[Travelandtourism] guide dogs and Gateway Arch in Saint Luis, MO?

[Cheryl Echevarria]

Bibi and Marion:

President Gwizdala, please read the original posting from Bibi and my
response and please correct me should I need to be corrected, but this is
being posted to the NFB Travel & Tourism Talk  List and would appreciate the
response to the whole list, please.  I thank you. Sincerely, Your sister in
the NFB Cheryl Echevarria.

Since I have never been there myself, if we do not have anyone from Missouri
on the list, you may want to reach out to the Missouri State affiliate or
also try NAGDU.

Yes there is lighting in the trams, you are not in the dark.

But from the videos, and listening to the people inside the trams it is a
tight fitting.  But from listening you do feel the trams moving forward
slightly like the an arch is, but not like a roller coaster. When you get
off on the top which you need to do, for the observation area, the steps and
your footing are off, they do warn you at the top that because of the
rounded area, steps and footing are different, so make sure your dog,
sighted guide or cane, that what you are feeling is real, and that you must
adjust your skills.

When you are going down, you are not upside down, or something, you are
upright, feel like you are on a slight tilt but that is it. And you go down.
If you are bringing a dog, you may want to go up and down with less people
in the tram.

I hope this helps, but there are very descriptive videos on youtube. You can
listen to, just search The Arch in St. Louis.

Hope this helps.

In retrospect, respectfully to what you father said, ADA is Federation guide
lines, so yes the Federal Government must follow such guide lines, that is
kind of hypocritical if they do not. Again, please follow up with NAGDU, if
you have not done so already, I am copying this e-mail to our brother in the
NFB, Mr. Marion Gwizdala, for confirmation on my statements below, so he can
answer correctly for all of us, on the list with guide dogs.




Cheryl Echevarria, President
National Federation of the Blind's Travel and Tourism Division
A proud division of the 
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND - "Live the life you want"
www.nfbtravel.org
631-236-5138
cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com


The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can have the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.


Cheryl Echevarria is also the owner of Echevarria Travel
www.echevarriatravel.com; 631-456-5394 or reservations at echevarriatravel.com
and  has partnered with Braille Smith. www.braillesmith.com for all her
braille needs.  Gail Smith is the Secretary of the NFB of Alabama

-----Original Message-----
From: Travelandtourism [mailto:travelandtourism-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Criminal Justice Major Extraordinaire via Travelandtourism
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 7:30 AM
To: Travel and Tourism List
Subject: [Travelandtourism] guide dogs and Gateway Arch in Saint Luis, MO?

Hi, all,
I was curious if anyone has traveled with their guide dog to the Gateway
Arch in Saint Luis, MO?
Althou Odie is a MAR dog now, I had a dream a couple days ago of traveling
to Missouri into Saint Louis to visit the Gateway Arch with him.
Inside the Gateway Arch, they don't have normal elevators.
Instead, the elevators are in a shape of an egg with five to six stools
inside.
When the eggs are rising up to the top of the arch, they make light clicking
noises and slightly turn sideways.
There is no lighting inside the egg shaped like elevator from what I can
remember when  I toured the Arch almost twenty-four years ago.
Once the egg gets to the top, the doors open and you can walk over to a
large bay glass window and look out to see that everything down below is
toy-like.
I mentioned to my father yesterday about how I wanted to do a tenth
anniversary celebration with Odie by visiting the arch, but my father stated
how the government wouldn't allow Odie to gain access in there.
I even asked, "They wouldn't allow a service dog in there, despite the ADA?"
My father's response was that since the Gateway Arch is under the
government, the government can do what ever they want to or please.
He also felt that it would be a frightening experience to a service dog.
This is also a question I will be posting to the Travel and Tourism list as
well as Blind Rollers, but be changing the subject from guide dogs to
wheelchairs.
I probably should look up the Gateway Arch and do some research on my own to
see what I find out.
I wanted to put this out on the list for discussion and thoughts.
If my idea isn't a good one, then I won't take that chance.
Odie and I will have to figure out something else for our tenth anniversary.
Bibi and MAR son Odie
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