-used wheelchair ramp at the entrance, and find the pie counter. We are indeed each given a generous slice of pie. It is redolent of molasses and delicious with whipped cream on top. That’s it…no sales pitch or making us feel guilty about not buying a pie. Just “thank you for coming in, we hope you enjoy your trip here.”

As good as the pie was and as friendly as the people were, something is not right. It’s like being in Anaheim by Disneyland or Kissimmee near Disneyworld. Just a long stretch of tourist inspired businesses. Where are the farms? The wooden bridges? The countryside?

Before leaving, I pulled out a list of the bridges of the county (sounds like it should be a book) and a map. I made up a route of the half-dozen or so bridges nearest to us and started on our way. That was the trick!

As soon as we left highway 30, civilization melted away. Little two lane roads lead through green pastures, farms with fields of tall corn, and people driving little black horse-drawn buggies. Farmers were harvesting the crops with horse-drawn harvesters. It’s a beautiful sight.

Our first stop is Bitzer’s Mill Bridge, a long, wooden bridge spanning the Conestoga River. Still in use, it was built in 1846. You can drive across it. We did.

We found a pull out on the road and got out to take pictures and a closer look. There are two pretty houses with nice flower gardens next to the bridge. We saw no evidence of their occupants, however.

Continuing on, we saw a few more small bridges and many farms. It was time for the next planned adventure.

About a mile south of highway 30 and just east of the tiny town of Strasburg is the depot for the Strasburg Railroad. A steam-powered locomotive sits chugging on the tracks. Many families with small kids mingle in the station area with railroad enthusiasts and other tourists like us. We find the fare is $14 for adults ($7 for kids under 12). For just a few dollars more, we could ride in the dining car and eat lunch (NOTE: This option apparently is no longer offered. Now it is $2 extra to ride in the dining car, plus the cost of food which runs from $4 for soup to $14 for a prime rib sandwich). We chose that option.

It was just us and another couple in the really nicely restored dining car. A wheelchair lift was provided to get Tim’s chair on board, and then it was a bit of a tight turn to get into the car proper. All the noisy kids were in other cars so we had a nice, quiet ride.

We were offered an assortment of sandwiches, lemonade, tea, coffee, or soda, and dessert. We chose turkey and roast beef sandwiches which came with chips. For dessert, we had shoo-fly pie and carrot cake. All were very good and served by an attentive waitress.


On the ride, a tour guide noted points of interest and an explanation of Amish culture over the PA system. The ride goes through some spectacular country with rolling green hills of crops and the occasional Amish farm compound.

Several times, we could see men in the field harvesting with horse-drawn equipment. About half-way to our destination, there is a stop at Paradise. A small farm area where you can disembark to spend some time watching Amish demonstrations and having snacks is here. It is not an accessible location so we stay on the train.

After about an hour, we reach the destination…a siding next to a highway in Bird-In-Hand. The locomotive is disconnected and moved to the other end of the train. A conductor puts several pennies on the track to be flattened as the large engine passes. On the way back, he’ll hand these out to kids on the train.

Back at the depot – rested, fed, and educated – we take some time to see some of the other attractions here. Letty poses in an Amish carriage. A miniature version of the railroad carries kids around a small course. You can try your skill and operating a hand-powered cart (gandy dancer)…there’s even a mini version for small kids. And, of course, there are snacks and a gift shop.

We spend the afternoon just driving around the countryside, taking in the scenery and stopping now and again when something catches our eye. We stop in Intercourse to shop at the Kitchen Kettle Village, a kind of touristy shopping center, and buy some T-Shirts with double-entendre slogans (“Caught in the Middle of Intercourse”, etc…you get the idea). There are many antique shops here and Letty has a ball looking at the blankets and farm implements.


For dinner, we make our way back to Bird-In-Hand to eat at Good ‘n Plenty, a family style restaurant serving Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch comfort food. The dining room is huge, I’m guessing it can accommodate up to around 1,000, and there are long tables. We take our seats…and are told to scooch in close to the next party and not leave any empty seat. I’m guessing the dining room is about a tenth full so I don’t know why we have to crowd, but okay.

If you’ve ever eaten at a Basque restaurant, you can get an idea of what it’s like. It might also be likened to being at your Grandma’s house on Thanksgiving as servers bring out bowls of soup and salad, ham, roast beef, turkey, fried chicken, potatoes, green beans, bread & butter. Eat your fill…have seconds if you want but save room for the ever-present shoo-fly pie. It is very filling and delicious.

Waddling out bursting at the seams, we take some time to play with the animals in the little zoo out back before heading back to the hotel.

The next day we decide to drive the other direction towards Harrisburg. The capital is a medium-sized city on the banks of the Susquehanna. On arrival, we stop and take a little time to walk along the river in the pretty park that is there.

Driving south, soon we come along a modern day historical landmark…the twin cooling towers of the nuclear power plant sitting on an island in the river three miles south of Harrisburg. One is belching steam…the other quiet and not in use. The reactor, Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island power plant, suffered a cooling system malfunction on March 28, 1979…just a couple of months after I graduated from high school. This caused a partial melt-down of the core and released a significant amount of radiation in the surrounding environment resulting in one of the worst nuclear accidents in the country’s history.

An ongoing cleanup is still in process. It was recently announced that the undamaged generator will be moved to a power plant in North Carolina.

Not long after, we arrive back in Columbia and get to see the bridge, and the civil war era ruins, crossing the river in the sunlight. One last look as the sun sets. Tomorrow, it’s back to Philly to drop off the car and catch a train back to the airport. Then it’s back home.

Final Tally from this trip


New stadiums visited -3. Bringing our total to 16 for Tim, 17 for Letty and me (the two of us saw a game at Oakland without Tim). Since this trip, we also added Seattle so now it’s 16 and 18 respectively…that number includes two for San Diego (Qualcom Stadium and Petco Park)

New states – just New Jersey, bringing our total state count to 32 for Letty and Tim and 36 for me.

-Darryl
Copyright 2010-Darryl Musick