New York by Wheelchair

Flickr image by man pikin

Just back from the promised trip to New York for my high school graduate niece--previous post 6/5.  We had a great time.  Our hotel, Four Points Sheraton Midtown Times Square lived up to its promise of a wheelchair accessible room with roll in shower.  We were within easy walking distance to great restaurants and Times Square and the theatre district and Rockerfeller Center.   New York isn't great for wheelchair accessibility, especially restaurants and some shopping.  Nice people helped us into the restaurants, many of which had a step into them.  Ashley uses a manual wheelchair.  It would have been a lot harder for someone in a motorized wheelchair.
The highlight of the trip was a guided tour by Family In New York.  I found it on the internet and we had a big, tasty bite of the Big Apple.  We especially enjoyed Central Park and the Staten Island Ferry, but we were out for a full nine hours.  As a bonus, we learned how to get around by subway, bus, and cab.
And where did we go?  Greenwich Village for one.  Do you know what's on the corner of Bedford and Grove in Greenwich Village?  I didn't have a clue, but Ashley knew--the apartment building featured in the Friends TV series.  We saw it and explored Washington Square Park--another Friends haunt--on a sunny, Sunday evening when we could even imagine ourselves living in New York.
Ashley and I were amused because I'm usually mistaken for her grandmother, but on this trip I was twice identified as 'Mom'.  Either she's looking older or I'm looking younger.
My sister and her daughter came with us.  Lately, I've traveled with people my own age.  Going with these young people helped us get our money's worth big time.  After that nine hour tour, I might have chosen to hole up in bed with room service and a book.  The girls got us up and going to a distant--we now knew how to use the subway--restaurant, and we had a late night jaunt to Times Square.