Rim Country Museum and Zane Grey Cabin

  This is a nicely done little museum covering the history of the area around Payson, AZ. An additional building, the Zane Grey Cabin, is a replica of the cabin where Grey stayed for a few weeks every year  while working on his novels and hunting with friends. Grey abandoned the original cabin in 1930 after a dispute over hunting licenses. It was restored in 1966 but burned in the 1990 Dude forest fire. I’ve never read any of Zane Grey’s books but I found a free download on Amazon for “Riders of the Purple Sage” so I’m going to give it a try.
       
  Visitors can choose to visit one or both buildings. They’re shown by guided tour only but if you wish to spend more time a volunteer will be happy to accommodate you.

The museum is located in a pretty little park which has a 1/2 mile paved walking trail circling a small lake. The lake is filled with treated waste water and stocked with fish. Sounds appetizing. :- D

   The cabin is accessible and the first floor of the museum are accessible. The second floor is accessed by a stair lift which I don’t like so we skipped it. The trail around the lake is accessible and there’s an accessible fishing dock.

  RVs can be parked lengthwise across the parking spaces.
Museum    34.23265, -111.34436 

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial - Arch and Museum

  This thing is huge! Even though the tram ride to the top is not accessible just viewing it from the outside is pretty awesome. A museum and a couple of theaters are located underground at the base of the monument.

  The site has some other accessibility problems. The parking is in a garage (7’ max height) at the north end of the park, a good distance from the museum. A drop off point is located at the Old Cathedral. A long, down sloping ramp accesses the museum. A heavy door is located in the middle –not a problem when entering because it’s also the security check point so someone is always there to open it but on the way out, uphill without a landing, it’s difficult to open the door.

  Parking for RVs is located at the riverfront, south and north of the arch, well marked with large signs. There are several long flights of steps up the hill to the Arch or you can take the sidewalks along the roads at either end of the riverfront . The south end road may be less steep. Arch
38.61847, -90.18626
        
       

Free eBooks

    There are so many free eBooks! Many are public domain classics and first person narratives. It’s fun to read personal accounts from the correct time period when you’re visiting a historic site so I’m adding links on the blog posts when I find an appropriate book. I haven’t read most of them yet so they might be really awful! ; D

   The links all go to Amazon just because it’s so easy to load books onto a Kindle from Amazon but you can find the same books on Many Books or Project Gutenberg.

 Update - Many of the free Amazon books had broken links because the books were no longer free so I've switched a bunch over to Gutenberg. I'll probably just use Gutenberg in the future to solve this problem even though it makes loading the books onto a Kindle more cumbersome.

Vicksburg Battlefield Museum

   Free ebook from Amazon - Narrative of a Blockade-Runner

  If you really, really like models of ships, go to this museum. The ships are excellently constructed and there’s also a large battlefield diorama but not much of anything else.

   The parking lot has a good slope and the ramp to the entrance of the museum is uneven and a little too steep. The diorama and the informative plaques are hard to see from a seated position.

   The parking lot is shared with a motel and is large enough for all RVs.  Museum
   32.34583, -90.8444
 

Tuskegee Institute NHS - George Washington Carver Museum

 Free ebook from Gutenberg - Up from Slavery

  This museum showcases the two most famous men associated with the Tuskegee Institute, Booker T. Washington, the school’s founder, and George Washington Carver, agricultural researcher and professor who taught at the college for 47 years.

  The museum is accessible but getting to it from the parking areas is difficult. The main parking lots are behind The Oaks, Booker T. Washington’s house. The route to the museum crosses a busy street and includes some very steep sections – almost impossible to do without help. There’s also a small parking lot behind the museum which we didn’t check but the route on the map doesn’t look very easy either. The best solution for someone who uses a wheelchair or has difficulty walking would be to get dropped off at the museum entrance. The Oaks is accessible on the first floor only. It’s not opened for tours everyday so check for availability before you go.

  The lower parking lot behind The Oaks is large enough for any size RV. The upper lot is for cars only. Museum
32.4296, -85.70679
      
      

Civil War Naval Museum

  Free ebook from Amazon - The Monitor and the Merrimac

 The role of the navy in the Civil War is easily overlooked but it played an important part by blockading the southern ports and preventing the shipment of cotton out and much needed supplies back in. The museum has the remains of two Confederate ships that have been recovered after spending about 100 years sunk in the river. Full scale, partial reconstructions of three other Civil War ships are on display inside the museum and a complete reconstruction of another is located outside.

  Everything inside the museum is accessible but some backtracking is necessary to avoid steps. Reading all of the information on the story boards might cause some neck strain because they’re  positioned little high on the wall. The Water Witch, located outside, is not accessible due to a loose gravel path and steps to the deck of the ship.

   The parking lot is large enough for all RVs.  Museum
  32.44722, -84.98016
 
 

Andersonville National Historic Site

  Free ebook from Gutenberg - Andersonville

 Andersonville was the site of Camp Sumter, the worst of the worst Confederate prison camps. Almost 13,000 of the more than 45,000 Union prisoners who were confined here, died and were buried shoulder to shoulder in long trenches dug by fellow inmates. The historic site includes the cemetery, prison camp location and the National Prisoner of War Museum.

  Most of the museum is accessible. A few of the exhibits are a little too high to view easily. Some of the short film clips are hard to see because of the angle of the screen. The prison camp area, most of the informative signs and the cemetery can be viewed without leaving your vehicle. A free audio tour can be checked out at the museum information desk.

  The parking lot has long RV spaces. They’re in a lower level of the lot so it’s a bit of a push up the road to the museum entrance.  Historic Site
32.19805, -84.12703
        
       

E-Readers and Historic Sites

   An old chimney from a rice thresher is all that’s left of the Butler plantation. The two roadside signs are just enough to stir some interest and a little Googling yields a free book to download with a tale that won’t soon be forgotten. Pierce Butler married Fanny Kemble ,an English actress and soon afterwards inherited several plantations and a large number of slaves. Fanny was appalled at the inhuman and degrading treatment of the slaves which she witnessed firsthand when she visited the plantation over the winter of 1838-1839. Her journal from that time was published in 1863 and may have been partially responsible for England’s decision to not aid the south in the Civil War.  Project Gutenberg download - Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation by Fanny Kemble
   It’s surprising how many searches for more information lead to free books. A good place to start is Wikipedia especially the bibliography section. Once you find a title check Amazon ,Many Books and Project Gutenburg for a free download. I’ve downloaded many more than we’ve had time to read but a sampling includes Adventures of a Forty-niner , Andersonville, The Acadian Exiles, American Notes and Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America.

Kingsley Plantation

  Free ebook from Amazon - Slave Narratives from Florida

  Fort George Island was a Sea Island cotton plantation during the 25 years that it was owned by Zephaniah Kingsley. The plantation house, outbuildings and slave houses are still standing. Displays in some of the buildings and signs scattered around the grounds, give insight into the interesting story of this family and the slaves who lived and worked in the cotton fields.

 The site is partially accessible. The pathway is made from shredded rubber, a little spongy which requires some effort to push along.  The pathway goes to the main buildings. Many of the signs are off the path. The ground is uneven and hard to push along.

 A one lane sandy road leads to the plantation. The road is in good condition but people with large RVs may want to avoid it because of overhanging branches and the narrow width of the road. The parking lot is large enough for RVs.   Plantation
30.43894, -81.43748
 

Hampton Plantation State Historic Site

   Free ebook from Amazon - Slave Narratives From S.Carolina

  Hampton was a very large rice plantation. In 1850 over 200,000 pounds of rice were grown and harvested using the labor of hundreds of slaves. The house is not furnished so tours focus on the construction technics used in building the original smaller house and the additions that brought it to it’s present size. This park could use some more exhibits and other information about the family, the slave families, and rice cultivation in general.

  Nothing is accessible. A small bookstore where tickets for the house tour are sold has a ramp but has no information to make it worth visiting. The path to the house is composed of soft sand. The house has many steps to the entrance and no ramp.

 The parking area is large enough for RVs. The road in is a little narrow and winding. Park
33.20056, -79.43458

The Manitoba Museum

  Free ebook from Gutenberg- A Lady's Life on a Farm in Manitoba

 One of the galleries of this museum has a recreation of an English seaport with a full size replica of the Nonsuch. The original Nonsuch set sail from in England in 1668 to prove that it was possible to use the Hudson Bay water route in the fur trade. The success of the mission marked the beginning of the Hudson’s Bay Company. The replica was built in England in 1968 to celebrate the 300 year anniversary of the HBC. After sailing across the Atlantic, the boat was lifted in place and the building constructed around it.

  The museum’s other galleries lead visitors through the history of Manitoba from the formation of the earth to the arrival of large groups of European immigrants in the late 1800s. The building also houses a planetarium, a science gallery, and a special exhibits gallery all of which require an additional entrance fee.

  The museum is accessible expect for the Nonsuch which has a narrow gang plank and steps. The street of the seaport is very steep but there is a detour around it.

  Parking is available in the sandy lot across the street from the museum – $1.00 an hour. The lot isn’t marked with lines and is large enough for RVs if it’s not busy. Driving a large RV in the city is difficult so if possible use public transportation. Museum
49.90034, -97.13639

Dawson City Museum

  Free ebook from Amazon - The Great Gold Rush

  The museum focuses mainly on the gold rush but also covers a little about First Nations people and the region’s geology. Look for the mannequins in the displays – the faces are casts of local people with an accompanying story about their life in Dawson City. An interesting  movie, made in 1957, is shown in the theater.The annex next door houses train engines and other large equipment.

  The boardwalk sidewalk has a step up from the street – no ramp. A wheelchair lift could be deployed to sit directly on the boardwalk. The wheelchair entrance is in the back of the building with a good ramp to the door. The theater has movable seating. The annex building has a step at the entrance-no ramp.

  Parking is available along the street.  Museum
64.0571, -139.4353
   
  

Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park

  Free ebook from Amazon - A Woman who Went to Alaska

  In the early days of the gold rush adventurers traveled hundreds of miles by ship from Seattle, disembarked at either Skagway or Dyea and then packed 1,000 pounds of supplies over the Chilkoot Trail or White Pass. Both trails were grueling and only one third of the people who started the journey made it to the Dawson gold fields.

  The NPS visitor center has a small museum with wonderful pictures and a short movie that is well worth seeing. The Mascot Saloon and the Moore house and cabin also have historical displays. Ask for a walking tour map at the visitor center and take a mile long loop past the most historic buildings.

  Skagway is a typical tourist town and busy with cruise ships docking daily but the history is very interesting.The exteriors of many of the buildings on Skagway’s main street have been restored to their original colors and it never had a major fire so most are original to the early 1900s.

  All of the national park buildings are accessible. The seating for the movie has several spots for wheelchairs. The curb cuts, sidewalks and wooden boardwalks along the first part of the walking tour route are all in fairly good condition. The sidewalks in the second part are pretty rough so wheeling along the street is the easiest route-very little traffic.

  RVs are not permitted to park on Broadway in the main business section but there’s plenty of on-the-street parking on the side streets. Gold Rush
59.4538, -135.31902
      
      

Barkerville Historic Town

  Free ebook from Amazon - The Cariboo Trail

  In 1862 Billy Barker discovered gold in Williams Creek and started the Cariboo gold rush and the beginnings of Barkerville. Barkerville burnt to the ground in 1868 but was soon rebuilt. There are over 100 wood frame and log buildings in remarkable condition -some housing shops and restaurants, others that are small museums and many with opened doors so that you can peek in at the furnishings. A short history of each building and the occupants is posted.

   The site is not accessible although it is possible to see a lot of it with help. The obstacles are many, starting with a rutted uneven street with loose stones. Many of the buildings have steps only. The ramps are often hard to get to, do not meet the ground evenly and have steep sections. The one shop that we entered was very crowded with merchandise and impossible to navigate through.The ground floors of the museums are accessible with fairly easy to see exhibits. Admission for people in wheelchairs is greatly discounted – only $6.00 instead of the normal rate of $15.00.

  There’s a large lot for RVs.  Barkerville
  53.08701, -121.51153
         
          

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve-Acadian Cultural Center

  Free ebook from Gutenberg - The Acadian Exiles

 The center has  a very good movie about the expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia and a small museum about how they adapted to their new life in Louisiana, borrowing from other cultures to create the Cajun community of today.  Everything is handicapped accessible. The parking lot is large enough for RVs parked across the spaces plus there are a few long bus/RV spaces.  Cultural Center
30.21341, -91.99423
 

Louisiana State Museum

 
  Free ebook from Amazon - Strange True Stories of Louisiana

 A wonderful museum covering all aspects of Louisiana’s history and it’s unique blending of different cultures. We spent over three hours at the museum and didn’t see it all.

  The entire museum is handicapped accessible.

  We visited on a Saturday and parked a few blocks south in a lot on the corner of North 4th Street and Laurel Street. The lot is large enough for RVs. If your RV is big you may have to pay for two spaces – $5.00 a day for each space. There are many spaces on the street but parking is limited to 2 hours – $.50 an hour. The sidewalks and curb cuts are good.The museum doesn’t have a sign that is visible from the street but look for the state library. The museum is directly across the street from the library.
Museum
30.45388, -91.18672

Mardi Gras Mobile

  Free novel from Amazon- Mardi Gras Mystery

 We’ve never gone to Mardi Gras in New Orleans but this is our third time for Mobile, Alabama. The atmosphere is laid backed, family oriented with little rowdiness. The floats are fantastic and we get more beads and moon pies than we could possibly want.

   We go the weekend before Fat Tuesday and park in the center of the parade route. The streets are closed about 1/2 hour before a parade starts and they open back up about 1/2 after the parade ends so we’re barricaded in for a short time. Since we stay all day and go to both the early afternoon and evening parades, being locked in isn’t a problem and we have the motorhome to hang out in and eat lunch and dinner. The sidewalks are in very bad condition but since the streets are closed it’s possible to just wheel down the streets. We have a choice of viewing spots because we’re in the middle of  a parade loop.

  We park in a grass and gravel lot by the Church Street Cemetery. We’re not sure who owns the lot - the cemetery, the city, or Big Zion Church but it’s never crowded and usually quiet.

   Map of the parade route. Arrow pointing to the lot. We usually watch the parades on Washington Street. Mardi Gras
30.68572, -88.05135
 
 

De Soto National Memorial

  Free ebook from Gutenberg - De Soto's Expedition into Florida

 Hernando de Soto and over 600 men landed in Tampa Bay in 1539. The expedition’s purpose was to search for gold and a route to China. They wandered for three years, ranging as far north as North Carolina and as far west as Texas before De Soto died of a fever. The remaining men, about half of the original group,  gave up the search and eventually made it to Mexico City.

  The park has a visitor’s center with a very good , short movie of the expedition. There are a few palm buildings and demonstrations on the grounds.  There’s a 3/4 mile loop nature trail with historic signs; life size figures of Indians and Spaniards; and nice views of the bay.  The site is pretty much accessible with paved paths but there are a few steep, sandy areas. The trail is good . hard packed sand and crushed shell but the path down to it is a little steep. There’s also a steep ramp off of a section of broadwalk.

   Parking is limited and may be full on weekends. RVs should be parked parallel to the road and watch for low hanging branches.  De Soto Memorial
27.52224, -82.64469
 
      

Titanic The Experience

   Free ebook from Gutenberg - Sinking of the Titanic

  The museum has a full scale model of one level of the Titanic staircase, part of a stateroom and the dining room, many artifacts from the Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic, and small pieces of the Titanic itself. A tour guide dressed in period clothing takes visitors through most of the exhibits and gives short historical talks in each room,which include the engine room, the bridge, cargo hold and hallways.

  Everything is accessible. There’s a large parking lot for RVs behind the building.

  Neither of us thought that this museum was worth the full price ($23.00) so use your Entertainment coupon. I liked it more than Tony did but we both agree that we’ve seen better Titanic exhibits at other museums.
Titanic Experience
28.45514, -81.47155

Edison and Ford Winter Estates

 Free ebooks from Gutenberg - Ford     Edison

This site is very handicapped accessible with a few exceptions. I didn’t notice any handicapped parking spaces close to the entrance and museum buildings but I may have missed them. There were a few at the farthest lot which wasn’t a long distance away. There were signs for RV parking but we couldn’t find the lot. Fortunately our motorhome is small enough that we could park in the regular lots.

The museum /ticket office front entrance has steps so the wheelchair entrance is at the museum exit. I didn’t notice if this was an easy to open door because somebody was kind enough to hold it opened for us. Once inside you must thread your way through the museum to the front desk – a little hard when it’s busy. The displays in the museum are low enough that I could see them but a few of the cases may be a little high for some people to view easily.

After purchasing tickets we had a choice of taking a guided tour or going on our own using hand held wands with recorded messages. Everyone gets a wand so if you chose the guided tour you are free to also explore on your own. We started with a guided tour but our group was large and we ended up in the back where we couldn’t see or hear well so we decided to wander around on our own.
The estates are across the street from the museum. There’s a crosswalk with a stop light but the amount of time that it stays red is short, about 40 seconds.

The main paths are hard packed sand and shell – fairly easy rolling. All of the major buildings have good ramps. The buildings aren’t opened for touring but the doors are all opened allowing viewing of the interiors through plexiglas. The plexiglas only extends partway up. Standing people can see over the top, people in wheelchairs get a lot of glare.

All in all they’ve done a pretty good job making the estates accessible. Edison and Ford Estates
26.63449, -81.87784