[THIS IS BY WAY OF A TRANSATLANTIC DIVERTION]

Nashville, Tennessee:

I had been to Nashville before; once without a white cane (2015) and once with. The last visit (two years ago) I had just started to resort to occasional usage.

This probably sounds a bit strange, but remember I have a degenerative condition. The week before the 2017 visit to Nashville I’d been forced into using the white cane in New Orleans. I’d been carrying the bloody thing in my shoulder bag as a ‘just in case’ back-up aid, never thinking I would really need it, but had found it impossible to get around a music festival (crowds of happy revelers in a large multi-purpose venue) without it!

Two years on, and with some training from RNIB, I now find it indispensable.

Anyway, Nashville is a dynamic city with good pavements (wide and in good repair) and plenty of clues as to where to cross roads (yellow markers, tactile surfaces). Like all American roads one needs to be prepared for vehicles making right turns against the lights but I found the drivers to be sensible and law abiding.

The main hazards I noticed were abandoned scooters, and drunks. The scooters are abandoned everywhere – I think they work the same way as the City-Bikes that a lot of places now have, where you just pick one up and leave it aside at your destination for someone else to pick up. The drunks (it’s a party town) mean that they aren’t parked very neatly.

The main entertainment area is centred around a street called Broadway, and this is where one finds all the Honky-Tonk bars. These bars are lots of fun, have great live music and are the reason most folk visit the city. However, they are dark inside, unpredictably laid out, and full of well refreshed visitors. I found most places were okay, everyone is in a good mood, and the hard working staff will find you and bring you a beer.

Although I thought this city has at least made an effort, I can’t say the same for the huge Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. I had real problems here but will defer my comments for a general post about museums and other issues.

Memphis, Tennessee:

We got the Greyhound bus from Nashville to Memphis. Bus stations are at the bottom of the hierarchy in the American public transport system. They are very basic and can be a bit intimidating if you are of a nervous disposition. It’s worth booking a priority ticket and ensuring the (limited) staff are aware of your needs and limitations. Because this is the cheapest way to travel you will find quite a lot of other passengers have their own physical and mental challenges. There won’t be much in the way of assistance but the staff are used to helping the elderly and people with disabilities. The greatest difficulty I found was keeping up with instructions about where to queue for your bus, departure times, and the like.

Memphis is not a rich city and it shows. The pavements are uneven, the infrastructure is worn-out and it feels edgier out on the streets. However, the people are actually very friendly – for example, I had no trouble getting help in a Walgreens (a popular pharmacy store), the server even asked another customer if I could use her card to get her customer discount (20%)!

The bars/music venues on Beale Street are dark, even more unpredictably laid out inside than a Broadway Honky-Tonk, and busy.

I was lucky, and very grateful, to be with friends whilst enjoying the delights of this amazing city. They are working on the infrastructure (it gets better each time I visit) but getting around can be a challenge – the tram that runs the length of Main Street is cheap but has difficult steps on and off, and only one driver/conductor so there isn’t much in the way of assistance.

I find that the lack of staff in America is as much of an issue as the difficulties with museums. I think I will save this rant for the Post about General Issues.

Clarksdale, Mississippi:

Clarksdale is off the map. This is rural Mississippi, this is one of the poorest parts of the richest nation on earth. This is a challenge to anyone with disabilities.

I’ve been before so I have a good memory of the lay-out of the places I would be in and some of the issues I would need to be wary of. But the contrast with the rest of America is remarkable – it makes Memphis look rich. I’m not sure I can give anything by way of helpful advice about getting to, or navigating the place. Again, the locals are very friendly and there are signs that things are getting better. But, depending on your level of disability, be ready to face some real challenges. The only concession I could find to anyone with a disability was a hastily typed up warning about uneven surfaces, on the door to the Ground Zero Blues Club (the famous Morgan Freeman owned venue on Delta Avenue) – and that was probably only there because people get sloppy after a few beers.

It was a big shock to me to find out how difficult it was to negotiate places I had managed without much of a problem just four years before.

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