Segways & Sightseeing...

Last Thursday, my family from Atlanta flew in for the wedding. This is my family from my Mom side and included my Uncle Brad, Aunt Camille and cousin Matthew. Unfortunately, my other cousin, Austin, was in the middle of tons of tests at Georgia Tech, so he didn't join them. I was very excited when they first sent me their flight arrangements and they chose to come in a day before everything got crazy. My Brad hadn't met this part of my family yet, so it would be nice to have some time with them. I quickly began thinking of fun ways to spend our time. Remembering that they really hadn't spent that much time in Austin, I wanted to be a good host and show them some of this city that I love. 

After working for most of the day, Brad and I met and then drove downtown to meet the Wards. I hadn't seen them since my Grandmother's funeral last year, so I was really excited! First on the agenda... a Segway Tour of downtown!! A friend of mine owns Segway Nation, so I contacted them and made arrangements for a private tour... on two wheels! I had been on a Segway before, but it would be the first time for the rest of the group. The main thing I can tell any newbie... they are very intimidating at first, but once you get on one- I promise, you won't want to get off! This was very much the case for our group!!

After a short tutorial, we fell in line and followed our tour guide to the State Capitol grounds. As we got more comfortable, we all gained speed and began whizzing around. It is so much fun!! We would stop for an occasional tourist speech by our guide and then take a few pictures.

Aunt Camille acing her tutorial.

Brad doing a pageant wave during his tutorial.

Matthew sticking his tongue out during his tutorial... show off.

Uncle Brad learning the ropes.

And, we're off!

"Hi honey!!"

Then we headed into downtown Austin, down 6th Street, by the Driskell Hotel across the "Bat Bridge" and to Auditorium Shores.

Funny... we didn't even plan the height progression!!!

Then we headed to a open area near the Austin Convention Center where our guide just let us cut loose for a while on the Segways. By now we were all very comfortable and took to racing and cutting each other off, trying fancy tricks and taking funny pictures. 

Action shot...

Matthew and Uncle Brad using the trees as a slalom course!

Unfortunately, Aunt Camille and Matthew got a little too competitive and Aunt Camille took a fall. Other than a scratch on her arm, her pride was hurt the most... she was the only one that fell! good thing our Medical Student Extraordinaire Matthew was available to assist!

Matthew and Aunt Camille racing.

Here is some fun video from the BradB Cam...

After about a 2 hour tour, we sadly returned to the Segway Nation office and said goodbyes to our new two-wheeled friends.

 

Then we headed for dinner at another Austin favorite, The Hula Hut. It was a very nice night out and we got a table right on the water. We enjoyed good food and drinks while catching up, laughing and talking about the events to come. 

We then parted ways and looked forward to the next time we would see each other... the rehearsal!