My husband and I hadn’t spent a night outside Kansas City since our trip to Seattle in February. We decided we needed a getaway.
But, because of his Parkinson’s Disease, there were limits on where we could go:
- It had to be within an easy driving distance, because I would be doing all the driving, and my husband would have to sit for a few hours without the ability to move around.
- The hotel had to have both wheelchair-accessible rooms and a full-service restaurant, because we’re never sure what mobility my husband will have.
- There had to be enough to do for two to three days’ entertainment, because our purpose was to see something more interesting than our home, and a hotel room wouldn’t suffice.
Our favorite place within a few hours of Kansas City—Lied Lodge in Nebraska City—was booked for the dates we had available. So we landed on the Marriott in downtown Omaha. I booked us a room for three nights.
Then my husband fell and hurt his leg. His walking would be even more limited than usual. But we decided to chance it anyway. After all, the hotel had a swimming pool—we could just stay there.
My husband did fine in the car on the drive to Omaha. It was an easy drive on I-29 most of the way. The Missouri River flooding was north of Omaha, so we escaped that potential problem.
While we were in the Omaha area, we saw three museums, all with railroad themes, which my husband enjoys.
We visited the first two museums before we even checked into the hotel. The Rails West Museum in Council Bluffs, Iowa (across the river from Omaha), had a lot of artifacts, but they weren’t well displayed. And we couldn’t tour the rail cars in the museum’s yard because of my husband’s limited mobility. He didn’t want to risk climbing into the cars.
But the Union Pacific Museum in downtown Council Bluffs was well-suited to wheelchairs, with an elevator and wide spaces near the exhibits. My husband was in and out of his wheelchair, as he needed. We enjoyed a couple of hours in this museum before crossing the Missouri River into Omaha and checking into the hotel.
The next day, we went to the Durham Museum near downtown Omaha, which was also able to accommodate his wheelchair. Again, he alternated between walking and sitting. And the Durham had an old-fashioned soda fountain where we ate lunch. I enjoyed a cherry phosphate with my sandwich—it’s been decades since I had a cherry phosphate. I also enjoyed the special exhibit on Jane Goodall and her work with chimpanzees.
On our third day, rain threatened, but we headed to Lauritzen Gardens anyway. We discovered the gardens on a trip to Nebraska two years ago and really enjoyed seeing the flower and tree displays. On this visit, the gardens were just as lovely, but unfortunately, our tram tour got cut short when thunder sounded. So we ate lunch, then headed back to the hotel to spend a rainy afternoon reading.
The Marriott has three restaurants on the premises, one of which is open for breakfast and the other two for dinner. Several more restaurants are within a block’s walk. We ate in the two on-site restaurants for the first two dinners, and had great meals both evenings. The third night we ordered room service, because my husband wasn’t doing well. But even the room service meal was good.
Then on our way home, we stopped in Nebraska City for lunch at Lied Lodge. It was as lovely a setting as we remembered, and we ate well again.
It is not easy to travel with a disability. Managing in strange places is more difficult than following an established routine at home. My advice is plan ahead, don’t over-schedule your activities, and save plenty of time for meals and rest.
With these caveats, travel is possible. We coped, and we satisfied our need for a change of scenery. And for three days, I didn’t have to cook. Now we’re home, unpacked, and decompressed.
When have you needed a getaway, and what did you do?
