A Wheelchair Friendly 24 Hours in Lincoln, Nebraska

I am trying to visit some states I haven’t been to since I was a kid. On that short list in the Midwest was Nebraska.

I worked with Visit Nebraska to put together an itinerary for some of the state’s highlights. Along with my friends and helpers, Amanda and Heather, we headed on the road trip. My service dog, Teddy, came along with us.

 

Our first stop was Lincoln, and our schedule was full since we were only staying in that city for about 24 hours. We started with lunch at Lazlo’s Brewery & Grill. It is in the popular Haymarket neighborhood.

Lazlo’s has its brewery, Empyrean Brewing, right inside the building for a selection of brews. None of us are big beer drinkers, and we had a full day ahead of us. We were excited about their mocktail menu.

 

The Cucumber Mint Drops and Mango Sunrise were full of flavor, and we enjoyed them with our sandwiches and chicken. They describe the food as “comfort food with contemporary flare” and I must agree.

Next on the agenda was Sunken Gardens. This isn’t just a garden, it’s a statement landscape that changes with the season, and it’s fully accessible to all. It is filled with over 30,000 annual flowers, and sculptures, all done by the Parks and Recreation Department in Lincoln.

 

After the gardens, we went to The Sheldon Museum of Art, on the campus of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. I go to a lot of art museums when traveling and always appreciate them. This one offered wide open areas to wheel around and tons of exhibits to see.

Their collection of American art is huge. I was especially interested in the works of some of my favorite contemporary artists, Andy Warhol, Edward Hopper, and Georgia O’Keefe. It is definitely a place to which I would return.

 

After the museum, we went to the hotel to check in. We stayed at the Drury Inn Lincoln right in downtown. We had an ADA accessible room with two queen beds, and a love seat. The closet had lowered bars to make hanging clothes easier from the wheelchair.

The bathroom was large enough to turn around in my wheelchair. It had a low bathtub with grab bars all around, which works well for me. The room also had a refrigerator and a microwave.

 

Our itinerary had Screamers Family Restaurant, but when we arrived at the address, we found out they had moved to a new location. We headed over to that building, mot sure what to expect when we saw a sign that read “Showstoppers Family Dining and Entertainment.”

It turned out to be the same place we were looking for, and we were so glad we followed the trail. It was a ton of fun, with singing waitresses, sometimes bringing in children from the audience. (There is a video on my YouTube.)

 

Showstoppers has lots of space to wheel around and an accessible bathroom. The food was also fantastic. Amanda had Salmon and Heather and I had the meatloaf. The desserts looked amazing and tasted even better than they looked.

We went back to the room and were all asleep fairly quickly, especially Teddy. In the morning, we had breakfast at the Drury Inn, which is included for everyone. We were then off to our next stop: Omaha, Nebraska.