The Traveling Wheelchair

18 Johnny Cake Hill
New Bedford, MA 02740-6398 
Phone: (508) 997-0046
http://www.whalingmuseum.org/
 
Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity of visiting the Whaling Museum in New Bedford and learned a lot about the history of whales. It is the largest whaling museum in the country that’s dedicated to the history of whales. I also found it to be very wheelchair accessible. If you’re a whale lover like me, you’ll also want to read my review called Captain John’s Boat – Whale Watching for there are some great pictures of real live whales I saw that day.

It was a Rainy day when I visited, which was a perfect day to go because everything is indoors! The Museum is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm and every second Thursday of the month until 9 pm. The cost of Admission is $10 yet it offers discounts for children and seniors. I hope one day they will also offer a discount for the disabled too. Yet, I did end up getting a discount because I had my triple AAA card.

Upon my arrival I noticed that the museum had a handicap parking space right in the front of the building which I thought was very convenient and great. When I got out of the van I noticed there were beautiful coble stone streets. The museum is located in the old historical part of New Bedford MA and the old cobblestone streets are still there. 

When going in I was happy to see they had automatic doors, which for anyone who has trouble getting in a door will love. The downfall is that the inner door to the entrance wasn’t automatic so I still needed help getting into the building due to the second door not having automatic doors.

The Museum’s building is absolutely beautiful!! It has wide open spaces and very tall ceilings. Soon after arriving I noticed it has a  movie theater. I went inside as the movie is played all day long and is included in the admission price.  The theater is spacious and really nice and I was right in the middle of the theater and I had a great view of the screen. The theater has an almost perfect location for the visually impaired like me because the wheelchair seats are right in the middle of the theatre and near the exit doors as well.  The only problem with the theater is that there are no chairs where the wheelchair spaces are so I had to sit by myself with my friends in behind me. I think they need to add some regular seats in the wheelchair aisle because many of us in wheelchairs go places with friends who are able bodied.

On the Main floor of the museum there are some VERY BIG whale bones of some of the biggest whales to ever have lived. The bones are suspended from the ceiling and quite high up. I had to tilt my chair back to really get a great view of these great artifacts but it was well worth it.  On the main floor are also a collection of some very rare and beautiful ceramic and glass works from New Bedford artists. 

On my way to the next level I wanted to check out the restrooms which are close by the elevators. The restroom’s entry is wide but the turn is a little hard for some wheelchairs to get into but it’s not too bad once  your chair is turned. The accessible sinks are nice and of a good height. The pipes under the sinks are not all covered with protective covering, only one was covered. This is an ADA regulation, which is there to protect people in wheelchairs from getting burned by hot pipes. They have a handicap stall which is of a good size for all sized chairs and it has the safety grab bars where needed.

I went up the elevator to next level.  The elevator is large and really easy to get into and would be great for anyone in a wheelchair. I find some elevators can be too small to fit some wheelchairs in but this museum has a great elevator.  On the upper level there are more bones and all sorts of artifacts of whales from many years ago when whaling was really big in America.  I enjoyed seeing all of the bones on this level. There is a huge jaw bone all by itself, which shows you how truly big these whales are. Ric took a picture of me with my friend Kevin. Look at the size of just the Jaw!

You also learn a lot  about the many uses that came from the whales. I also enjoyed seeing many exhibits of artifacts of the whales. The craftman in this time also made some beautiful works of art from whale’s teeth and bones.  As someone who loves whales I’m so glad that hurters are no longer allowed to kill these beautiful animals to use their teeth and bones to make nice art as well as other things.  I am so thankful that all whales are now fully protected!

There is a ramp that goes into the section where the museum has some ships on display that were used during the days of whaling. Visitors can go on some of these ships, yet I couldn’t get on because it’s not wheelchair accessible. Yet, I do understand that the museum can’t remake an historic ship for wheelchairs. I did look the boat over from the outside and my friends and I were very impressed with the boat. I was able to get a great view of the smaller ship.

It was hard to understand how these smaller ships were safe for whaling trips but some of the drawings at the museum showed these smaller ships were used by sailors to go out and kill the whales. I think that there must have been many times these ships got tipped over by these beautiful big whale as they were trying to kill them. I can’t blame the whales if they tipped over the small ships over to save their own lives!

Other parts of the museum have exhibits of clothing that was worn by the whalers from those times as well as other great and fascinating objects. There were also chests that look like treasure chests and lots of  furniture as well as lots of artwork from the time showing the whales they caught and how they hunted the whales. There were also some giant whales that washed ashore from those whaling days. I also got to see the some of the weapons they used to kill and catch the whales.

I enjoyed this museum a lot and found it to be very wheelchair accessible and for the most part easy to get around in with my wheelchair. I love learning about this part of American history’s past but I am very glad that it is part of our past. I love all whales and am in support of protecting these magnificent animals from being hunted any longer.

I give the Whaling Museum THREE STARS for accessibility. The museum can earn the Fifth Star if they added an automatic door at the inner entry door, made the turn to restroom less narrow and added a few regular seats in the wheelchair aisle of the theatre. The staff at the Museum gets FIVE STARS for they were very helpful and kind. I highly recommend this place for everyone. It’s well worth your money and time to see and learn about this part of our past in American history.