A Corvette, a Hellcat, & a Fire Alarm
In September of 2019, I made a trip to South Florida to meet my friend Dawn and a car.
Earlier in 2019, I had engaged in conversations with an online automotive reviewer and adventure journalist (Dawn) who was/is influential in the Instagram space and other online publications, especially for women of color. We established a friendship and agreed to meet to share a meal and discuss our mutual automotive interests. I’d experienced a stressful year, losing 3 childhood friends, and (at that time) 2 relatives. I needed a getaway.
We agreed that I would fly from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale, and I agreed to rent a car for me to drive, and for her to review for her content creation. It seemed a good symbiosis. We initially discussed getting a McLaren. I shopped several sites, including Turo, a few weeks prior, looking for a deal on a McLaren, even if it was the sloooowwweeeessttt one.
I arrived at a big fat NOPE. I could not find a McLaren, of any specification, for less than $8K for a 3-day trip. So, I made an executive decision to secure a Corvette convertible for my trip. The photo in this story is the actual car I rented, courtesy of Enterprise at Fort Lauderdale airport. (Ironically, the cost was only about twice that of a mid-sized sedan. Shout out to Enterprise….) This was the last year of the front-engine Corvette, and my rental was a triple-black convertible with chrome wheels.
And off we went.
I flew from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale on a Friday. The weather was hot, and so was I. After securing my Corvette rental, I stowed my gear and drove to Boca Raton with the A/C on max. I just wanted to get to the hotel and settle in. The car was fast and handled well. I struggled with seeing traffic lights with the convertible top up. I had to bend my neck a bit. Otherwise, all good.
So, I arrived at Hyatt Place, Boca Raton. After signing in at the keypad in the parking garage, I slowly made my way up. It was tight, kind of like a concrete corkscrew. The Corvette felt and drove small, but was actually a pretty long car. It took me a few minutes to work my up to an available parking space.
I backed into the space and paused for a moment to catch my breath. I observed a couple of parking valets milling about.
In retrospect, the following seemed like a good idea: I thought I’d lower the top, to make sure I knew how it worked. Then back up, then back down. Okay….check.
Then, I thought (or so did my lizard brain), “this car has lots more power than my (then) Infiniti. Let’s rev her up and listen to how she sounds?”
Famous last words.
Somehow, one of the valets entered the Hellcat. And, I (I retain my innocence) somehow simultaneously re-started the Corvette…
I heard a loud VROOM from the Corvette. I also heard a loud BOOOOOM from the Hellcat.
Then, I heard different noises.
They were shrill and repetitive.
We had set off the hotel’s fire alarm. I blame the Hellcat, but perhaps it was the combined acoustics of both cars. Either way, I was sitting in a convertible, engine running, with alarms going off.
“I’m going to jail”.
That was my first and only thought, for a couple moments.
Then, I just breathed. I watched and listened. One of the valets was scurrying around, a bit scared, as he yelled at the other one: “DUDE, what did you do?!?!!”
I thought for a second and realized, “Good, I’m off the hook. I’m gonna slowly raise my convertible top, grab my stuff, and slowly walk to the elevator to check in to my room for the next couple nights.”
And, that’s what happened.
Visit my friend Dawn’s content as you wish:
