Today we traveled from Newport News to Charlottesville,  a relatively short hop to give us time for a nostalgia tour of the University of Virginia campus. Mr. Jefferson’s historic Rotunda was stripped to the brick for its first major restoration in 40 years:

But our focus was on Old Cabell Hall at the other end of the Lawn (the center of the original campus). It was and is the home of the Music Department and Library. Other than some colorful new murals gracing the front lobby (http://www.virginia.edu/mural/),

… the building seemed not to have aged a bit — same heavy wooden doors, same creaky wooden floors or lumpy linoleum, same classrooms and practice room and band/orchestra room, even sporting the same signs:

We introduced ourselves at the front office. They were underwhelmed but very nice, and let us into the concert hall that was so important to us back when.  It’s a really nice intimate hall, a half circle, with a copy of Raphael’s monumental School of Athens on the back wall (4 inches smaller than the original in the Vatican because exact copies were forbidden in 1900) and a fabulous original Skinner organ — in need of repair in our day but since restored (photo from the web).

Finally to our hotel, the Excel Inn and Suites, a grand name for a small place. It had but one handicapped parking but it was ours for the stay. The first bump, literally, was a tiny, seemingly negligible step up to the door.

But it turned out the distance between the step and the door sill was the perfect amount to catch the front wheels of the wheelchair while you were still lifting the back, providing no forward leveraging.  You were stuck where neither a lift or a push was effective — both required at the same time. But the hotel redeemed themselves when I spotted a small ramplet under the stair across from the door … tada!

The room was large and spare, and wins so far for the straightest, widest, unencumbered path to the bathroom. But as we’ve seen before, the space was at the cost of furniture, specifically a desk and any chair.

No complaint about the bathroom — plenty of space around the toilet, decent counter. The roll-in shower was small which can limit John’s entry and exit strategy (as do the location of the grab bars), but we did fine. We did have to ask for a shower bench, but one was immediately provided.

All in all a satisfying day and stay.