On Thursday, we did something we’ve never done before. On Wednesday we saw an ad on TV for an exhibition that was in the Charlotte area, and we looked it up and actually bought tickets for the next day! I’ve never done something like that before, and it felt really really cool to be able to do that!
The ad we saw was for the Titanic Exhibition. It’s a traveling display that teaches you about the Titanic.
First we had to get there, which is complicated when you have two wheelchairs to fit in a van, and the person with the folding wheelchair can’t walk. We figured out a plan for getting us all in and out of the van, thanks in large part to Tamara who is an angel in taking care of me since my surgery last week!
We got inside and had to use the bathroom the first thing. We go through the narrowest possible doorway my wheelchair would ever fit through (probably too narrow for a lot of wheelchairs!) and find zero accessible stalls in the bathroom. An employee came in and said there is an accessible bathroom in another building, but I didn’t really want to wait. So we tried to use the inaccessible bathroom.
Tam took care of business first and then helped me. She held Felix while I drove as close to the toilet as possible. The stall was too narrow to get my wheelchair inside it, so I had to drive up to the stall door. I was able to stand up and hook my hands around the tops of the stall sides to hop/pull myself over to the toilet. I sat down, but the door couldn’t close because my wheelchair was in the way. So I just used the bathroom there for everyone to see. And yes, there were several other people in the restroom! Luckily everyone was nice about it!
But then the real hard part started… getting back up off a low toilet with no grab bars! I hadn’t thought about that! It took me several minutes, but eventually I was able to put my hands under my butt on the toilet and use that plus my one leg’s strength to stand up! Then hop back over to my chair and I was done! Yay! Brad wasn’t able to use the bathroom at all.
So we were off to a shaky start, but that was the only shaky thing about the exhibition!
We were all given boarding passes with information from real passengers on them. Brad was a ship employee who worked in the Turkish Baths. Tam was a young mother of two boys meeting up with her husband in America who could have afforded to travel second class but chose to save money for her boys and her new home in America by traveling in third class. I was a young bride traveling second class with her husband to their life together on the West Coast of the US.
The first room was all about the background of the ship and how it was built. They had a big model of the ship. Brad got some pictures below of signage of the exhibition and some of the first room.
While in the first room, we met a little girl with a Pomeranian service dog! It was cute as a button, and rode in a stroller when the girl wasn’t carrying him. She and her mom were very nice, and her dog was a good boy. His name was Rico Suave! We got a few pictures of us together.
We continued in the first room, and moved to the second. There, we found a display of Brad’s passenger. It talked about his life, had some artifacts of his, and told us that he died in the shipwreck. Again, the second room had more history of the ship. One side of the room was decorated to look like the hull of the ship with a doorway to walk into the ship.
Also in this room, we met a woman with some amazing red jewelry on, and she recognized the designer of my necklace!!!! It was so cool! She loved Felix, and I let them say hi. Felix had a great time with her!
Next it was time to climb aboard and into the hallway of the first class cabins! Tam assures me these Titanic hallways are like double the size of a modern cruise ship hallway! They were beautiful and brightly lit with lots of ornate carvings. We got some pictures of us in the hallway. Some serious ones, and then some of Tam being a goofball!
The next room was all about first class. They had a first class parlor, lots of silver and fine china, and other artifacts that would have been in first class. I was disappointed that there wasn’t a lot of stuff from the wreck, but instead most of it was from the Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic.
Tam got a hold of the camera for a bit, so there are some interestingly angled shots of Brad and me, too!
The grand staircase was next, but we were told by the photographer in that room that we couldn’t use the fancy camera Brad has so we only got one picture there, and it wasn’t of their re-creation. But Brad still looks great!
We also saw how they had third class set up, and Tam got a picture of herself with those bunkbeds. We also saw the grates used to keep passengers within their own class. And we saw the boiler room which was really cool and dark and scary! We got an ussie in front of the boiler.
Next up was one of my favorite parts of the exhibit– a night on the deck of the Titanic. It was the first class deck, which didn’t have any lifeboats so you had a great view. It was gorgeous, and they had twinkle lights to look like stars. We got several pictures out on the deck.
But all too soon, the iceberg loomed into view! There was a room dedicated to all the messages from the Titanic to other ships, and in the center of the room they had a big slab of ice at the temperature it would have been when the Titanic sank. We were encouraged to touch it and it was SO cold!
Then we came to a room that listed the fate of everyone on board the Titanic. We already knew that Brad had passed away. We learned that I also didn’t make it. But Tam and her two sons did! Yay!
My other favorite room was next– the sunken wreck! They had video of the wreckage and a glass floor covering water and sand. Felix did SUCH a good job walking on the glass floor! The lights were all blue and green and it was a beautiful room! We got a couple pictures and a video!
My ankle was really starting to throb by then, as I am technically supposed to be keeping it elevated as much as possible, so we went through the last few rooms a little faster. There was a room about the connections to South Carolina, including a display about Tam’s passenger. And a room about Titanic in the movies. And finally the gift shop, which was disappointingly small.
I had to use the bathroom again, and didn’t think I could manage the tiny one again. So while Tam was looking around the gift shop, I went to the other building to use the better bathroom. Note I call it better, but not accessible.
The stall was big enough to get my wheelchair in, but there was no way to close the door behind me. So I once again had to show myself to everyone. Luckily there was no one else in there! But boy it was tight and not set up well!
We all used the bathroom, and while waiting got a picture of their service animals only sign.
The exhibit webpage said to expect to take 1 to 1.5 hrs viewing the exhibit. We took over 2 hours, and loved every second of it! It was such a great exhibit, and we really had a lot of fun. I would have liked to have seen more actual wreckage instead of mostly reproductions and stuff from the Olympic. But the rooms were really nicely setup and I really got the feeling I was there. And it wasn’t too crowded, either.
By then, we were pretty hungry! So we decided to try an Italian restaurant that has gluten free pasta called Portofinos. We were a bit worried when we showed up as it was in a run down strip mall. But we walked in and the place was nice. The food was amazing! They had fresh baked bread that was oh my gosh tasty!
I had salad, soup, and chicken parmigiana as my meal. The salad was good. The soup was lobster bisque and was EXCELLENT! Boy did I slurp that down! And my chicken parmigiana was super tasty, but I ended up taking most of it home as leftovers because I was so full. Brad had shrimp, clams, and gluten free pasta in marinara sauce. And Tam had pizza.
I was able to put my leg up on my wheelchair while we were there, and that helped the pain a lot.
It was a totally excellent outing and wonderful day. I loved every second of it, even when my ankle was killing me! Here’s to many more adventures like this one!