Tuesday, September 29, 2020

A Night at the Movies


This past weekend, Ward and I went to a drive-in movie.  I had never been to one before and a few years ago when I decided that I wanted to try one, they were almost extinct.  But the pandemic has changed that. Some very enterprising people in a nearby town set up a drive-in at the local fairgrounds. 

On an impulse, we loaded the car with sandwiches and popcorn on Saturday night and headed out to fulfill one of the things on my bucket list. Having never been to a drive-in, I only knew what I had seen in the movies. However, Ward remembers going a few times as a kid. His family had a station wagon and after the first kid friendly movie of the double feature played, the kids were supposed to go to sleep in the back while their parents watched the next movie. One night he remembers his mother was upset with the content of the second movie and told the kids to turn around and not look at the screen. Well, that got Ward's curiosity up and he watched every chance he got. He wasn't sure what his mother was concerned about, but he knew it must be good.

 So my vision was cars lined up in rows watching a movie. Well, it didn't quite work like that. While the cars were in a row, they only used every other space so each car had clear space around all four sides. And they asked if you wanted to be front facing or tailgating.  We hadn't even considered that option. As it turns out many of the cars had their backs lifted and sat outside their car in lawn chairs while listening to the speaker in their car during the movie. Before hand, there were several picnics going on,  but everyone stayed close to their group. 

All of that was well and good until the movie started and the raised car backs were blocking my view. However, that was only a minor problem which Ward fixed by adjusting the car slightly. And I say minor compared to what happened when we tried to leave after the first movie. Our car wouldn't start.

Some how the immobilizer got activated and it did its job. Our car was immobilized. Our first thoughts were how were we going to get a tow truck into the middle of the lot where we were parked and how that would totally disrupt the movie for all who were watching. But it didn't come to that. After numerous phone calls, a visit from AAA, and help from several security guards, we got the car running. Not before the AAA person said that he couldn't fix it and had called a tow truck. Luckily we were able to cancel the truck before it arrived. So all's well that ends well.

So what did I think of my first drive-in movie experience? It was enjoyable and I would do it again. The best parts were the people involved. First was the group who made the venue happen. They used the otherwise vacant fairgrounds to bring safe family entertainment to the area not to mention work for local food trucks.  Next was the very helpful staff that got our car started. They searched the internet on their phones for hints, radioed one another for advice, and didn't give up even when the person from AAA essentially said it was hopeless. And with all of that, the big screen movie wasn't too bad, either.

11 comments:

  1. Aack, I think Firefox just lost my comment. Let's try again.

    I had to Google what an immobilizer is. It sounds like a hassle but I am glad you got it resolved and had a fun experience.

    My town has a drive-in theater. We've never gone, as the movies don't typically appeal to us, but I know that people come from all over for a retro-movie experience.

    I worked at a camp during my high school/college summers. On our one day off each week, a favorite activity (probably because none of us had much money) was to go to a drive-in. I saw a lot of mind-numbingly stupid movies but it was fun to hang out with friends.

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    1. The movies that they have been playing are several years old and all on TV now, so it is definitely more for the experience than the actual movie. Also, these days people are looking for something "safe" to do. As far as social distancing, masks, etc., it was very well run.

      There were no drive-ins close to where I grew up, so I never had the experience. However, we did go to the regular movies sometimes--especially in the summer. The movie theater was one of the few places in town that was air conditioned. And there never any first run movies. They played old B movies--maybe some of the same ones you saw on your day off from the camp.

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  2. I'm glad you got to experience a drive-in movie. I have not been to one, myself, but, have heard of them. I am sure you could have done without the excitement of the car getting mmobilized, but, so glad that everyone was helpful and you were able to get the car started, after all.

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    1. Oops! That should have been "immobilized"!

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    2. We have had two different cars breakdown in the last six months and each time the kindness of strangers has by far overshadowed the inconveniences that we experienced. There is a lot of good in this world.

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  3. When I was a teenager there was a drive in not far from my house. We used to pile into the cars on summer nights because during the week day nights they had a price per car rather than per person. The trunk would be stacked with folding lawn chairs and we would sit in front of the car and watch the movie. Of course you could barely hear because the speakers were those old window mount tin sounding models.

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    1. The sound with our car speakers was quite good especially since we were in the car and not outside. The scene you describe of a bunch of teens piling into a car on a summer night is just what I had imagined. Or at least TV and movies told me that was how it used to be.

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  4. There’s a drive in here now, too. They’re only playing one movie called “I can only imagine” which is about a singer named Jeremy Camp. I’m not the biggest fan of him, but the story sounds good. Maybe I can get my mom out the house.

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    1. I think that's a good idea to get your mom out of the house. It's something different. I found the people watching as interesting as the movie.

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  5. What in the world is an immobilizer on the car? An anti theft thing? Never heard of it. I have known a few people who lost expensive keys that somehow cost over $300 to replace. I can't imagine. I've only been to a couple drive in movies in my life. Sounds like fun. But only with several people. Be a bummer alone.

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    1. I had never heard of an immobolizer, either. Yes, it is an antitheft device. We figured that out from the owners mannual. While I had a nice time with my husband, it would be fun to be there with more people.

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What do you think?