Segway Tour of Chicago

One of the most fun ways to see Chicago and its wonderful parks and architecture is by hopping on one of the various Segway tours around town. I had the pleasure of joining Timmie Cortina, the owner and operator of Absolute Segway Tours and her daughter Brit for an incredibly fun tour of Grant Park, Museum Campus and the lake front. I am still amazed at what a fun and easy way of jetting around the city the Segways are.
Even though I was a little nervous about using one of these convenient people movers, with a little training and encouragement by the instructors, I learned that these machines were incredibly easy to use and maneuver. Lean forward to move forward, Lean back to stop. It’s just that easy. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes because although you won’t be walking, you will be standing for the entire two and a half hours.
After the introduction to use of the Segway we were on our way. Heading around Millenium Park to Grant Park, we took a nice spin over to Buckingham Fountain. There is a Bobtail Ice Cream stand there with some of the best ice cream in Chicago, so of course we had to stop. Butter pecan. Wow. We then headed toward Soldier Field and took a quick lap around the mixture of old and new architecture stopping briefly for a history of Meigs Field the old airstrip.
Museum campus was next, even knowing a lot of the Chicago History, I learned several interesting facts about the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium. The crowds were huge due to a free day at the aquarium, but Brit got us into single file and lead us through without incident.
We then had the ride back along the water front, across Lake Shore Drive to Grant Park stopping briefly as art student Brit explained some of the uniqueness of the Art Institute of Chicago, another beautiful and fascinating building.
Two hours had gone by in a flash and I wasn’t ready to relinquish the Segway, but I had to get to work. I look forward to the next time I can cruise around with Timmie and Brit. One fun way to see one amazing city.