Our Journey from West Palm Beach to Miami with Brightline

Getting to the Miami Brightline Station: A Memorable Journey

Embarking from West Palm Beach

On our way to the Dominican Republic, Cheryl and I opted for a unique experience with Brightline, starting at West Palm Beach. Following a fantastic tour of the expansive Orlando station, our excitement grew to see how West Palm Beach compared. With GPS guidance, we effortlessly arrived and parked on the 9th floor of the garage.

Parking Features & Accessibility

Navigating the neatly organized multi-tiered parking structure was a breeze. With dedicated spaces for Brightline passengers and impressive handicapped spots and charging stations for electric vehicles, we felt catered to. However, a note for solo wheelchair users: the stiff door closer might be challenging. Thankfully, crossing the street was seamless, leading us to the station's inviting automatic doors.

Stiff Door                             ...

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Getting to New Orleans and the stay there

Uncategorized Jul 21, 2023

 

We made arrangements for one of our young friends to watch the house, and she was nice enough to take us to the airport.  We flew out of Greensboro, NC to Atlanta and then to New Orleans on Delta.  We like Greensboro because the lines for the TSA checkpoint are never very long.  We were TSA pre-check for the outbound flight which makes the process even easier.  With the wheelchair, they had to swipe it to check for explosives.  Since my wife has numerous metal parts, she always sets off the alarm, and it only took a few seconds for the manual pat down and then we were off to the gate.  One thing I forgot to do was to notify the airline that we needed assistance.  Cheryl just walked the wheelchair down the ramp, and that worked without issue.
 

The flights went off without a hitch, and we were into New Orleans a little before noon on Wednesday.  We caught a taxi to the hotel, and I think the driver ripped us off...

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Barbados East Coast and Oistins

Uncategorized Jul 16, 2023

This blog is a continuation of the following blog:

https://www.travelingwithachair.com/blog/accessible-barbados-day-trips

Our transport while we were in Barbados was provided by Blessed Blossom Transport and Taxi Services, our contacts were Dexter and Yolande. The van had a rear wheelchair lift and Cheryl was able to ride in the chair without transferring to a seat. 

 

From Animal Flower Cave we now head south and pass the boarding area for the Steam Train from St. Nicholas Abbey. We follow this road to the end of the train line and pull over to watch the train arrive.

The Steam Train allows two passengers to help the train staff turn the engine around for the return trip. This is a popular sight to video and all cheered once it was fully turned. 

Across the street from there is the Cherry Hill lookout spot for viewing the Atlantic Ocean from about 800 feet up the mountain.

From the lookout, we continued southward along the east side of the island. This...

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Is Brightline the Easiest Way to Travel From Orlando To Miami With A Disability?

My wife travels with a mobility scooter, and we live near Orlando and travel out of Miami on cruises or flights frequently.  We will examine the choices available to make the journey and review the advantages of traveling via Brightline.

What are the choices?

There really 4 practical options available for everyone.  For abled bodied individuals, any of them might be acceptable, but when you are disabled and make this trip, there are factors that affect your decision.

Airplane

Flying may be slightly quicker than taking Brightline, but when you factor in needing to check in very early for your flight, and then the wait time for your mobility device to show up, and then get your luggage the time difference is not significant.

When you have to deal with the screening process, even with TSA Pre-Check and have assistance to go through screening, at the airport it is an unpleasant experience.  My wife travels with her Whill Ci2 and so she winds up needing a physical...

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A Refresher Course at Roger's Scuba Shack Barbados

Roger's Scuba Shack at Carlisle Bay Highway 7, Bridgetown, Barbados, is a great place to learn scuba or to take a refresher course for diving. Ken and I took the in-class instruction and I completed the in-water refresher course. We were hoping the next week to take a dive in Grenada where the facilities are accessible. Hoping to video accessible diving, we took the refresher course to help with that.

Nick was our instructor and was very patient with me as I practiced the in-water skills. The entire staff was very helpful with, and considerate of, my limitations.  Roger's facility is not accessible, nor do they advertise such. But I can walk with assistance and was able to complete the refresher course.

For those with medical conditions, be sure to discuss diving with your doctor and to bring the PADI form (available at PADI.com) filled out by you and your doctor to the scuba shop. There you will fill out another form and the instructor will review it with you. If he has...

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Accessible Barbados Day Trip: Upscale Mall and Animal Flower Cave Restaurant

 A most enjoyable accessible day trip in Barbados would include the Animal Flower Cave and Restaurant on the north side of the island with its beautiful views and local Bajan meals and seafood.

My accessible trip was arranged by Blessed Blossom Transportation and Taxi. I appreciated their care and attention to my needs throughout the day.

On the way north we started with a stop at the Limegrove Lifestyle Center, a modern shopping mall for those with discretionary taste. It is located in Holetown, Barbados. With shops, restaurants, and an ice cream parlor, a morning would pass quickly here.

In the parking lot, just to the left of the entrance, are a few reserved spaces for accessible vehicles and a ramp to enter the mall.

The mall is an open-air style in some places and enclosed hallways in other places, and has two floors. There are several elevators to access the second floor.

This mall specializes in finer shops for those with distinguished taste.

We found a few...

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Ooh La La! An Accessible Day Tour in Martinique

Today, November 25, 2022, Ken and I just finished an enjoyable, fully accessible, day trip in Martinique with Martinique Access'ile. Our tour guide was Noël Cicalini, himself a paraplegic, and the owner of Martinique Access'ile.

Noel speaks French, with English as a second language, and we spent the day discussing many things about travel and life and Martinique. Noel knows the fully accessible sites, restaurants, and restrooms, so our tour was relaxed and without any undue concerns.

Arriving on the RCCL Rhapsody of the Seas, we alit at the Tourelles Cruise Port in Fort-De-France. The weather was quite pleasant, cooler than expected with an occasional cloud, but no rain in sight.

Just inside the port there is a very tall building, and on the first floor there is a very nice accessible restroom, how handy!

    

 Our first destination was the Rhum Sant James, rum factory museum in Sainte Marie. A beautifully restored...

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The Club Resort and Spa Barbados Limited Accessibility Suite 166

The Club Barbados is a cute, smaller-size resort about 45 minutes from the Bridgetown Airport. It makes no claims to be accessible but as I can walk short distances, we decided to check it out for ourselves. We were happy to find out that the Whill C2 made getting about this resort a little easier for me. There are some places that only have curbs or stairs with no ramps, so I used my cane and sometimes some assistance for those spots. The staff members were always helpful and offered assistance quite often.

Having chosen to take the island-hopping cruise on the RCCL Rhapsody of the Seas from Barbados, we wanted to see how accessible Barbados was while we were there. To meet our budget, we chose The Club. This article will show how suite 166 worked for us.

The suite is pleasantly decorated with island colors and comfortable furniture, The furniture is more than adequate for 2 people and even for a few guests during the day if you travel with friends.

On the ground floor...

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An Extraordinary Day at Icy Strait Point

On June 1, 2022, I was standing 15 feet behind the zipline platform at Icy Strait Point.

 My fear of heights was at a peak as we had ridden the gondola up the mountain and then taken a truck ride down a very, very steep and narrow road to the zipline. For riders needing assistance they use a UTV or truck to take the from gondola area to zipline.

 

I knew the zipline would be the fastest way back down and would be a most amazing journey.

More than anything I did not want to take the at least 7 minute long ride down the gondola. 

The group of six riders ahead of us crossed the bridge to the platform and prepared for their descent.

After veing strapped in, the rider in the number six position started to cry out loud. They were released on the count of three, and she continued to cry out as far I could hear.

I thought I hope I enjoy this. I will close my eyes before it starts. 

Taking a moment to collect my thoughts, a lesson I learned years ago would allow me the...

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Long Beach to Catalina Island on the Accessible Catalina Express

accessible wheelchair Apr 25, 2022

When planning a trip with a wheelchair, what do you want to know?  

For us, we are always concerned about accessibility.  

Can we get from one place to another and do so comfortably?  

That means more than can we get the wheelchair onto the transportation, but what are conditions like as we travel. 

What are the bathrooms like?

These were all questions we had about the about our trip to Catalina on the Catalina Express

How Accessible is the Catalina Express

We were very pleasantly surprised by the experience.  We did not find any issues with accessibility, and the crew was outstanding in their willingness to help passengers no matter their ability level.  We did not encounter any barriers, and while the ramp at Catalina Island was steep we had plenty of assistance getting onshore and back on the boat when we returned.

We will discuss the following topics:

  • Terminals
  • Boarding
  • Boat Seating Area
  • Accessible Bathroom
  • Food and Beverage
  • Ride
  • ...
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