Criping CoMo

For out date we decided to do a dinner out and entertainment in!

First, we went to a newer restaurant in downtown CoMo called Thai Express. We chose this place because it was located within walking distance to our entertainment for the night. Luckily, the travel to the restaurant and to Kelsy's house for entertainment was all easily accessible sidewalks with curb cuts all over the place!

We loved to find that the door and entrance were very spacious with a clear path straight to the register. There, Jess asked for braille menus, but sadly they did not have any. We observed that the counter may be a little high for someone in a wheelchair, which may create a problem when paying. Additionally, we noticed that the register was bolted to the counter so one would not be able to move the register to accommodate someone who wouldn't be able to reach.

Once inside, we checkout out the surroundings and found that it would be mostly accessible for someone in a wheelchair. There were many tables at different heights with removable chairs. There was a designated counter area for wheelchair accessibility. However, sitting at this counter would not have been accessible to Deaf persons because you would have had to turn and look at each other a bit awkwardly. We checked out the bathrooms and happily found them to be accessible!

After eating we went down the street to Kelsey's house for some entertainment and then private time! Her building has a very spacious elevator that took us up to her floor. The apartment itself has a very open floor plan, making it easy for anyone to navigate through. Some of the counters were very high, as it was not specifically designed for accessibility. Kelsy let us know that while this was the only building downtown with an elevator there were other building that have first floor apartments build with accessibility in mind. We laughed, smoked hookah, practiced signing songs for ASL class, and played games. We also met her dog and got to play with him!

For private time we would have used Kelsey's room, which was easily accessible due to the open floor plan of her apartment.

Overall, we found the places that we went to be very accessible. We recognized that while the restaurant did not have menu's in braille, the staff was more than willing to help accommodate any request we had.We were upset that upon trying to choose free entertainment, we were unable to attend any Mizzou hosted event, as none of them had interpreters available.

This assignment mad us all rethink how dating someone with a mobility or other impairment might be. We discussed how communicating and planning the date would have been different and how planning for the use of transportation would have been a significant challenge. Overall, we were very happy to have spent a fun late afternoon taking each other on a date!

Much Love - Hayden, Jess, Kelsey, & Lydia