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Showing posts from March, 2025

Meeting Butler County, Ohio

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I was invited to spend a long weekend in Butler County, Ohio, just after they became Wheel The World certified for accessibility. The tourism board wanted me to write about how wheelchair accessible the region is. I hadn’t been there before, and it sounded like an interesting area, so I made plans to go. My trip to Butler County turned out to be one of my most unusual adventures, with new experiences, and a lot of donuts!   I brought Teddy and my friend, Heather, along for the ride, about three and a half hours from home. We had a nice welcome basket waiting for us at the hotel. Our home base was the Marriott Cincinnati North in Westerville. I was happy at the start with a flat entrance and automatic doors. They didn’t have any accessible rooms, so we had two connecting rooms. Teddy loved going back and forth between the two rooms. Mine had plenty of space for me to wheel around, a well-equipped desk area I could reach, and a large bathroom with a shower chair. The handheld was...
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Bourbon & Beyond 2024-Day Two

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After all the problems with hotels the day before, we were settled into the Tru Hilton in Louisville and getting ready for a busy day at Bourbon & Beyond. I had made appointments between all the music. I was looking forward to it all. My brother, Mark, suggested lunch at Waffle House. He said it was on his bucket list. I hadn’t been in years and I’m never one to turn down waffles. It was actually very good, with big portions and reasonable prices.   We had no problem parking in the handicapped area and made it onto the grounds in time to pick up coffee in the press tent and watch Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, followed by Bruce Hornsby. It was a good way to start this bright day. We then headed to the Big Bourbon Tent. We arrived a little early for our appointment with Tyler Rothenberg of Chicken Cock Bourbon and enjoyed the bluegrass while we waited. Tyler set us up with the two cocktails made especially for Bourbon & Beyond :    Wildflower in Paris - C...
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Location: Louisville, KY, USA
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Bourbon & Beyond 2024-Day One

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The first year of Bourbon & Beyond  in Louisville, Kentucky, had been wonderful, albeit ridiculously hot. The music, food, and bourbon were fantastic, and I was able to do many interviews for stories. When I left Bourbon & Beyond the second year, it was in a muddy mess. The torrential rains in the hours before the end of day three left the long trip to the parking lot in my walker extremely difficult. Had I been in a wheelchair then, I would have been one of the people stuck for hours in the mud. With the memories of 2018, followed by the event being skipped because of COVID, I didn’t think I’d return. Then my brother, Mark, brought it up.   Mark lives in California and we don’t get a lot of time together so it gave me a pause. Then, there was a lineup filled with performers I really wanted to see, such as Sting, Dave Matthews, Beck, Melissa Etheridge, and Larkin Poe , whom I had interviewed at the first Bourbon & Beyond. My first step was to contact the media ...
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Location: Louisville, KY, USA
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