BayouGal

One of the best parts of taking family vacations growing up was going to drive-in theaters. We watched some great movies on those huge silver screens all across America. You didn't have to ask how to get there, you could easily spot them in most towns. And what a bummer when you saw a good spot, pulled in, only to find the speaker was broken.

Then in high school, drive-ins took on a whole new meaning. ;-)

Anyone got any good stories about your movie experiences growing up?

Statia

Boy, did you dredge up a few memories for me, BayouGal.

I recall going to the drive-in (of which there were very, very few at that time) with my mom's best friend and all her kids. There were too many of us kids to buy popcorn and snacks for, so "the other mom" would pop bags and bags of popcorn (old fashioned style on the stove) before we went and we sneaked in our trunk full of large brown paper grocery bags filled with popcorn (it stayed fresh that way). Not to mention coolers full of sodas and all sorts of other goodies.

Ahhh....the sweetness of lying on the hood of the car, or in the back of a pickup truck with lawn chairs and watching a flick in the open air. Not to mention your own smuggled in goodies for the night.

Thanks for the memories. I only got to do this a couple of times, but it was really, really neat.

AnnMarie_C

Does anyone remember the green mosquito coils? They left a permanent brown stain on the inside of the windshield...and those metal microphones that clipped to the inside of the window! When we went to the movies as kids the four of us usually piled into the back seat of the Ford Falcon in our PJ's ....yes, thanks for the memories, BayouGal!

BayouGal

Yes, I remember the mosquito coils! And that little metal piece that was supposed to hold it up. Oh, the chances we took. LoL It's wonder the wind didn't blow them off the dash and set the car on fire! ;-)

Mary2Go

I spent one summer as a teen trying to figure out ways to sneak into the local drive-in. Pile in people in the trunk, then pretend to get a blanket out while they all crawled out....Entering through the exit etc...I would kill my kids if they got caught doing the same thing!

Kal

Wow...your families could afford a car when you were growing up? #39;(

gomiki

I remember going in pajamas as a little kid. What fun. On Cape Cod (in Wellfleet) there is still a drive-in. All the others are long gone. The land is worth way too much. I love thinking that the kids today will still get some great memories.

P_M

My first memory of a drive-in was when I was around 6 years old we went to see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I was way to young to understand or follow the story, yet it was a fun time anyway because we were at the drive-in, and that within itself was an experience. Now if Mom and Dad had taken us to that movie at a walk-in cinema, we would have gone nuts.

BayouGal

One time we tried to sneak in . . . but we obviously weren't very bright in junior high.

It was still daylight, we got in the trunk but wouldn't let them close it all the way because we were scared, then we all got out (in the daylight) the minute the car stopped. Imagine our surprise when the guy walked up and told us all we'd have to pay! LoL Those poor drive-in employees must have seen it all!

Statia

My first drive-in movie foray was "The Giant Spider Invasion." I was very young and I had nightmares for weeks, needless to say. What the hell were the parents thinking is what I wanna know?

jetset1

Friday nights, Hanford California..

Triple feature horror movies!

kids under 12 got in free.. those who acted stupid also got in free.. my sister and I were good little actresses, and thank goodness my mom saved money and could buy us a pizza to share.

As I got scared, I tried to sleep and hold my ears from the screams on the speaker.. soon enough, mom would take us home.. one time, she forgot to remove the speaker from the window, and the nice guy with a phD in security stopped us to ask if all was well.
The speaker had broken off it's cord and away we went.. mom hit a pheasant on the way, and it's feathers could be seen in the grill of her car on Saturday morning..we would not even brush our teeth that night..
terrified, we'd all make a beeline for our rooms and do a long jump from the doorway to the bed. I slept with covers over head all night, both feet inside.
Thank goodness mom and dad raised us well. They were teachers after all, and knew what was best for us.
In third grade, I saw the Rosemary's baby. In fifth, I had seen the Godfather.
By seventh grade, I was making instructional videos for the military since I had played with garden snakes for much too long.

annesherrod

It was Bambi for me! My siblings were not born yet so it was just me and my parents in the white Ford Fairlane!!

later, when I was a teen (dating) most of the drive-In's around us were gone.

I do not think we ever went to one while on vacation. My sister ,today ,tries to find them on her road trips to take her children to. They love it!

Fodorite018

I remember being very little, and we would go out to dinner, then to the drive-in. Of course that was when there were cartoons before the feature, so my brother and I would watch the cartoons, then we had to go to the back of the station wagon and go to bed while our parents watched the feature.

In high school we had one nearby as well. It was a hicktown, so we all parked near the drive-in, then piled into a couple big trucks (sitting on lots of cases of beer, shhh!) and headed in. There was a playground there too, so it was like a big party.

We are very fortunate as we have an operating drive-in about 5 minutes from us. It is a lot of fun to go, and the kids enjoy it. They don't realize what a unique experience it is anymore. But, they charge per person instead of by carload.

annesherrod--Tell her to Oregon! Newberg, which is about 30 minutes from Portland and where our wine country begins, has a great drive-in that shows brand new movies.

starrsville

Here's a story from today. A daughter reopened her daddy's drive-in on the 50th anniversary of the original opening

http://tigerdrivein.com/_wsn/page5.html

Now, a story from 50 years ago. Money was tight, so trips to the drive-in were regular when I was a kid. We'd eat at home. Mom would pop a grocery bag full of popcorn and fill a huge Tupperware bucket full of water. We'd put on PJ's and climb in the station wagon. I'd just see the very beginning of the movie - crawl to the back with my head resting on the pillow on the tailgate...and listen to the movie and my family...and watch the stars until I fell asleep.

I bet my parents have no idea what a great memory that is. I need to tell them.

pepper131

I hardly remember it..I was 4 or 5 yrs old and went with my parents. The first show was a cartoon; the second show was an adult movie - like a PG or R movie..not "adult". Anyway, we had a Vega, so my sister and I slept in the back after the cartoon.

If SusieTrue reads this - It was in Midland out Bay City Rd; I wonder what's there now.

In the spring I took my kids to a drive-in in Granbury, TX - Curious George and the Larry the Cable Guy movie. It's an original drive-in called the Brazos. We had a blast.

cd

I was 14 and my (now) husband was 16 when we started dating. Drive-in movies were about the only thing he could afford. We would buy a chicken dinner and take it with us and have dinner and a movie and then we would make-out.

We would sometimes double date with friends and the couples would take turns getting into the trunk. We never got caught as we shut the trunk and waited until dark.

travgina

pepper131, I don't know about the one on Bay City Road in Midland, but the Starlite Drive-In on Midland Road in Bay City closed about 20 years ago.I think it was 1984, when I first returned from living in California for 20 years, that I went there for the last time. An experience most of today's kids will never have!

pepper131

travgina -

You got me researching...sometimes I get confused since I left Midland in '88.
It was the Sunset in Midland; I remember sitting on a hill near the drive-in watching movies in high school with friends...we couldn't hear a thing, though.

http://michigandriveins.com/summary.asp?region=1

SuzieTrue

pepper131,

It's a big empty lot right now. The new Civic Ice Arena is across Bay City Road with a new jail to be added soon. I can imagine that some restaurants or a strip mall will one day occupy that spot.

SuzieTrue

cmcfong

Y'all need to come to Mt.Airy, NC. We have a drivein right on US 52 so it is easy to find. First run movies, popcorn, hot dogs, THE WORKS.
And if you want, you can wear your pj's. DH and I do...and we take the dogs! Date night in Mayberry.