East Coast Trek — Part I:
Accessible USA
Going on a trip with a wheelchair anywhere in the world can turn out to be a bit of an adventure. I should point out, that the wheelchair-user is my wife — for almost twenty years. And we like to travel, so quite a few adventures over the years in many parts of the world.
Being from Denmark, we are used to a high standard of disability aids but not always a high standard of accessibility. It has been our experience from our travels in the US — this is our fourth trip — that the standard of accessibility is quite high ind the US compared to most other countries.
This will not be a thorough or exhaustive description of accessible travel in the US, but just af few thoughts and comments.
The airport experience in the US can feel a bit of a hassle — especially as a European. The level of security is about the same these days but there a just more people going through airports like Washington’s Dulles International or San Francisco. But all personnel customs, service or otherwise are always helpful and makes things go smoothly. Wheelchair users are as a rule diverted to the personnel exit through security, so sometimes — but not always — security is a bit faster.
Getting from the airport can sometimes be a challenge. Accessible busses or cabs are not necessarily easy to find. I have never tried neither in the US. Usually we rent a car from the airport or an accessible shuttle bus if we are in a hotel near the airport, which is often our choice, as rest is often a good idea after a long flight and before you start out on a longer drive.
On this trip we chose to rent a car and drive for about an hour from Dulles International to Alexandria. We didn’t really sleep on the 8-hour flight from Copenhagen and had our day prolonged with 6 hors but we managed to stay awake long enough to get to Alexandria, take a walk in the scenic old town and find a restaurant by the Potomac riverfront — well almost on the riverfront, anyway.
Like all cities in the US — that we have visited, anyway — we found the streets in Alexandria to be highly accessible by wheelchair. Unlike most European cities. A ramp on almost every corner for easy crossing. Most shops and offices had an accessible entrance or an alternative entrance that was at least reasonably accessible. The same went for public buildings and restaurants.
The interior of restaurants and hotels can sometimes be a challenge. Most restaurants want as many seats and tables as possible, but the staff will happily move things around if passages are to narrow or chairs in the way.
The first part of our trip this time was dedicated to visiting historic cities and national parks. And this time — like every time we have come here — we were amazed at how both parks, walking trails, museums, monuments and so on were — for the most part — accessible by wheelchair.
On the road from Washington DC to Alexandria, VA, Charlottesville VA, Fredrick MD, Philadelphia PA and back to Washington DC, we visited places like Mount Vernon, Monticello, The Shenandoah National Park, Gettysburg PA — more about these in later installments of this series on our East Coast Trek. But in none of these places did we have any trouble accessing the main attractions. For most Americans this will not come as a surprise but as a European this is a pleasant change from the hassle of travelling in Europe with a wheelchair. And part of the reason why we keep coming back.
