Secrets revealed `a la Segway
Exploring Columbus on a tiny battery-powered hog
By Liza Alwes |
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It was a midlife crisis that led David Weller, the owner and entrepreneur behind SegAway Tours of Columbus, to begin his Segway touring company, which now offers three tours on most days. Formerly a real estate agent specializing in foreclosed homes, he decided he wanted to do something new. Like many, he longed to escape the computer's dull glare, the stultifying swirl of spreadsheets and status reports of which the straight world is made. "Plus," he says, "being in my late 40s, it seemed like a perfect time for a mid-life crisis."
So, after a rigorous program of research, business plans, and financial projections, he ditched his original dream of running a trolley tour and settled on a project with less overhead. Thus SegAway Tours was born. "No one is providing a daily tour of Columbus," Weller says. "Additionally, the timing for this type of business seems ideal, with the significant amount of new development that is occurring downtown."
A SegAway tour in the Short North.
Photo: Christopher Atwood
The Segway is pretty easy to operate - you just hop on, lean forward to go forward, lean backward to go backward, lean left or right to turn, and stand upright to stay still. It runs on a battery and can travel up to 12 mph. And when you plug your head into the fashionable bowling ball-shaped helmet, you ooze cool like a busted watermelon.
The tour began with a quick training session at the Convention Center, where SegAway Tours is based. From there we traveled downtown, past the Ohio Theater and the State House, and the enormous bronze McKinley eternally waving goodbye to his ill wife. It was easy to settle into the soaring buildings, shimmering glass, and bustle of our grand city, to take a moment to meditate on the almost two centuries of history roiling beneath the asphalt.
Weller, a thin fellow possessed of an ebullient manner, pointed out landmarks and offered history and trivia with gusto. We scooted along the riverfront, past the big fake Santa Maria, and straight through the Gospel Sail-a-Bration event taking place there, creating a bit of a spectacle. We observed the white stones lining the park, which came from the dismantled Ohio Penitentiary - the penitentiary that imprisoned William Sydney Porter for embezzlement during the years he clandestinely published influential stories as O. Henry.
The tour continued through the Arena District, into Goodale Park, down beneath the black arches of the Short North (which also have a historical antecedent - back in the day, High Street's wooden arches were a defining characteristic of the city). We passed the now-defunct Belmont Caskets, which produced "the Cadillac of caskets" (according to Weller) until the seventies - caskets fit for the likes of JFK and Marilyn Monroe. A similarly macabre bit of trivia is that Columbus's first cemetery was sited near North Market. Later, the caskets were relocated to Greenlawn Cemetery, but the job could have been more thorough. As recently as 2002, caskets were discovered beneath the street, and paranormal enthusiasts claim spirits of those left behind still haunt the neighborhood.
Just under two hours from when we left, we arrived back at the Convention Center. "The tour is a mix of history, humor, and interesting anecdotes about Columbus," Weller says. "Even people who have lived in Columbus a long time are learning new things about their city."
Those of us who have the privilege of living here every day run the risk of treading its tar-fragrant streets without giving thought to the feet that went before. Weller's robo-powered tours offer a light-hearted look at the palimpsest of Columbus history.
SegAway Tours
400 N High St., in the Convention Center
(614) 222-3005
Cost: $55.00 per rider
Each rider must:
Weigh between 100 - 260 lbs.
Be capable of walking up flight of stairs unassisted and without a handrail
Be 16 years or older
Complete the instructional training session, prior to the tour
Length of tour is approximately 2 hours, including practice time on the Segway.
Originally Published: June 1, 2009
