Visiting Wheelchair Accessible Morgan Hill, California

 

It’s been a busy California filled year for me as that state is making big strides in accessibility. My first trip of the year involved three locations. I had the pleasure of sharing each town with different family members.

This first story from that trip is on a place I had never heard of before it was suggested to me. Morgan Hill turned out to be a town that is not only accessible, but it’s welcoming and full of fabulous art and delicious food.

My brother, Mark, and I arrived in Morgan Hill in time for lunch at Cochi’s Kitchen. It’s a small shop with big recommendations. They are deserving. Cochi’s sells breakfast bowls, sandwiches, and salads.

Mark had the special, the Cluck Norris Sando, with buttermilk fried chicken, honey mustard slaw, Cochi Sauce, and pickles, served on a garlic butter bun. I had the brisket sandwich with barbecue sauce. Our food was delicious and the sandwiches were so big we couldn’t finish them.

After lunch, I was able to go to my first Magical Bridge playground. There are currently 13 around the country and each one embraces accessibility. The concept was started in Palo Alto, by Olenka Villarreal. She couldn’t find a place to take her two daughters, Ava, born with disabilities, and older sister Emma. She raised funds and made the world’s first multigenerational playground designed for all abilities and all ages.

In keeping with the format of every Magical Bridge playground, Morgan Hill’s is divided into grouped play experiences. The Play Zones introduce space for creativity and imagination, essential movement, quiet reflection, group play, and non-verbal expression.

 

It was nice for me to wheel around without any barriers and watch all the smiles among the kids playing with each other. Of course, I had to check on the restroom. The bathroom at Magic Bridge is as accessible as you’d expect it to be.

After Magic Bridge, we checked into the Holiday Inn. We had a large accessible room, with a queen bed and a pullout couch. I really liked the bathroom as it had a bathtub with a chair. I can still get into a tub if it is low and has a chair and railings, so it’s a treat for me. The bathroom also had towel shelves that I could reach from the wheelchair.

I put my feet up for a while before we went to downtown Morgan Hill for dinner. It was suggested we go to Rosy’s on the Beach. I loved the décor and we enjoyed the cocktails, but after looking at the menu, we decided to go somewhere else. 

The menu was 95% seafood and I am highly allergic. Even the waiter told us to go when I mentioned my allergy.

We took a walk (and roll for me) down the street. There is no shortage of restaurants in Morgan Hill. We decided on Noah’s Bar & Bistro. The menu looked good and the place relaxing. 

It was an excellent choice. I had the Sausage Penne Pasta, which was flavorful without being too spicy. Mark also picked a great dish, the Pan Seared Mahi Mahi.

As tempting as it was to check out more of Morgan Hill, I was exhausted and we had another full day coming up. We went back to the Holiday Inn to rest.

Welcome to Ageless Accessible Adventures

 

It was 17 years ago this month that I went to France on my first press trip. I was there to write about the combination of Cognac and travel. I fell in love with the idea and came home thinking about how I could continue in this world. 

In January 2010, I launched Wine And Spirits Travel, the blog that would continue to take me around the world, sampling, visiting wineries and distilleries, and learning about the destinations they came from. I enjoyed all of it and was able to bring friends and family along. 

I've dealt with progressive autoimmune issues since 2015 and things changed. I no longer was able to do two to three trips per month. Drinking alcohol became less frequent and doing it for hours a day did not mix well with my medication. I started organizing up my trips to fit my changes. 

Although things have been different, it's all been under the Spiritstraveler and Wine And Spirits Travel umbrella, but in the last few years, as I evolved as a full-time wheelchair user, things changed again. I've wanted to be an advocate for other disabled travelers.

This has especially been put forward this year. I saw a study by TravelAbility about all the aging Baby Boomers who are looking for accessible travel. Over four million of them will be turning 65 this year. I am one. 

A lot has been accomplished in the world of accessibility since my parents traveled. I know there is still a long way to go in making the travel world more accessible. I'm taking one more step by rebranding this blog to Ageless Accessible Adventures. The concentration will be on accessibility for all, with helpful information and only pertinent advertisers. 

Please join me on this journey.

 Marcia Frost

Ironworks is Much More Than a Your Usual Hotel

I needed to make two trips to Indianapolis when I was dealing with the IPhone debacle. The mall where Apple is located is not near the downtown area I am used to in the city. It’s also about two hours from my house, making it a long roundtrip to do in a day.

On my first trip there with my friend, Amanda, I noticed Ironworks Hotel when we got off the highway. It was a hotel I had wanted to go to for a while. I arranged an overnight stay for my next trip to Apple.

Ironworks is located in the Keystone complex. It’s filled with businesses and restaurants. Since it was a Sunday, most of them were closed and we decided to eat before we went there.

It doesn’t take much to convince me to go to Cheesecake Factory—we don’t have one at home. Amanda took the waitress’ recommendation and ordered the fish tacos. I’m someone who loves to try different things, but I always get the same dish at Cheesecake Factory. It’s because it’s so unusual and something I don’t have anywhere else.

The Soft Corn Tamale Cakes consist of three polenta cakes, topped with sour cream, avocado, and two types of salsas. It’s actually considered an appetizer, but I can rarely finish it as my full meal. I did this and we had to take the cheesecakes to go for a snack later.

We then headed to the Ironworks Hotel. I knew it was special as I had been to its sister property nearer to downtown Indianapolis, Bottleworks. They are both part of the Geronimo portfolio.

Ironworks is the only boutique hotel in that area. It’s luxurious while maintaining a casual atmosphere. I am not the only one who feels that way. Ironworks has received a Michelin Key, AAA Four Diamond Award, and TripAdvisor’s Best of the Best Award.

The hotel’s design is a dedication to the industrial period, which is even shown in the black and white photograph in the elevator. Their theme is work hard and play hard and Ironworks makes it all easy.

It’s always nice to get a suite, but it’s been a rarity since I’ve needed a wheelchair accessible room. We had one at Ironwood. It was huge and as unique as the hotel. It was styled as a loft, in a corner, filled with windows, and a television that could be accessed from the bedroom and the living room.

The room also had a large, wheelchair accessible bathroom. The walk-in shower was bigger than most, and they had the hose easy to reach by the chair, but not the shampoo and conditioner (something I encounter a lot). The closet had lowered bars, and we found two comfortable robes in there too.

Teddy came along on this trip. The hotel accommodates dogs and left him two bowls, one with bottles of water and the other with a bag of treats with an Ironwoods bandana! He wasn’t the only one. We had a welcome basket with wine, chocolates, water, and snacks. It was not just any wine, but a Grateful Dead Anniversary edition of Gnarly Red.

 

Before we left in the morning, we ordered breakfast from Rize, which was right downstairs. The breakfast sandwiches were large and went well with the lobby coffee, which even has an assortment of flavored syrups and milks.

 

 

I was hosted for this stay, but opinions are my own.

More Treats for Butler County Finish

Teddy and I, along with my friend Heather, were finishing our long weekend in Butler County, Ohio. We had discovered plenty of wheelchair accessible activities while more than satisfying my sweet tooth.

We checked out of the Marriott Cincinnati North. It had been an ideal base for all the places we went around the county.

 The Donut Trail is a popular part of Butler County. We had managed to stop at about a half dozen of the shops. On our last morning, it was Jupiter Coffee & Donuts in Fairfield. This place has been mentioned in USAToday10Best. They are known for their Red Storm donut. It is raspberry-filled and has cream cheese frosting, with a swirl of red raspberry on top.

As much as I am a Buckeye donut fan, this one had me on the first bite. It was delicious. We had some coffee and they insisted we leave with a box of donuts.

 
Our next stop was a place I had been curious about for years. Jungle Jim’s International Market turned out to be nothing like I expected it to be. I thought it would be something similar to Sam’s Club or Costco, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I didn’t see big box items at Jungle Jim’s, but they had just about everything else you could think of.

The first thing to surprise me at Jungle Jim’s was the number of departments and businesses they have. They have a Graeter’s Ice Cream Shop and a Starbucks, and their own radio station, WJJI. They also have their own cooking school.

 While many superstores tend to appeal to families, this one had lots to bring in adults. The liquor store could only be described as tremendous. It includes a bar with frozen cocktails and wine tastings—they have the biggest selection of wine I have ever seen in one place.

When we were there, they were sampling THC drinks. This was across from something else I didn’t expect a cigar shop.

 

Before we left, we checked out the most unusual bathroom entrance anywhere. It looks like a port a potty. Once you open the door, you’ll see it is huge and very wheelchair accessible. We then stopped at the deli department. It was filled with sandwiches and fresh salads, the latter of which we purchased as we needed something healthy after our previous stop and before our next one.

We left Jungle Jim’s and started the drive home but first made a stop back in West Chester to The Cone. This ice cream shop is small on the inside, with enough offerings to make it extremely hard to decide what to get. They also had seating outside and rides for young kids.

 

Heather and I went with the state’s popular combo, Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Sundaes. Teddy enjoyed his vanilla pup cup with a small bone on top. It was a perfect Sunday ending for our accessible Butler County adventure.

I was hosted on this trip by Butler County, but opinions are my own.

A Fun & Delicious Day in Butler County-Part One

I almost always use this blog for a story representing each day of a trip. The idea is to be able to talk about all the little things I don’t have a chance to put in published stories. Sometimes I need to break with tradition, and this trip was one of those exceptions. We had so many things to do, and I have so many photos, on day two that it deserves two blogs!

One of the things I was told about Butler County before I arrived was that they have a Donut Trail. I’ve never been one to shy away from baked goods so this sounded like a scrumptious addition to the weekend.

Heather, Teddy, and I got started with the trail first thing Saturday morning at Holtman’s Donuts in West Chester, just a few miles from the Marriott we were staying at. It became instantly apparent that this was going to be a challenge and I wasn’t backing down. The crew at Holtman’s was waiting for us with a box of donuts.

I asked them, as I did on all the following stops, what their most unusual and popular donuts were. The unusual ones were Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops, and the popular ones are Maple Bacon and Buckeye.

For those who aren’t familiar with Ohio’s Buckeyes, in addition to being the name of Ohio State’s athletic teams, Buckeyes are chocolates filled with peanut butter. These are two of my favorites, so I was looking forward to trying it at a few separate places. As for Heather, she declared the Maple Bacon here the winner as it wasn’t just specks of bacon but included actual slices.

We then headed to Hamilton. We had most of the day planned for there with another donut stop first. It was about 11:00 am when we got to Kelly’s Donuts and they were almost sold out. Fortunately, they had put some donuts aside for us. They were all good, but I declared the Buckeye there the best I’ve had and that record still stands.

 

The next stop in Hamilton was at Pyramid Hills Sculpture Park. It is a must see when you are in the area. We only had an hour, and it wasn’t enough to see the extensive sculpture collection throughout the 470 acres of woodlands.

We got a golf cart to go in around in and see as much as possible before going inside the Ancient Sculpture Museum, funded by Attorney Howard T. Wilks. It was a contrast to the modern sculptures throughout the park. The collection was full of one-of-a-kind options.

 

Pyramid Hill was wheelchair accessible throughout, with exception of two steps to get into the Visitor’s Center. Someone came out while I waited by the steps and apologized, saying they were working on getting a ramp.

From the park we went to downtown Hamilton to visit Inside Out Studio. Not unlike the park, the area was a mixture of history and modern murals. We were also heading to another spot about art.

 

The mission of Inside Out Studio is to “provide an opportunity for artists with disabilities to produce, market, and receive an income from their art, while gaining confidence in their abilities.” The back of the building contains a large area with tons of supplies for the creation.

The front is the store where you can purchase these items. You’ll find all types of things for sale, from jewelry to home goods. The quality was all good and you could tell a lot of creativity went into making them.

It was time for lunch after Inside Out Studio. I would like to say we had something healthy after our donut breakfast, but Jolly’s Drive In was a staple in the area on our schedule. The menu is not very big, but everything on it was. The options were hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn, fries, and onion rings.

We pretty much ordered one of everything at Jolly’s. We also had to have their famous root beer. I am generally not a soda drinker, but I do like a good root beer. I would definitely put theirs in this category.

 

The next activity on our schedule was back in West Chester, so we hit the road for the second half of the day.