Seeing Richmond on Wheels

Our Own Personal Segway Tour

Sarah and Hunter on Segways with the James River in the background.

96 pieces  |  AUSTERO

Assembled by Hunter Williams, May 2025

Interaction Rating: 4 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged, but use extra care)

November 5, 2023

One weekend in November, when the weather was unseasonably warm, Sarah surprised Hunter with a super secret date. It was so secret that he didn't even know where they were going until they arrived (despite being the one to drive them). Sarah had been on a Segway tour through RVA on Wheel before several different times, and loved it. Hunter had never even been on a Segway, and she wanted him to have the experience before it was too late, since they had stopped making Segways and they might eventually become extinct. When Hunter realized what they were doing that day, he was excited. As they tried on helmets and waited for the rest of the tour group, the guide informed them that no one else had signed up for the tour that day. That meant a private, guided tour for them, far more than they paid for. After spending some time in a side alley so that Hunter could get the hang of riding a Segway, which he did pretty quickly, they graduated to sidewalks and crossing busy Richmond intersections. The tour had begun.

RVA's Street Art

"Graffiti Bus Stop"

514 pieces  |  Funwhole: F9066

Assembled by Vanessa Reyes, March 2025

Interaction Rating: 4 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged, but use extra care)

Because Hunter and Sarah were the only two people on the Segway tour, and both had already seen many of the stops on the usual tour itinerary, the guide offered to take them to see some of the murals for which Richmond is well-known. For the record, the murals they saw were much nicer than the graffiti shown on the set the couple chose to represent this story (but also, for the record, Richmond wishes it had such nice, covered bus stops and would take the graffiti in a heartbeat). They zipped around a vast swath of Richmond, going from Shockoe Bottom to the river canal, over to the Capitol, around to Jackson Ward, and over to the Flood Wall overlooking the James River (very close to Hunter's old apartment building in Manchester) before going back to Shockoe Bottom again. They stopped for some awkward photos, since it's hard not to be a little awkward on a Segway. Hunter was an expert Segway driver after their two-hour tour, and both of them were pretty exhausted. The next surprise Sarah had in store for Hunter was a block down the street: takeout from Richmond's best-known Irish pub, Sinés. They took his car bomb cake and fish and chips back home and watched the World War II drama, All the Light We Cannot See, starring Mark Ruffalo.

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Sarah captured this funny selfie while on the Segway. She surprised Hunter with a custom pair of socks featuring the photo for the following Christmas; they quickly became his favorite socks.

Some of the murals they saw on their Segway tour.