American Orchid Society

  So many different kinds of orchids! We know absolutely nothing about orchids but we still enjoyed visiting the gardens.

 Closed but many orchids are now on display at Fairchild Gardens.
 
  The parking lot is large enough for RVs parked across the spaces. The gift shop, gardens and greenhouse are accessible. There are a few areas with gravel paths which are extremely difficult to push through. Watch for raised edges on the concrete pathways. Orchid Gardens
26.42807, -80.15118
  
  
   

Boca Raton Museum of Art

  Finding a parking spot for a RV in Boca Raton is difficult. We circled the block several times before spotting a good place on a one way street. Most of the on street parking is free but limited to two hours. Sidewalk construction is underway so currently some of the curb cuts are hard to navigate.

This is a medium sized museum with very good personal collections, donated by wealthy Boca Ratonians. The temporary exhibits are interesting too. Handicapped access is good. A few of the exhibits were a little too high to view. Some of the galleries are carpeted – a little hard to push. Museum of Art
26.35595, -80.08591

Bonnet House Museum and Gardens

   This is the summer home of the Bartletts, one of the first houses in the Fort Lauderdale. Frederick and Evelyn Bartlett were both artists and designed and decorated the house to reflect their interests.

  It is not very handicapped accessible. The parking lot is large enough for RVs but it’s surfaced with large loose gravel. The door threshold to the ticket building has a high lip. The path from the ticket building to the staging area, where the tour begins, is up a grade with loose gravel. If you have a car or van, ask about driving to this area.

The house is constructed with a center courtyard. All of the rooms have doors which open to a wide patio running around the entire house, facing to the courtyard. That means that there are many doorways, each with a step up from the patio. Some aren’t wide enough for most wheelchairs to fit through. The others are made accessible with two types of movable ramps – wooden and foldable metal ones. Most of them are a little too steep and don’t fit as flush as they should to the ground or the thresholds.

The staff is willing to help with everything but they may not know exactly what has to be done. We didn’t have trouble with any of this but we’re very used to maneuvering to overcome problems. An older woman on our tour, pushing her husband in a loaner wheelchair, had a hard time with many of the ramps.  Bonnet House
26.13517, -80.10449
  
  

Hollywood Florida Boardwalk

   This boardwalk is about 3 1/2 miles long roundtrip and is completely handicapped accessible. Parking for RVs is available in North Beach Park at the intersection of A1A and Sheridan Street- $10.00 for the day. The boardwalk is lined with a combination of condos, small art deco motels, beach souvenir shops, and casual restaurants with a good view of the beach and ocean on the opposite side.

The park has picnic tables and a concession stand.  Boardwalk      Park
26.03395, -80.11367

Markham Park Campground

The handicapped campsites in this campground are very good. The pavement extends to the fire ring and to all of the utility hookups. Like all of the public campgrounds in south Florida, this one gets busy in the winter so it’s best to make a reservation. There are eleven handicapped sites which are rented to the general public  with the condition that they will move if a handicapped person needs the site. Since the handicapped sites are the nicest they’re always filled. We took a regular one because we were only staying for one night. Markham Park
26.13417, -80.35889

Hard Rock Casino Hollywood , Florida

  The casino does not allow any RV parking on the paved lots but parking is allowed across the street in a sand and gravel lot. It’s directly across from the main entrance. Most of the time it’s okay to stay in this lot overnight. Edit-we stayed several nights but on the day that we left the casino closed and locked the gate so this lot will not be available. Ask about parking elsewhere. Wheelchair users will most likely need to have help to wheel through the lot. The crosswalk light is very short. Follow the sidewalk through the outdoor mall to the casino entrance.

The casino is very handicapped accessible. Most of the chairs are movable. The money , club card and ticket slots are all low enough to reach easily. The aisles are wide enough to maneuver through. The carpeting is a little too plush making it a bit hard to roll along.  Hard Rock
26.0402, -80.20937

Swap Shop Fort Lauderdale

 
This is a huge flea market with a permanent mall building, video arcade, food court and even a kiddy amusement park. It also has rows of outdoors booths, fruit and vegetable stands, and many spaces for casual sellers.

It’s all handicapped accessible but getting there is a journey. The parking ( paved roads) is on the opposite side a busy highway with a pedestrian bridge to cross it. There’s a long, long ramp for wheelchair users. The swap shop side has an elevator. The shopping areas are all paved with ramps where necessary. Swap Shop
26.13656, -80.18757 

Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science

   This museum is mainly for kids 12 and under but it is well done for that age group. It isn’t very good for accessibility. Two sections are completely inaccessible-stairs without any alternative access. Some of the hands-on displays are too high. Some have chairs that don’t move. All of the aircraft simulators have seats that don’t move or require some climbing to access.

  There aren’t many places to park a RV.  We parked a few blocks east close to the art museum in a lot that is free on the weekends. The sidewalks are in good shape, the curb cuts are good too. There is a railroad crossing, flush with the sidewalk but with a steep slope up and over.  Museum of Discovery and Science
26.12053, -80.14788 

Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale

 This is a small museum with changing exhibits. All the exhibits are easy to see.

 The museum sits above street level and is accessed by a ADA compliant ramp on the Los Olas Blvd. side of the building. There are a few parking spots at meters on 1st Ave. but we parked in a lot on the corner of  2nd Ave. and 2nd Street which is free on the weekends. Don’t use this lot if your RV is longer than 25’ or wider than 8’. The turning radius in and out is very tight. Sidewalks and curb cuts are good.Museum of Art
26.11953, -80.14268

Flamingo Gardens

 
  Flamingo Gardens has many little accessibility problems. The ramps to the ticket/gift shop building are too steep. There is a very steep little ramp at the door threshold. Some of the bridges over streams are too steep. The ramp from one level to  the other in the Wray house is too steep. Some of the paths are potholed. Others are loose sand.
 
                           
Don’t let this deter you – as long as you get a little help over the bad parts, the rest is okay. This is a sanctuary for injured wildlife, mostly birds. It’s not as polished as the other gardens that we have visited but the plants are lush and abundant and all of the animals look very well cared for. There’s a large aviary where you can get very close to the birds and a short wildlife encounter talk. Injured birds are caged but the others are free to come and go as they please.

Parking for large RVs is across the street in a gravel lot.   Flamingo Gardens
26.0742, -80.31005