Last night I surprised David with a Date Night at the Drive-In movies. Yep, here in SoCal we still have authentic, functioning drive-in movie theaters and I managed to keep David in the dark about my plan. I’m not sure if many of you old skool readers will recall but a few years ago, David and I enjoyed a drive-in movie in NYC, NY at a now-defuct theater called Driv-IN. As you may recall, that place was basically a vintage car parked in a garage where movies were projected onto a screen in the heart of Manhattan. Last night’s date was much more authentic and entirely fun.
We made our way to Montclair, CA to the Mission Tiki Drive-In Theater for a double feature of Snow White and the Huntsman and Battleship. Mission Tiki gets new movies as soon as they open and you get to watch 2 movies for the price of one admission ticket … $7 per person. David and I finally got to see Snow White and, for the most part, we enjoyed it. As expected, the scenes with Charlize Theron were the highlight. The movie is a bit bloated and could’ve benefitted from a half-hour of editing but, all in all, we were quite entertained. Honestly, I think the experience of watching the film at a drive-in theater might’ve added to our enjoyment. Battleship, on the other hand, was quite atrocious. We could only stand about 10 minutes of the movie before we decided to leave for home. We really loved the Mission Tiki theater and we plan to go back again soon. BUT, there is another drive-in theater in the area called the Vineland Drive-In Theater that we would like to check out, as well. We are so lucky … many parts of the US no longer have access to any drive-in theaters at all … and we have 2 to choose from. I just love LA.
Tonight, I’m hoping to make my way downtown for a fun double feature of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the original film) and The Craft. I officially start my marathon training early tomorrow morning but I think I can swing going out tonight and still attend my training session in the AM. We shall see. Happy Weekend!!
I remember the “drive in” date in NYC! Glad you got to to an authentic drive-in theatre. It’s an experience everyone should have at least once. :)
We have a drive in near us and I haven’t been a while but I love it when I do. Cheap, you can take in your own food and alcohol. When the kids were babies we could take them and they would sleep through the movie but if they woke up we didn’t have to worry about annoying everyone else. There should be more of them!
There’s Skyline Drive-In in Barstow (on your way to Vegas). :)
There are hardly any drive-ins in Australia any more. Such a shame as they were great venues to watch movies. I haven’t been since about 1984 and none of my kids have ever been except for my oldest who was just a baby. A whole generation missing out on such a fantastic experience.
Jealous. I’m really not a fan of movies (weird, I know–much more a TV person), but the drive-in was always the best. There was one down the street from my house (basically). It was so sad when it closed 5 or so years ago. I was just thinking the other night how much I miss it. That was the very best way to watch a movie.