Celebrating Drive in’s

Both dining  and movie. 

Im lucky in that I have a neighborhood drive in                    (dining)   That every Thursday has a car show.  You go there have a dinner and check out the street rods,  hot rods, antique cars, collector cars, restored cars, street race cars, sports cars, etc. 

The only movie drive in I know of is all the way across town and pretty run down. 

How about others?  How many drive ins are still around.  Mind you I’m not talking about fast food places with a drive through window but the actual menus and speakers next to  each car. 

Sonic seems to be doing OK for itself here in Georgia.

We've also got the Varsity in downtown Atlanta, one of the drive ins that's somehow managed to be like a museum piece or re-creation of the way drive ins used to be before national chains - in both the good and the bad ways.

We have a drive-in movie theater on the south side of town here. I don't know how it's doing repair-wise, but amazingly enough it's still open! I just checked their schedule and they have Solo playing at 2:05am on Friday and Saturday. (Well, I suppose Saturday and Sunday really.) How cool is that? A 2am movie!

In reply to dculberson :

Neat!  I’d love to do something like that!

We've now got 3 drive ins - Dining style.

2 are owned by the same people called Lou's. They have their original location in Peoria, which is seasonal, and have recently opened a second location across the river, my side of the river, in a closed down Sonic  location which I believe is going to be open year round since they now have a drive through.

Close by, in Pekin, we have Cranwill's, which is seasonal, operating out of an old A&W stand.

All are known to have pretty good food.  Now I'm kinda getting hungry!

Years ago, I had just finished putting an FJ40 together and thought it would be fun to take it to Cranwill's with no top, doors or windows to hang the tray from. The waitress didn't bat an eye, she just handed me the tray and walked away.

I didn't think that one through very well.

In reply to SaltyDog : mine is a family owned place. They sells pumpkins in October and Christmas trees from Thanksgiving until Christmas. Then disappears until about Memorial Day. 

frenchyd said:

Im lucky in that I have a neighborhood drive in (dining)   That every Thursday has a car show.  You go there have a dinner and check out the street rods,  hot rods, antique cars, collector cars, restored cars, street race cars, sports cars, etc.. 

Did you go there last night?  I understand there was supposed to be a big gathering at the Minnetonka drive-in for early arrivers in town for the Back to the 50s show at the fairgrounds

There used to be a pretty good drive-in on highway 7 in Hopkins, called Wagner's.  It had been there for 50 or 60 years.  It was bought by Steve Schussler in 2009 and renamed as the Galaxy, but unfortunately it closed a couple years ago.

stuart in mn said:

frenchyd said:

Im lucky in that I have a neighborhood drive in (dining)   That every Thursday has a car show.  You go there have a dinner and check out the street rods,  hot rods, antique cars, collector cars, restored cars, street race cars, sports cars, etc.. 

Did you go there last night?  I understand there was supposed to be a big gathering at the Minnetonka drive-in for early arrivers in town for the Back to the 50s show at the fairgrounds

There used to be a pretty good drive-in on highway 7 in Hopkins, called Wagner's.  It had been there for 50 or 60 years.  It was bought by Steve Schussler in 2009 and renamed as the Galaxy, but unfortunately it closed a couple years ago.

Sorry too many things to do.  Dock finally got put in and they dropped the Pontoon off at the boat launch so SWMBO wanted to go for a cruise.  

Looks to be the same for this weekend, although maybe if I get up early enough Sunday !!!! 

There are two drive-in theaters within a half hour of Altoona, PA (Carroltown and Portage). The ones in town closed in the early-mid 80s, and are now a strip mall and a warehouse complex. 

We have no drive-in food, because Altoona is lame. We keep hoping for even a Sonic, but it keeps not happening. 

SaltyDog wrote:

Close by, in Pekin, we have Cranwill's, which is seasonal, operating out of an old A&W stand.

All are known to have pretty good food.  Now I'm kinda getting hungry!

Years ago, I had just finished putting an FJ40 together and thought it would be fun to take it to Cranwill's with no top, doors or windows to hang the tray from. The waitress didn't bat an eye, she just handed me the tray and walked away.

I didn't think that one through very well.

 

I remember Cranwill's! We lived on Fourth St. and  my wife and daughter would get the Alligator there.

snailmont5oh said:

There are two drive-in theaters within a half hour of Altoona, PA (Carroltown and Portage). The ones in town closed in the early-mid 80s, and are now a strip mall and a warehouse complex. 

We have no drive-in food, because Altoona is lame. We keep hoping for even a Sonic, but it keeps not happening. 

Any car events going on there?  Since drive-ins are about cars you’d think they would be a great place for car guys to show off their cars.  

SaltyDog said:

We've now got 3 drive ins - Dining style.

2 are owned by the same people called Lou's. They have their original location in Peoria, which is seasonal, and have recently opened a second location across the river, my side of the river, in a closed down Sonic  location which I believe is going to be open year round since they now have a drive through.

Close by, in Pekin, we have Cranwill's, which is seasonal, operating out of an old A&W stand.

All are known to have pretty good food.  Now I'm kinda getting hungry!

Years ago, I had just finished putting an FJ40 together and thought it would be fun to take it to Cranwill's with no top, doors or windows to hang the tray from. The waitress didn't bat an eye, she just handed me the tray and walked away.

I didn't think that one through very well.

 

So, do you go there for the food or to see interesting cars?  

There is a Sonic in town, but there's never anybody there even on their Monday car cruise nights. The super close drive in was leveled to become a CVS, but there's a really nice one not too far away.

3 screens, a really great snack bar, and double features every night. When I actually go out see movies, I go there. Cheaper than a regular theater and a lot more fun. I'm looking forward to little tyke being big enough to go. 

In reply to frenchyd :

I don't know if they have any type of a cruise in at any of them. Seems that they're missing an opportunity if not.

We have a drive in for movies between Lexington & Aiken in Monetta. It's just off I-20.

The Big Mo

In reply to secretariata :

That’s neat.  Maybe drive-in’s  could  hold Car club meetings there to increase attendance 

We have one in Unadilla, NY.   Kind of no frills, but makes for a pleasant summer evening for me and the Mrs..

I remember growing up we would go to the Free Christian Drive-in on the south side in Columbus, OH. I was the youngest of 5 so I'd imagine a lot of that had to do with the cost, though my dad was a preacher he didn't require us to all have Christian entertainment. Some of the scariest movies I saw growing up were at that theater. It was open from 1956 to 2005 - hard to believe. I would have been going in the early 80s maybe? We didn't live in Columbus much, just had family here, so I'm not sure when we went.

In Missouri  off route 66...friend of mine and his teenage so took 2 week road trip from St Louis  to Santa Monica a few weeks ago in freshly restored 1960 c2 corvette. 

Now THAT is how to watch a movie! 

I love the Drive-In.  We make a day of it because we do have to drive a good hour or so to get to it.  But for the money you really can't beat it.  Two to three movies (Three if it is a long weekend) normally good ones that we want to see.  My kids have grown up at this place, even stating that the memories they have are good ones that they will share with their kids.  As the time has gone on, our Drive-In has gone through improvements.  A revitalization of sorts. If my classic car had a radio, it would be there for the classic movie nights they have. 

Mike924 said:

I love the Drive-In.  We make a day of it because we do have to drive a good hour or so to get to it.  But for the money you really can't beat it.  Two to three movies (Three if it is a long weekend) normally good ones that we want to see.  My kids have grown up at this place, even stating that the memories they have are good ones that they will share with their kids.  As the time has gone on, our Drive-In has gone through improvements.  A revitalization of sorts. If my classic car had a radio, it would be there for the classic movie nights they have. 

 

That’s exactly the reason I posted  this. What is the name and location of your drive in? You said they have classic car night? How do they celebrate/reward those who come in their classic cars?  What are some of the Great classic cars you’ve seen there?  

The Drive-In we go to is called Port Elmsley Drive in. (http://portelmsleydrivein.com/)

I have seen lots of American Muscle.  Mustangs, Camaros etc...   There was one Mustang owner a 1970's Mach 1 guy, who would park his car, set up a bug free shelter, take his radio out and sit with his lawn chairs and kids.  Great setup he had. 

As for the rewards, basically it is a night setup by the Classic Car club, the book the night, they would show Classic films; American Grafitti, Smokey and The Bandit etc..  Plus they reduce the price of admission.  :)

I was back in Chicagoland last week, and drove past the Cascade Drive-In (West Chicago)  as cars were lining up to get in.    I'm happy it still exists.   Many good times at that drive-in while in High School. 

Cascade Drive-in Theatre

We have a surprising number of drive-in theaters in the Pocono area of PA:

I've been to Shankweiler's at least once, Becky's a few times and have driven past Mahoning countless times.  I didn't know about the other ones pictured.

For drive-in diners, I can only think of Sonic and how well they do is sporadic.  The one closest to me in lower Bucks Co. closed after maybe 5 years and was torn down a few months ago.