“Everybody simmer down,” Dad warned. He found a Howard Johnson’s and we piled into a booth with an orange mica table, orange vinyl bench seats and a Wall-O-Matic Jukebox for Pete and I to abuse.
One look around us and I knew that Mister Howard Johnson was a marketing genius. The hot dog buns were grilled with tons of butter. The placemats had maps of Florida with roads and cities and every major attraction. Colorful illustrations made it easy for families to plan their holiday. Glass Bottom Boats. Leaping Porpoises. A pyramid of women in bathing suits riding water skis, Mermaids swimming in a spring?
“ This was going to turn out like Hoss Cartwright said on TV, ‘The Best Vacation Ever’”