Some couples celebrate their anniversary with a horse-drawn carriage ride. Others rent a romantic cabin in the woods. A few even jet off to Las Vegas and renew their vows in front of Elvis.
Lori Kelly and her husband Gene recently marked their second anniversary by touring a West Virginia spa-resort on a Segway.
"It was absolutely fantastic. It is really the ultimately unique experience, especially for people my age," said Kelly, 59. Her husband is 64. "It gives you the flavour of adventure with very little threat of injury."
The Segway, first introduced a decade ago as an alternative mode of personal transportation, is getting a new life at a growing number of resorts around the world. It works like this: Lean forward to move forward. Lean backward to go in reverse. Move the handlebars, and it turns left or right. Pretty simple.
The device never quite took off as an everyday way to get around, but it has found a niche replacing city walking tours and helping security guards patrol shopping malls. And now, hotels with sprawling grounds are finding the Segway to be a great way to show guests around their properties. The devices are quirky enough to be an attraction in their own right.
Prices generally range from $60 to $125 per person.
Most resorts have minimum age requirements and only allow guests between 100 pounds and 260 pounds to participate.
The Segway can go up to 20 km/h, but tours often go slower.
Most hotels start their tours with a practice session in an empty parking lot or open space.
At The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, just outside San Francisco, visitors travel on a trail that hugs the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, offering seemingly endless views of the California coast.
