On Monday, I took a historical tour of Columbus while riding a vehicle that was introduced in 2001.
SegAway Tours of Columbus offers a rare look into the history and landmarks of downtown Columbus and its surrounding areas, including landmarks such as the building where the original National Football League offices were located. The tour also provides riders with trivia, such as the possibility that graves remain beneath North Market.
And yes, you are on a Segway for the entire tour.
Before going on a two-hour Segway tour, one must learn to ride a Segway, a machine that costs about $5,500. For those not familiar, its movement is based on balance and shifts with the rider’s body weight. If riders lean forward, the Segway moves forward. To turn, the riders simply move the handle bars left or right. If riders bend at the waist and push their hands forward, the Segway speeds ahead.
David Weller, the owner of the program and a tour guide, gave us about 15 minutes to get used to the Segways. Some of us felt comfortable enough to speed around, which made Weller visibly nervous. Others appeared to be terrified of the vehicle and froze in place on the two-wheeled machine.
Speeding on a Segway is fun — not that I recommend it. On multiple occasions when zooming downhill, the handle bars pushed into my stomach and I felt like I could not stop. It was only when I remembered to lean back that I slowed down enough to avoid hitting the Segway riders in front of me. By the end of the tour, everyone in my group of six was riding like a pro, though I was still relieved that we all had helmets.
When the tour began, Weller led the way holding a hand-held stop sign and wearing a yellow, reflective vest and helmet with a microphone that transmitted sound into speakers in our helmets. We rode around and heard about Columbus’ culture and history.
We started by going to Nationwide Plaza, then stopped outside the Columbus Dispatch building, NBC4’s building and others. At each stop, Weller shared information.
He told us things we had never heard. For example, the National Football League’s original offices are located downtown in the Hayden building, which will soon be a hotel.
“Every place has a story,” Weller said. “Obviously the attraction is that you get to ride a Segway. But it’s not all history, some fun little facts here and there.”
The tour took us as far south as State Street. We stopped at the Statehouse, Ohio Theatre and Palace Theatre.
Perhaps the oddest stop was the Peanut Shoppe. It was also the busiest area of the tour. Pedestrians were everywhere because it was lunch hour.
The most scenic portion of the tour was along the Olentangy River, where we had an excellent view of the city’s skyline.
We also talked about the world’s most authentic replica of Christopher Columbus’ ship, the Santa Maria.
The final part of the tour took us through Goodale Park in the Short North. Weller informed us that under the North Market there might still be caskets from when it was a graveyard. Archeologists never found all the caskets, and caskets have been exhumed in construction projects since the North Market opened at that location.
We made our way back to the south side of the Greater Columbus Convention Center, where the tour begins and ends, so Weller could retrieve his Segways. It took a while to get used to walking again. It felt slow after zooming for two hours at about 7 mph, or twice as fast as the average walking speed.
Everyone in the tour seemed to love it. Our group ranged in age from 23 years old to 50 years old, and people were from all over. Only two of us were from Columbus. One person was from Wisconsin (yes, he was a Badger fan), one was from Las Vegas and the other two were from Indiana.
Weller said most people who take the tour are at least 40 years old, but there are plenty of younger people who take the tour. He added that SegAway Tours has permission to perform campus tours and did not rule it out as possibility for the future.
OSU’s discount ticket program is offering a discounted rate for the Segway tour. The tour is normally $55, but students can get up to two discounted tickets per week for $20 each from the program.
It’s worth every penny.
