Trip to Washington, DC

Hey everyone! 

I hope you are having a great week and are healthy and strong. 

So I went on a little mini vacation with my dad and brother last week and it was really really fun. We went to one of my absolute favorite places to go to in the United States. We went to Washington DC, the Capital of our nation. I do not necessarily agree with all the politicians choices', but I can enjoy and marvel in the roots our great nation.

Let me also start by saying how much I absolutely love visiting the Monuments and Smithsonian museums. No matter how many time I go to visit, every time I return there, I always learn and discover something new and exciting and I love that. We were in the city for two and a half days and visited the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the WWII Memorial, The White House, The Smithsonian Natural History Museum, and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. I love how for us who are in wheelchairs there is an elevator so we can get inside the Lincoln Memorial and be at the top of the steps! My dad ALWAYS gets nervous and says "Don't get to close to the edge Noah!". It's funny how after 21 years he still feels the need to tell me these things. I know however he only does it because he cares.

One of the other aspects of DC that I love is how it is completely handicapped accessible. The reason I feel the need to say this is because you would be surprised (or at least I was) at how many places aren't that accessible. Luckily in this day and age, rules and regulations are changing but I just love how accessible DC is and totally recommend it for a wheelchair user. Everything from public transportation to accessible sidewalks are perfect for OIers.

One of the things that struck me, and you would think at age 21 I would be used to this by now, is how many people just stared at me. When I say stared, I mean STARED. Usually I can ignore the glares but for some reason when you are on vacation you just do not want to deal with the ignorant people. One thing I can somewhat laugh at is when I was crossing one of the streets in center city DC and a tourist bus went by and literally every person on the bus stared at me as they passed me. It's astonishing to see how far someone will turn their head to get a "rare" look at someone in a wheelchair. How do you guys deal with people who will say nothing and just stare at you? After the first day in DC, I refused to let the glares bring me down. I did my best to hold my head high as all OIers and people who have a disability should.

So all in all I had a really marvelous time and totally recommend it for anyone who hasn't been there yet! Please feel free to add a comment or share this blog. Come back next week when I will talk about one of my [many] near death experiences. It without a doubt changed my life forever and I look forward to sharing it with you all. Thanks again!

Until Next Time,

Noah Cook