Recreation, Leisure and Entertainment

Recreation is an important facet of our lives. It's fun, allows us to unwind, and helps enhance our quality of life. Leisure activities may change due to circumstances but it's not a reason to stop having the opportunity to refresh, relax and enjoy ourselves.

Below are some fun things to do in Tucson, whether for the visually impaired or not, and the great weather in Tucson just invites us to get out and about!

In the Fresh Air

Sabino Canyon is a nice walk but you do have to be in decent shape. The way in is a paved road, with barely any traffic, bordered by many short trail segments. The full distance in is less than four miles with a total rise of about 600 feet; if you make it to the top that would be great exercise.

Rillito River Park is an easy and nice walk: no bumps or obstacles to worry about.

Reid Park Zoo is fun. There is a key you can purchase (for $2.50) and at each of the animal areas you can put in the key and they tell you all about that particular animal. If you wish to talk to someone about this program call 791-4760.

Sports

Beep Baseball is the adaptive version of baseball for the visually impaired. The Tucson team is called the Southwest Slammers and they currently have 7 blind players and 5 fully active sighted players. Learn more about Beep Ball here.

Let's Eat Out

It's so nice to go out for a good meal and leave someone else do to the kitchen clean up! A number of local Tucson restaurants offer Braille and/or large print menus. Here is our most current list:

Applebee's, 1-888-592-7753

Bamboo Club, 520-514-9665

Cheesecake Factory (and large print), 520-408-0033
Claim Jumper, 520-795-2900
Coco's, 520-742-2840 or 745-6108
Denny's, 1-800-733-6697
eegees (large print), 520-294-3333

El Corral, 520-299-6092
Good Egg (and large print)

Hungry Fox (large print), 520-326-2835
IHOP, 1-866-444-5144
McDonalds, 1-800-244-6227
Mimi's Cafe (and large print), 520-747-7273

New Delhi Palace, 520-296-8585
Olive Garden, 520-790-5787

On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina (and large print), 1-888-682-6882
Outback Steakhouse, 1-813-282-1225
PF Chang's, 520-615-8788
Red Lobster, 1-800-562-7837
Red Robin, 1-800-562-7837
Romano's Macaroni Grill & Cantina (and large print), 520-790-0177 or 520-544-4655
T.G.I. Fridays, 520-745-3743
Texas Roadhouse, 520-514-7427

Village Inn, 1-800-800-3644
Zivaz, 520-325-1234

Arby's and Burger King have a picture board, Eclectic Cafe are very happy to have staff read the menu to you and Golden Corral staff will walk around the buffet with you. Bon Appetit!

At the Theatre

Movies

Movies are great fun. Currently there is just one theatre in Southern Arizona to show descriptive video service (DVS) and that's at the Foothills Mall. You get the descriptions with a headset that they'll lend you for free. There's a new movie each week (Friday-Thursday) and it plays all day in Auditorium One. There are 4 ways to check what's playing:

1. Click here for the EMVIA Weekly Calendar page giving a description of current movies

2. check this EMVIAtucson Twitter feed, below

3. check the CaptionFish website (more on that below)

4. call the AMC theatre at 740-5050

Alternatively, here is a list of movies now out with DVS, as well as a listing of coming attractions.

Caption Fish is a web site that will tell you what movies in your town have descriptive video and when and where they are showing. This site crawls the web for accessible movie information posted by chains, so only the chains that currently list accessible screenings will appear as options for you.

There are currently two studios that caption and describe all their releases: Twentieth Century Fox Films and Universal Pictures. Not only do these studios caption and describe all their films now, they've done so since the very beginning of the Motion Picture Access (MoPix) effort in 1997. MoPix also lists all theatres in USA equipped with the DVS system.

Theatre

The Arizona Theatre Company is in its 45th season and performs both at the Temple of Music and Art in Tucson and the Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix. Each season reflects a rich variety of world drama from classics to contemporary plays, and from musicals to new works.

They have 18 performances this season featuring audio descriptive narration. These shows include a 15-minute pre-show talk as well as a tactile tour of the backstage area, including sets and costumes, upon request. Braille and large-print programs are available for any show, so ensure you reserve one when purchasing tickets.

All described Tucson shows are 2 pm matinees. For more information contact Eileen Bagnall at 520-884-8210.

Videos at Home

Free descriptive movie loans can come to you from the Arizona Braille and Talking Book library. They are easy to acquire and are delivered postage free right to your door. The audio description on all movies from the library is done by the producers. The older recordings are on VHS tape and they are building up their collection of studio captioned DVDs. Call them at 1-800-255-5578

Click here for a list of movies now out on DVD with DVS for home use.

You can also download MP3 files of movies containing audio descriptions from http://www.blindmicemart.com. The downloads are free and only the audio of movies, no picture, but they all include audio description. From the main page, go to the "blind mouse movie vault."

TV at Home

If you want to just watch TV at home there are some shows that also have descriptive video attached to them. Here are instructions on how a sighted person can describe a movie/program to someone who can't see the on-screen action.

What is Descriptive Narration?

Many people are familiar with closed captioning, the means by which the dialogue and sound effects of a film or television program are made visible via on-screen text. However, description, for viewers who are blind or have low vision, is less familiar. Description narration conveys the key visual aspects of a film or television program by describing scenery, facial expressions, costumes, and so on during natural pauses in dialogue. Learn more about descriptive narration here.

Reading

The ACB Tucson Book Club meets the second Saturday of each month. Click here for more local book club information.

Talking Books are great! They have books and a large variety of descriptive movies that you can check out. The new talking book player is really nice; very portable and easy to use. Contact them at 1-800-255-5578

Sun Sounds of Arizona loans out radios (at no cost for as long as needed) to provide audio access to those who cannot read print. Covers everything from local newspapers, grocery ads to Spanish language magazines.