Seasonal fun accessibility date.

Seasonal Fun Accessibility Date with Krissy and Jordin.

In honor of the fall season and all the fun activities it inspires, my roommate and I decided to go on an accessibility date. We wanted to see if our favorite places to go during the fall were handicap accessible.

The first place we thought of was a pumpkin patch, who doesn't like to pick out their own pumpkin or go through a spooky corn maze during the Halloween season? I called around to many different places in attempt to find one that was handicap accessible. Cagles dairy farm came to the rescue by saying everything but the hay ride was accessible. However, I’m not sure they knew the meaning of handicap accessible.

Upon arrival, we found that there was a gravel road and makeshift parking lot with no priority parking. this led to a profound lack of comfortably for both myself, my date and my car.

Along with the parking lot, the majority of the farm was gravel and uneven ground.

The bathrooms were small, cramped, and inaccessible to those with wheelchairs. however, the sinks were set low, as were the paper towels and soap dispensers.

After entering the pumpkin patch, we quickly realized that there were very few people around to help, some of the best pumpkins were on a shelf too high for anyone under 7 feet to reach and the ground was patchy grass and dirt.

The pumpkin patch itself was uneven but easily navigable land. After choosing our pumpkins, we decided to hit up the corn maze, unfortunately that too was inaccessible to those with physical handicaps.

After leaving the pumpkin patch, we decided to go to our favorite bar and pizza place to see how accessible that may be. Upon arrival, I quickly realized that in order to park, we had to go across the street, luckily, this lot had 3 spots available and ramps for getting over the curbs. As we approached the front door I realized that the entire front entrance was a ramp and the front door was wide enough for most wheelchairs to fit through.

Walking through the bar to a nice booth seat, i noticed all of the tables (except for the bar and some lifted booths) were handicap accessible and the waitress was more than happy to help us to our normal table. The pizza place was slightly crowded but we also decided to go to Atlanta during the Pride festival, so we already accepted there was going to be some crowding and sensory stimulation. Luckily for us though, the noise levels weren't too high to where we would be uncomfortable

After looking around, i discovered that the bathroom doors were not as accessible as i originally believed. the hallway was cramped and there were a lot of things in the way of the doorway entrance. however, the doors were very lightweight and they pushed in.

Another problem i found was that the bathroom signs were not in braille so that would make it difficult for someone with eyesight problems to find the proper bathroom.

 Some positive things however, was that the bathroom was very roomy, the sinks were set lower and there was even a separate hand sanitizer station that was set lower to the ground for the ease of those in wheelchairs.

After the pizza place, we decided to go back home, only to find out that my house was less than accessible, i had a 6 inch lift to get to the front door, a staircase and another 6 inch lift from the ground to enter the back yard.

Accessibility: Although we were told both places were accessible, we found that the only place we could go to with no trouble was rocky mountain pizza company. The pumpkin patch and my house were inaccessible to those with physical disabilities due to the uneven ground at the patch and the stairs and lifts at my house.

Activity: There was a lot of activity going on at every place we went to, the pumpkin patch was doing tours, hay rides and offering pumpkins and freshly baked pies. The bar/pizza place we went to was loud and had a lot going on due to the time we chose to go down there (during Pride festival). However, none of the activity was impairing our ability to hear each other or make either of us feel uncomfortable.

Comfort: Going down the gravel road at the pumpkin patch was slightly uncomfortable, as was the terrain at times, there was not much seating offered and the employees were not being unhelpful but they were being overworked and were unable to answer all of my questions. After going to the pizza place, we found a table easily that was accessible and lower to the ground, the waitress was more than willing to answer our questions, the place was easily accessible with little crowding by our table and the noise levels weren't too loud.

Legibility: Both the pumpkin patch and the pizza place were bad when it came to bathroom legibility. however, when it came to finding the places, the pumpkin patch had signs up for everything from where it was located to where they wanted us to park, from there, the signs for ticket sales, food and activities were in large print and easily read. The pizza place had smaller print on the menus and if you didn't know where you were going, you would probably miss it entirely.

Sociability: In both places, there was a lot of room for sociability, Naturally, the bar/pizza place allowed for a lot of different social interactions. The pumpkin patch offered a lot of interesting talking points as well, such as the funny shaped vegetables, the awkwardly placed bathrooms and the general excitement in the air due to the fall season and perfect weather.

Meaning: The pumpkin patch was definitely a nostalgic place to go to. This place in particular, my date suggested we go to. He had been there on a field trip in elementary school and wanted to see if it was the same. As we walked around, I listened as he spoke fondly of memories from his childhood in the fall. The reason we chose the bar/pizza place is because it held a very special place in our life, in other words, we are known as regulars there. All in all, both places had a fantastic feeling and fond memories.