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We love going on road trips. So our recent trip to Birmingham for the first time was exciting as we were attending Naidex, Europe's largest disability event.
The car journey took us around seven hours to drive from home (Scotland) to our hotel in Solihull. It was fun having a pit-stop at random service stations along the way in the hope of winning soft toys from the grabber machines for our nephew. He was over the moon with his four new fluffy friends we managed to win for him.
We stayed for two nights at the brand new Travelodge in Solihull. It was lovely and the accessible super room was comfortable and the facilities were perfect for my wheelchair. The super comfy bed, friendly staff and breakfast were some of our favourites.
This was also my first experience being a judge for the Naidex Changing Lives Award. It was an honour to be part of the panel with three amazing people within the disability community.
The event was held at Birmingham NEC, which I was happy to discover offers free disabled parking. Perfect!
There were hundreds of exhibitors on display. The ones that most interested us was the amazing wheelchair accessible motor home, the all-terrain wheelchairs and the various travel companies.
It was also great to check out the latest powered wheelchairs available as I may be looking for a new wheelchair to better accommodate my complex seating needs. Seeing the wheelchairs on display and speaking to the reps gave me a better idea of what type of wheelchairs I like and what will work best for me.
After Naidex, we headed back to Solihull and entered the undercover car park of the Touchwood Shopping Centre. We found a disabled bay and then made our way up in the lift to the shops. Accessibility inside the shopping centre was really good and I enjoyed how spacious it was.
We were then ready for some food so had a wander around to see what our options were. There are lots of different restaurants including Bella Italia, Pizza Express, Wagamama, Handmade Burger Co and more.
Finally, we decided to try TGI Friday's and it did not disappoint. The waiting staff were great, immediately showing us to a table with space for my wheelchair. The vegan burgers were so good that I can’t wait to visit another TGI Friday's restaurant.
Roll on the next road trip.
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