My daughter had a bright idea the morning of June 22. She said, “Hey, mom, let’s go on a segway tour!” I looked at her in a perplexed way and said, “Hmm, I just think you upped me one!” I would have never thought of that and got right on the phone to call City Segway Tours. They scheduled us, and we were off! I have been in downtown Atlanta and have seen people on those segways with the nerdy helmets, and I would snicker at them as I drove by. My daughter and I were going to be some of “those people” (lol).
We walked in and signed some paper work. Then, we viewed a mini video of the usual do’s and don’ts of safety. The stick figure they used to show a person falling off of the segway was hilarious, and the small group of us laughed. Next, we were fitted for those nerdy helmets and were ready to go. We rolled the segways to a shaded part of the sidewalk and Sara, our instructor, did a fancy-smancy demo of how to maneuver, back up and turn. My daughter and I blank-stared each other because neither of us had EVER been on one. Sara made it look so easy, but my heart was racing a mile a minute! She asked for a volunteer to go first, and everyone looked at me. Yikes! “Why me?” I wondered (lol).
So, of course, I didn’t want to chicken out. So, I stepped up and onto the segway. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, and I got the hang of it pretty quickly. My daughter had her turn, and she’s just like me and learns pretty quickly, too. Everyone got used to it, and that’s when Sara said, “Ok, wow, you guys are great. OK, let’s go.” She warned us of bumps on the street and pedestrians. Yikes, I was nervous! The segways go pretty fast and cost about $6,000 each.
We cruised through downtown Atlanta and stopped to learn about Centennial Park that was built for the Summer Olympics held here in 1996. Sara talked about the bombing that happened and the monuments built for the person who was killed and the others who were injured. We cruised over to Philips Arena, CNN, the World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium. At each stop, Sara had a story to tell.
It was a beautiful day outdoors with a light breeze and lots of sunshine. I would like to thank my daughter, Tyra, for the idea and City Segway Tours for their hospitality. It was a blast! –tammie reed
For more information, please visit www.citysegwaytours.com.
