The only time I've ever been to a drive-in theater was when I was too young to remember it. It’s been something I've been wanting to check out and see in person for quite a while. While these kinds of things are getting rather hard to find. I not only found one but it was having a double feature with movies I'd be willing to watch.
With how old drive-ins are getting I was expecting the place to be a bit run down. That was an understatement. I do however think in a way it kept a certain charm for the decade that these things were hopping.
I ended up going when The Garfield Movie and IF were playing. I have to say I love Garfield and it’s no shock I loved the movie as well. IF on the other hand cleared out most of the small amount of people remaining long before that movie was over. I only ended up staying for the experience of staying till the end of a double feature.
This place ended up having quite an interesting vibe while going up to it. There was even other business connected to the drive-in as well. Some of them were even open at the time I ended up arriving.
This place also has two screens. The one you pay for is the one you are only supposed to watch. Where I ended up parking you could see both screens if you wanted by just turning around. As they were not back-to-back like I was expecting. Instead, they had one on one end of the place and the other on the other side.
This place also made quite a big deal about how they have not raised rates in quite some time. Instead, they require you to buy a $10 food voucher for use in the concession stand (or a $10 pass to bring in your own food if you have food allergies). Once at the gate, I paid in cash as their website asks you to do as it is better for them.
I ended up arriving a little early since the website also made a big deal about how the movie start time is as stated. That they are first come first serve. Needless to say, I could have arrived a bit late and not missed any of the movies. I could have also still parked anywhere I wanted.
That is a flea market attached to this place. I was told by someone who used to go to drive-in movie during their younger years that flea markets used to be quite a big deal at drive-ins. Something I had no idea about.
A little bit of driving around was done to try and find the perfect spot to get a great view of the movie. They have these metal poles that are color-coordinated for the two screens. At the first spot I was at I discovered I had a hard time seeing the full screen from within the car so we made another lap around the place and parked a bit further back.
What was great to see as we got closer to the start time of the movie was a couple of other families showed up. It looked like it was family night at the movies and the grass area in front of the screen ended up being quite a busy place for kids playing. While adults were talking with each other about how the week was.
Since there was some time to spend before the movie would start. I decided to explore around a bit. There were quite a few things to check at the flea market. It was a lot bigger than I was expecting. It even looked like there was a back area behind the building but I did not go that far.
I just want along the flea market. There was also an arcade room that looked as busy as the drive-in would end up getting with both of the night's screens playing. It was rather cool to see. Since it was quite filled, I did not go inside to get any photos of the games they had.
Before the movie started, I was getting hungry and thought I'd see what options this place had. The original plan was to place an order for pizza and hope it would be ready around the time the movie started.
The concession stand had quite an old-world charm to it on the outside. Even more once I went inside to spend my $10 voucher.
I was not quite sure what I was expecting this place to look like but I say this is around that. It was almost like a time capsule it felt like. It looked like they already had a bunch of food ready to go.
It was also just cool to look around. They had a couple of things to do in here as well.
Once an employee came from the back I attempted to get some pizza. That is when I found out there was only one pizza made for the night and it was already sitting in the window. It was thin crust and not looking that great. I decided to pass.
This also made me start to do a double take of what was already made. The fact that they could not or did not have the stuff to make me a fresh full pizza was a bit disappointing. Even later on in the movie, it looked like a pizza delivery person showed up to drop off some pizzas. They only still had the same sad-looking pizza in the window. Only three slices out of the pizza would end up selling for the night.
Later on, before the movie would start, they would start running commercials for the seafood platters, and pizzas they did not have among many other things. All I can say is I would not trust getting a seafood platter from this place.
I ended up going with a sampler and splitting it with the person I was with. It was a little under $10. It had a couple of onion rings, a couple of mozzarella sticks, some mushroom balls, and fries. There were a couple more of each after splitting it than what I show on my plate above. I was however expecting it to have a bit more for $10. I guess that is where supporting this place through buying food comes into play.
The food was not great. They at least seemed to have made what i ordered fresh. I had to wait a moment for it to get deep-fried. Everything else they had from what I could tell for the evening was already sitting up front. From hot dogs rotating around to things sitting in cases.
Needless to say, I was quite starving. I rather wish I had brought food in. It did not take long to realize that is what most people did. It also seemed like despite the website sounding like they went around kicking out anyone bringing in outside food no one cared.
Well after the first of the double features was already supposed to be started, they turned on the screens. I'm rather glad they waited as for about twenty or so minutes you could not see a thing.
As far as getting sound. With your ticket, they give you the radio station to tune into. They then broadcast to that station around the time the screens are turned on. At first, I thought I was not going to get any sound. The station I was on was correct but it was satellite radio I had. Thankfully after checking into the radio settings, I found a local option for the radio channel, and the sound they were broadcasting started coming in.
Another issue I noticed everyone was having was cars are not like they used to be. It would seem like every 10 to 45 minutes depending on the kind of cars people had they needed to turn them back on. As the radio after a while would turn off.
Thankfully this place was not that busy at least on the screen I was watching. So, you were not constantly getting blasted by headlights every time someone had to turn their car back on and off again to start up their radio.
At least after the sun was setting you could start to see the screen. Before it was dark the movie ended up starting as well. It's a shame they don’t adjust their website for summer and winter viewing times. As it was about half an hour late.
It was to say at least quite an interesting experience. Sitting in a car and watching the movie. Thankfully bugs were not bugging this area too much. As it was a bit of a hot and muggy night. The car windows down were a bit of a requirement.
After a while, I decided I just needed food and went back in at another attempt. I ended up ordering pigs in a blanket (hot dog stuffed into a roll). I’m just glad I did not get sick from the food here. Even more so once I went to visit the bathrooms that were covered in mold and prayed the kitchen was not as bad as the bathrooms.
Before the first movie even ended about half of the cars were slowly starting to take off. I can only assume people had bedtimes. I was kind of shocked people did not at least stay for the first movie.
By the end of the second movie, it was just me and one other person on this side of the drive-in. I looked across to the other side and while their movie was still playing it would end up ending a bit after ours. There were not many people left over there as well.
Final Thoughts
I felt that was a bit of a shame so few were even out here. It’s possible I just ended up going during a slow night. I also can see why there are not many drives-in movie theaters remaining. I could not have possibly seen how they did more than just break if that for the day.
If I were to do this again, I'd bring my food and just pay the $10 for the outside food pass. While I'd like to support the concession stand. The fact they play a bunch of commercials that look as old as this place and talk about new this and new that when they did not even have them. Let alone it must be a decade ago since it was “new.” It was also a little alarming the low turnover of food. I don’t want to know what happens to the four or so hot dogs that were rotating inside that never got bought for the night.
I would also consider getting a battery-powered radio. Draining the car battery till the radio shuts off forcing you to turn the car back on half a dozen times sounds like you are just asking for trouble. I also felt bad every time the lights flashed for a second before the car was off again (which everyone there was also doing.)
I’d also show up a bit later since now I know they don’t start on time. I’ve already seen what the place has to offer. I could see going out and eating somewhere for dinner before coming here. I did not mind being early the first time since I got to explore around a bit.
Final Thoughts
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Photos were taken and content was written by @Enjar about my personal experiences in the real world away from the computer at home.