World's Biggest Bookstore

It was always going to be difficult to see Florida without a car,
but my husband Peter was determined that we could do it. So we caught
the plane out to Orlando, and used the free airport transfer to get us
to the hotel.

The problem started the next day. The hotel was nice enough, but after
a relaxed brunch and couple of hours by the pool, I wanted to do some
retail therapy. We looked at the glossy tourists map that were in the
hotel room - "The Worlds Biggest Bookstore" appeared to be just around
the corner from the hotel. Well, Peter and I just love reading. This
was the perfect chance to get some reading for the rest of the holiday,
and maybe take some bargains home with us. Our daughter used to say
that we should take three cases on holiday, one for each of our clothes
and one for the books.

It was a hot afternoon, and we weren't expecting the blast of heat as
we left the air-conditioned hotel foyer. Even with sunglasses on it was
dazzling, and the heat haze from the black tarmac made the horizon
blurred and indistinct. But as we headed away from the hotel and our
eyes adjusted we could see in the distance a huge warehouse type
structure, and there, on a tall masthead was a flag with an open book
printed on it, fluttering half-heartedly in the still air. At least we
knew where we were heading for. Peter looked over at me and smiled -
even after forty years of marriage I've never seen Peter happier than
when he's reading a book, and here we were just moments away from
visiting what claimed to be the ultimate bookstore - we would probably
spend the rest of the day there.

Maybe we were still jetlagged, and our road sense had never been that
great, but we looked to the right before stepping across the road, and
was nearly run over by a speeding Volkswagen coming from the left,
blaring it's horn at us. We managed to cross the carriageway
eventually, and walked the short distance to the edge of the
bookstore.

However, we came up against a steel fence, about eight foot high and
topped with razor wire, they clearly had dangerous books here. Beyond
the fence we could see people getting out of their air-conditioned cars
and scurrying the twenty yards towards our ultimate goal.
We tried do find an entrance to the store, but quickly realised that
there was no way that you could enter the place unless you were in a
car. The carriageway looped and whirled around, depositing customers at
the doorstep, but only if you were in a car.

Defeated, we crossed the road again and trudged back to the cool hotel
lobby, and asked the receptionist to call us a cab to take us the three
hundred yards to the "Worlds Biggest Bookstore."