It’s hard to think about New Orleans without thinking about ghosts. Let’s be honest, where else can you find ghost tours, haunted hotels, well touristed cemeteries and even a voodoo museum? And although not every other-worldly experience in the Big Easy is completely wheelchair-accessible, many haunted sites have doable access, while some tour operators have modified their ghost tours so wheelchair users and slow walkers can enjoy them. In short, accessibility isn’t strictly limited to the physical plane in this historic haunt.

Ghost Hunting in the French Quarter
Staying in the French Quarter is a must for any self-respecting ghost hunter. Not only is it within wheeling distance of most of the historic (and haunted) attractions, but the area just oozes with ambiance. And although historic doesn’t always equate with accessible as far as hotels are concerned, gladly that’s not the case at the Hotel Monteleone, which gets high marks for ambiance, accessibility and ghostly apparitions.

Located on the corner of Royal Street and Bienville Avenue, this 570 room property features 18 accessible rooms, including six with roll-in showers. The accessible entrance is located on the Bienville side of the property, through the garage. It features zero-step access and automatic doors, while the historic front entrance has several steps up to the lobby.

The accessible guest rooms include wide doorways and good pathway access. The bathrooms feature grab bars in the shower and around the toilet, a roll-under sink, a hand-held showerhead and a full five-foot turnaround. A portable shower bench is available for any of the accessible rooms.

As far as spirits go, the most active areas of the hotel are the 14th floor (which is actually the 13th floor) and the Le Café restaurant in the lobby. Guests have reported ghostly children playing on the14th floor and a mysterious doorman opening and closing the restaurant doors after hours. As for my own haunted experience, I heard children running up and down the hall outside of my 14th floor room, but when I opened the door the hallway was empty. It could have been visitors from the spirit world, but then again, it could have been my overactive imagination.

Chow Down with the Ghosts
Just down the street from the Hotel Monteleone you’ll find one of the best restaurants in the French Quarter, and as luck would have it, it’s also haunted. Located at 417 Royal Street, Brennan’s is the birthplace of Bananas Foster and home to the ghost of chef Paul Blange. Chef Paul reportedly hangs out in the kitchen and watches over the staff as they prepare meals. He’s also been known to bang pots and pans and open and close doors when the kitchen is empty. Even if you don’t encounter Chef Paul, Brennan’s is still worth a visit. Not only does this historic eatery feature level access from the street, but it also boasts some of the best food and service in the French Quarter.

Wheeling Through the French Quarter
The French Quarter is also worth exploring on foot, as you never know what you’ll find. Be forewarned though, some streets lack curb cuts and you’ll probably encounter a few patches of uneven pavement here and there. The good news is, in these post-Katrina times, twice-daily trash collection and morning sidewalk sweeping are the norm, both of which make wheeling a little easier.
The most accessible route through the French Quarter is Decatur Street. Don’t be afraid to explore the side streets, however, as you can always backtrack or take another route if you run into access barriers. Occasionally you’ll find sections of the sidewalk closed for construction, but again, in most cases it’s easy to spot and wheel around those obstacles.

Accessible Bus Tour
If you’d prefer a bus tour of the city, then head on over to Gray Line Tours and sign up for their classic Super City Tour. The tour includes a narrated coach tour of the French Quarter and the Garden District plus a stop at St. Louis Cemetery #3. Lift-equipped coaches are available for the Super City Tour with 48-hours notice and manual wheelchairs can be carried on the standard coaches.

Access is doable at the cemetery, however, there are patches of uneven ground. Still, it’s a fun tour, and a great way to see the typical above-ground burial system used throughout New Orleans. The crypts in this cemetery are more elaborate than those in the other St. Louis cemeteries and they include a number of 19th century marble tombs. And although the area flooded after Hurricane Katrina, the crypts escaped relatively unscathed.

Ghost Tour
Finally, for the ultimate New Orleans ghost experience, wheel on over to Flanigan’s Pub in the French Quarter and join your fellow ghost hunters on an evening New Orleans Ghost Tour.

There is one step up into the pub, but the folks inside will gladly bring your tickets out or serve you a brew on the sidewalk. There are two tours nightly at 7 and 8:30, and the distance covered is less than a mile. The tour route is based on the abilities of the participants and if there are wheelchair-users on the tour, the guide will find an accessible route. Company owner Lisa Huber is very proactive about making her tours accessible.

“Accessibility is very important to me, as I broke my back a few years ago and had a very small personal experience with difficulty getting around,” Lisa says.

It’s a great tour, and although I didn’t actually see any ghosts, one man adamantly insisted that a mysterious image of a dismembered arm appeared in one of his photographs. To me it just looked like a few shadows. On the other hand, who knows? After all, anything is possible in New Orleans.

Candy Harrington is the editor of Emerging Horizons and the author of Barrier-Free Travel: a Nuts and Bolts Guide for Wheelers and Slow Walkers. Visit her blog at www.BarrierFreeTravels.com for access news, resources and industry updates.

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