Segue to a Segway

There are some words that I just love to pronounce. They roll off the tongue playfully and are just plain fun to say. “Segue” is one of those words for me. It is Italian for “it follows.”  Unfortunately, I don’t get to use the word as much as I’d like to. A lot of people don’t have a clue what it means.

According to Wikipedia, a segue is a method of smooth transition. A segue allows the host or writer to naturally proceed to another topic without jarring the audience. A good segue makes the subject change seem like a natural extension of the discussion.

And now, joy of joys, I can say it more often, because I have just discovered the segway, my new favorite form of transportation. The name is brilliant, because when you ride one, it is like an extension of your body. A better body. One with wheels.

Getting our seg legs!

If you haven’t been on one, let me tell you, it’s a blast! It takes about 5 minutes to get comfortable with it (if you have a decent sense of balance). You just have to lean to control which direction you want it to go.

G and I tried it out on Black Friday – we went with a couple of friends on a Segway Tour of Savannah. First we had to watch a short safety film with a stick man riding a segway. We went away thinking that this was going to be potentially dangerous, because the streets of Savannah are pretty bumpy, what with all the cobblestones and brick roads. And the segways aren’t allowed on the sidewalks.

We warmed up for about 5 minutes. Leaning forward to accelerate, backward to slow down, right and left to turn. As the tour started, one of the other guys on it said to Lisa (my friend in the turquoise top),

“This is your first time on a segway?”

She nodded.

“Wow, you are good!”

It’s a segway, people. It only goes 12 miles an hour.

Me and Detlef, our friend from Germany. Notice Lisa trying to get in front of the other couple….

We rode around for about 90 minutes, stopping at some interesting streets and houses and squares. Savannah is rich with history. The other couple on the tour was determined to be in front, and some of us didn’t like that because we couldn’t get up any real speed. They were sloooow.

Fortunately, the only mishap was our tour guide’s segway shut down on her near the end of the tour. So the other guide, whose job it was to bring up the rear and continually remind us all to remain in a single line, gave her his segway and G got to take over for him.

G acted all serious, blocking the street to help us cross and reminding us from time to time to stay single file, but we mostly ended up riding side by side so we could chat and a couple of times we waited til the other couple got a ways ahead so the four of us could get some speed up. It was a lot of fun.

G bringing up the rear. He tried to get away with the vest but no luck.

I’m so happy that I’m going to be able to say segway more often. We plan on doing the tour every time someone comes to visit!

Anyone else out there have words they love to say?