vacation ideas for someone with limited mobility?

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
so, my best friend and I go on vacation together every year... I'm trying to plan out our vacation for this year, but I've got a special consideration to make -- my friend was in an accident a couple months ago and since the accident, her mobility is a little limited. she's not in a wheel chair or anything, but she can walk for an hour tops before she's physically exhausted.

our last trip together was to Montreal last summer and it involved pretty much non-stop walking everywhere, so now I'm trying to think of especially car-friendly cities.

my preferences:

-somewhere that's cooler than NJ in the summer
-enough to see/do to last a week
-not a cruise
-under $1000/person

any suggestions?
 

Sukhoi

Elite Member
Dec 5, 1999
15,341
102
106
Utah national park circle. Almost all the parks have a bunch of viewpoints that require short easy walks.

Oh, not in the summer hah, but could you do it in the fall?
 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,541
5,586
146
The Pacific Northwest is cooler. You could spend a week easy in Western Washington/Oregon.
 

Texashiker

Lifer
Dec 18, 2010
18,811
197
106
State park for a camping / fishing?

Depending on the parks in your area, there could be a lot to do. Anywhere from renting a canoe for a couple of hours to fishing.
 

LookBehindYou

Platinum Member
Dec 23, 2010
2,412
1
81
Gatlinburg, TN (would still be hot)
Seattle (was there last summer for a wedding, TONS of stuff to do, even got to see killer whales)
 

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
Seattle (was there last summer for a wedding, TONS of stuff to do, even got to see killer whales)

Seattle was one place we were thinking of even before the accident... what's the city like as far as having to walk everywhere, though?
 

lupi

Lifer
Apr 8, 2001
32,539
260
126
A minimal walking requirement bombs about everything I'd think of off the top of the head. Only thing that comes to mind would maybe be something like an upper midwest camping adventure, stopping at yellowstone, the black hills and such for a couple days each as you could do a decent amount of site seeing by vehicle then hang around camp for the evenings.
 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,541
5,586
146
they have a decent transit system. Use that for a few days and rent a car for a few for trips out to see the mountains, the San Juans, etc.
 

bobdole369

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2004
4,504
2
0
Gatlinburg seconded. You can get to anywhere in the SMNP in a car just about. (that is minus the crazy hiking trails everywhere, but the main attractions and features in the park are all ADA and minimal walking.) Gatlinburg is a massive car-friendly strip with just about everything under the sun right there with its own parking lot.
 

zzuupp

Lifer
Jul 6, 2008
14,865
2,319
126
Seattle was one place we were thinking of even before the accident... what's the city like as far as having to walk everywhere, though?

it relatively hilly. it can be steep in places. The nice thing is that during the week there's a downtown free zone on the busses.
 

Sukhoi

Elite Member
Dec 5, 1999
15,341
102
106
Yellowstone isn't a bad idea. There's a road built directly to everything worth seeing in that park. The Tetons have great views from the road as well.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
58,522
8,800
126
Go where you want to, and rent a wheelchair. You can push your friend, and in exchange, she can hold the packages.
 

MovingTarget

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2003
9,002
115
106
Honestly, pretty much any city in the US. Most of our major cities were built/expanded so as to make it easy to access most things directly by car.
 

Perknose

Forum Director & Omnipotent Overlord
Forum Director
Oct 9, 1999
46,674
10,114
146
Go where you want to, and rent a wheelchair. You can push your friend, and in exchange, she can hold the packages.

If she'd be ok with this, I think the idea is brilliant. Take a bike lock with. Or use her "disability" to get preferential treatment at just about every establishment you go into!
 

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
Honestly, pretty much any city in the US. Most of our major cities were built/expanded so as to make it easy to access most things directly by car.
much as I joke about taking her to Disney World and getting to skip all the lines, I don't think she'd go for it.

my latest idea, which I'm going to run past her, is a road trip to Detroit :awe:

we could do a 1-way car rental, drive from NJ -> Cleveland, stay a day or two there, drive from Cleveland -> Detroit, stay a day or two, drive from Detroit -> Grand Rapids (because I want to visit the Gerald Ford museum) and then fly back to NJ.
 

K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
49,951
40,807
136
:
we could do a 1-way car rental, drive from NJ -> Cleveland, stay a day or two there, drive from Cleveland -> Detroit, stay a day or two, drive from Detroit -> Grand Rapids (because I want to visit the Gerald Ford museum) and then fly back to NJ.

A vacation from NJ to Cleveland and Detroit......
 

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
A vacation from NJ to Cleveland and Detroit......
I'm a bit indifferent towards Cleveland, but it seems like a night there would break up the drive and we can see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or something.

NJ -> State College (stop for lunch, show my best friend where I went to college) = 3 hours
State College -> Cleveland = 4 hours
Cleveland -> Canton (William McKinley Presidential Museum) -> Detroit = 4 hours
Detroit -> Grand Rapids = 3 hours