SURREY NIGHT FEVER

THE CITY For the customers of Doubletree Farms surrey captain RODNEV (LAREDO) SALAZAR, a night in the city passes lightly under an open sky bubbling with stars, and the gentle rocking and swaying of his carriage always kindles moods of love and randy frolic, For three years, Salazar, 23, has been surreying lovers from the West End, through downtown, past Dealey Plaza and the Old Red Courthouse. A longer ride takes them as far as Union Station.

Women, he says, do things in the surrey they wouldn’t ordinarily do. “Three good-looking girls pooled their money one night for a tour around town,” he says. “As soon as I rounded the corner, they asked if they could give me a tip with something other than money.

’Sure,’ I said. So within seconds they had stripped down to their panties. The next thing 1 know, all three of them are sitting in my lap.”

One night. Salazar says, a rival surrey owner was following him, “trying to catch us doing something illegal, running a stop sign or something. He was shooting us with a video camera and he caught the attention of one of the girls in the coach, so she stands up and pulls up her skirt and flashes the guy.”

On another occasion, Salazar picked up a couple of American Airlines pilots and their dates. “Pretty soon, one of the pilots says. ’Are you the captain of this ship?”

“He says he wants me to ’marry’ them so they can go to their hotel and ’consummate the marriage.’ So I stop and we all stand up and recite the vows. They promise to love, honor and obey for one night, and I pronounce them husbands and wives for a night.”

According to Salazar, even conservative, married couples are sometimes moved to leave their inhibitions at the curb. “I hear whispering and feel the coach wobbling, look around and Mr. and Mrs. Middle America are trading places in the back seat. When the ride is over they swap back and go on their way as if nothing had happened.”