Wheelchair Travel Newsletter: The Monuments Men, Bruges and "West Coast Best Coast?"
A new accessible travel guide, DOT rules for accessible airplane lavatories, a unique "flight" experience and more.
“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”
— Sir Terence David John Pratchett OBE
Hey there!
Buckle up for a longer than usual newsletter.
Last week, I visited Atlantic City for the first time in more than a decade. While “flying” on a very unique mode of transportation (link below in the latest articles section), I reflected on my first Atlantic City trip — The year was 2011, and I was a grad student at Florida State University. A college buddy and I traveled to compete in the World Series of Beer Pong and, while we didn’t win the title, we left Atlantic City with a top 100 world ranking (ha!).
Those days of carefree college fun are long gone, but I thought about one of the teams we faced off against — two L.A. surfer dudes, much older than us, perhaps 50 years old at the time. They beat us in a close match and their team name was “West Coast Best Coast.”
As someone who has lived east of the Mississippi River my entire life (with one exception, St. Louis, which is on the riverbank), I have always had a strong preference for life on the East Coast (climate, cuisine, you name it). What say you? Which coast is the “best coast?” Is one better for living and another better for vacationing? I’d be interested to hear your perspective.
Speaking of the West Coast…
On Wednesday, I’m flying to Los Angeles to research and review a new flight product. I’ll then hop over to Las Vegas for the weekend, before traveling to report on the Foster v. United Airlines trial next Monday from the federal courthouse in San Francisco. That’s a lot of coming and going, and I’ll no doubt be excited to return home next week — but I’ll hope to come back with “new eyes and extra colors.”
The Monuments Men and Bruges, Belgium
Today, I’m releasing a new accessible travel guide to Bruges, Belgium, a city I visited last summer for the first time. It’s a mini-guide, as the city is small, but there is quite a bit to see and do, much of it wheelchair-friendly.
As I started to build the guide, I got the urge to rewatch a movie that I adore, The Monuments Men. Directed by and starring George Clooney, along with a long list of first-rate actors and actresses, the film recounts the story of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (MFAA), which sent art historians and museum personnel to Europe during World War II, with a mission to locate and return artwork stolen by the Nazis.
One of the most important pieces recovered in that operation, and which receives a lot of attention in the Hollywood picture, was the Madonna and Child sculpture by Michelangelo, which was stolen from Bruges, Belgium. Fortunately, the sculpture was returned and it is one of the treasures that visitors can see inside the magnificent 13th century Church of Our Lady in Bruges.
Riding Amtrak from sea to shining sea
I love riding trains (and did so a couple weeks ago to see the 70mm IMAX premiere of Oppenheimer in Providence, Rhode Island), but I don’t love them as much as 84-year-old Nat Read, who recently fulfilled his lifelong dream — traveling all 21,400 miles of the entire Amtrak railroad.
Read accomplished that goal about a week ago on Amtrak’s “Downeaster” service that departs from Boston North Station. He told The Boston Globe that the trip marked “the last thread of passenger rail on Amtrak’s spiderweb map.” Read’s joy, captured perfectly by photographer Vincent Alban, is truly infectious. I hope it brings a smile to your face, and I encourage you to read more about Nat in the Globe’s article.
Nat’s story got me thinking about a question readers have asked numerous times — Is taking a cross-country train trip manageable as a wheelchair user? The truth is, I don’t know, but I’d like to find out.
Would you consider supporting this newsletter?
Building and maintaining WheelchairTravel.org and this newsletter is a labor of love, but I can’t do it without your support. If you enjoy reading about accessible travel, please consider upgrading to a paid newsletter subscription. Will you help me reach my goal of 50 new paid subscribers by the end of August?
Catch you next from Cali,
— John
Latest Accessible Travel Articles
Review: Wheelchair Accessibility on Amtrak Acela PLUS First Class vs. Business Class Comparison
Join me as I hop aboard the Amtrak Acela train to compare First Class and Business Class, lounge access and more on a train trip from Boston to Providence.
I Sat in My Power Wheelchair on This American Airlines “Flight” to Atlantic City
A unique partnership between American Airlines and The Landline Company brings wheelchair accessible multi-modal transportation to Philadelphia, and it’s surprisingly good — perhaps my best American Airlines flight ever.
BRAND NEW: Accessible Travel Guide to Bruges, Belgium
This picturesque city is known as the “Venice of the North” due to its winding canals and medieval architecture — and it’s more wheelchair-friendly than you might expect.
LOOK INSIDE: 4 Wheelchair Accessible Hotels in New Orleans
This issue has been on my mind since I became disabled a decade ago — there are no easy solutions, but progress is possible with concerted effort from all stakeholders.
Analysis: DOT Publishes Final Rule for Larger Lavatories on Single-Aisle Airplanes
Here’s what they’ll look like — Transportation Secretary Buttigieg has published a final rule for wheelchair accessible lavatories on single-aisle aircraft with 125 seats or more.
From the Archives (In Case You Missed It)
7 Products to Make Your Home More Accessible
Most homes weren't designed with disabled people in mind, but these products will elevate the accessibility of your home or apartment.
Check out these articles too:
United Airlines Introduces Braille Signage, To Be Installed Fleet-wide by 2026 — United Airlines committed to install Braille signage across its entire mainline fleet by 2026, a small step to make airplanes more accessible and inclusive of blind travelers.
Review: Wheelchair Accessible Hotel Room at ARIA Las Vegas — Take a look inside my adapted hotel room at ARIA, complete with photos and measurements.
My 15 Favorite Places to Eat on the Las Vegas Strip — Taste dishes from world-renowned chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Thomas Keller and Wolfgang Puck at the best restaurants on the Las Vegas Strip!
What I’m reading on my flight to LAX: The Monuments Men film is adapted from a book that likely features much more background information on the recovery mission, and I’d like to read about that in Robert Edsel’s The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History.
My husband and I traveled from Portage WI to Portland on the Amtrak Empire Builder in 2016. My husband is in a power chair. While our berth was accessible enough, he was stuck on this small lowest level of the train for the entire trip. He could not access the observation cars and was essentially confined to the small windows on a low level the entire trip. This trip on Amtrak was a bucket list item for me, but I was very underwhelmed.