Accessible Date Night with Bernardo!

Accessible Date Night with Bernardo
by Madison Seehusen, Gretchen Shackelford, and Lucy Dollinger





Meet up I met my date Bernardo outside of our apartment complex. We both live at Brookside Apartments because it has access to an elevator. This also made it easy for us to be near all the hotspots of downtown Columbia!

Dinner - Tellers Gallery and Bar We started the date off at Tellers because it is only a few blocks from the apartment. There are a lot of options on the menu from salads and sandwiches to pasta. Walking up to the front door, there is a slight ramp which made it easier to get inside. The door was extremely heavy though, and there was no automatic doors. Once in the waiting room, there was a second door to get into the main dining room. Again, this door was difficult to open. The entire restaurant is on the same level and there are no stairs or platforms so we could get around safely. The tables were not too high. The waiter moved the chair out of the way and then my date could roll up and be seated comfortably. Overall the restaurant was easy to access, other than the two heavy doors at the front.

Entertainment - Craft Beer Cellar After going to dinner at Tellers we decided to go and hang out together at Craft Beer Cellar. Craft Beer Cellar was located back on 9th street so it was only a short walk away. At first, we didn’t think that we would be able to get inside due to it being underground and having to walk down stairs (both outside the place as well as once you got inside) however, once we asked a worker if there was an elevator they let us know there was one. In order to get to the elevator, we had to go back to 9th street and enter through a commercial building. There were plenty of signs posted to let us know that the place was located on the bottom floor. While the elevator was fairly tiny, we were able to go down a floor and enter the place through the back. Once inside there was a good amount of low table seating as well as plenty of free board and card games for us to play while we both enjoyed a drink. Craft Beer Cellar is known for having a wide range selection of local, country, and national beers as well as many non-alcoholic drinks. You may enjoy them there or take them with you to go.

Inaccessible Space - Yellowdog Book Shop  After we had finished our meal, we wandered some more around 9th Street and marveled at the amount of boutiques and little shops scattered along the street. One of them caught our eye - the Yellowdog Book Shop, a used bookstore that I frequently visited whenever I wanted to new book to read. I suggested we go inside and we were pleased to find that a ramp was available. However, once we got inside we realized that the crowded aisles and cramped spaces would be difficult for Bernardo to maneuver. There were other people browsing the shop as well, and even for walking patrons it was a little difficult to squeeze past one another in order to get to a certain section. After attempting to round a couple corners, we decided it wasn’t worth it and exited back onto the street.

Inaccessible Space - Silverball Since we had trouble accessing the book shop, we decided to stop in Silverball to play some arcade games. This proved to be difficult when most of the establishment was either on a platform or upstairs. The only area on the first floor that we could roll to was the bar, and that was so high up we couldn’t reach. Most of the games were upstairs and there was no ramp or elevator. Sadly, we decided to leave Silverball and make our way back towards the apartments. 

Alone Time - Peace Park As the night started to come to an end, we made our way back down 9th Street towards Brookside Apartments. As we stood outside, we admired the sunset and decided we didn’t want the date to be over just yet. We started moving in the direction of Peace Park, a popular spot for people to relax, watch the squirrels, and enjoy the fresh air. However, as we started down the sidewalk we encountered an obstacle. The sidewalk in front of Shakespeare’s, which was right across the street from the park, was fully cracked and crumbled to the point where Bernardo’s wheelchair could not easily roll over it. This prevented us from going further so we decided to turn back and cross the street at the light. Although this inconvenienced us for a few minutes, we decided not to let it ruin the night and continued on down the street. The sidewalks closest to the park were much more accessible and we were able to walk and roll up to the entrance of the park without complications.

When we arrived at the park, we started down the sidewalk path before deciding that we would like to find a bench to sit at. I noticed one located in the middle of the grass, however, there was no sidewalk entrance to it and so it wasn’t an option. Further along the trail we found another one and made ourselves comfortable. As the sun began to set, Bernardo took my hand in his and we remarked on what a lovely, albeit somewhat complicated, date it had been.