Snappy

It was August, 1986. Carmen's friends from New Orleans were coming to visit us in Vero Beach. This, of course, meant a trip to Disney World, standing in long lines in stiffling heat. Fun. So we went to meet them at Orlando Airport, about a hundred miles away. The way I knew best was US192 from Melbourne to Ashton, and SR15 through Narcoossee to the Beeline (SR528) to the airport. So that's how we went. On our way we were suddenly entranced by Narcoossee, seeing it as a place we wanted to get to know.

Catherine and Felton had their camera out and at the ready coming off the plane. They took pictures of us waiting at the gate (remember when you could do that?) pictures of the airport, pictures of the Snappy Car Rental booth, pictures of the van that took us to the lot, pictures of the car, getting into the car...you get the picture- so did they.

They followed us back to Vero and got situated at the Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge, we had dinner at HoJo's, and then we parted, to get some sleep in preparation for the big day tomorrow.

Tomorrow came. We drove over to HoJo's and knocked on the door to their room. Then we all went out to the Snappy Rent-A-Car and loaded ourselves in. Felton put the key in and turned it. Nothing. He went to the nearest phone and called Snappy. "The car won't start," he told them. The were very sympathetic. "Well, just drive it back over here and we'll give you another one." "But...the car won't start." "What's wrong with it?" "It won't start." "Probably the battery. Get a jumpstart, drive it over here and we'll give you another one." "Thanks for your help."

Luckily, Carmen had jumper cables. It started up, and our first stop on the way to Disney was the Snappy lot on Semoran Ave. near the airport- about twenty miles out of our way. True to their word, they gave Catherine and Felton another car. Nice of them.

The day at Disney was like most days at Disney- crowded and hottern blazes. It was during this fun outing that Carmen felt the first symptom of a disease that is exacerbated by heat: multiple schlerosis. It would be another year before it would be diagnosed as such.

Anyway, at the end of the day, after the Electric Light Parade and fireworks, we were on our way home, toodling down 192. We were hungry, having refused to pay twenty dollars for a hamburger at the park. "Is there a Wendy's anywhere around here?" Catherine asked. We were sure there must be. On we slogged through what we call World World, a long strip of motels, restaurants, tourist attractions and souvenir shops. And on and on, searching for...suddenly all four of us threw up our hands and shouted "WENDY'S"

And so we learned three things that day: where the Wendy's in Kissimmee is, never go to Disney World in August, and never rent a car from Snappy.

Incidentally, six months later, after exploring the area several times, we moved to St. Cloud, just down the road from Narcoossee. We lived there for nine years.