Beem Weeks's Blog - Posts Tagged "drive-in-theaters"
Drive-In Movies
I just spent the past few hours Googling long-gone drive-in theaters from my area. It's amazing what we are able to do with today's technology. With only a handful of keystrokes, I was able to pull up pictures of lost relics I visited during those wonderful summer nights of the 1970s and 1980s.
Mingled with those ancient photographs were stories from others who recalled similar glory days spent seated in cars, watching films we now deem classics--or corny. "Let's all go to the lobby and have ourselves a snack."
Early on it was family time at those shows. But then the teenage years with those brand new hormones lured us to the drive-in, apart from prying parents, putting us in the mindset for some kissing, maybe, hoping to get past second base with that someone special.
It became an event, an American tradition played out all summer long across this great nation. And it didn't matter the era, either--50s, 60s, 70s, or 80s. It played out the same.
The movies had little to do with the adventure. There are few films I can recall once I reached those teen years. Maybe there'd be a carload of buddies going there, a case of beer in the trunk, ideas of meeting girls in our heads. And most of the time there were girls with those same crazy notions of meeting guys. They call it hooking up today. We just called it fun.
The older we get, the more we reach back for a quick touch from the past. "What were those girls names we met that time in 1984? You know, the night we went to see Red Dawn?" Old friends remind me, "Pam, Vanessa, and Cheryl." True story--though I won't go into details.
Like youth, those old spots vanish with time, victim to the wrecking crew, replaced by the modern. There was a drive-in just outside of Lansing, Michigan, called the Crest. Family entertainment--until 1973. That's when it became an adult movie theater. Funny thing is, it was torn down and replaced by a Catholic church. How's that for messing with somebody's memories? Of course, I never went there after it ceased being family oriented. Truth. But all those other drive-in theaters that once dotted the landscape maintain a hold on my fondest memories--even if they are gone.
I miss those days. I'm sure many others miss those days as well. Kids today will never know the great fun of a drive-in movie beneath the stars on a warm summer night. And maybe that's not such a bad thing, either. It's something that belongs only to those of us who lived it.
Mingled with those ancient photographs were stories from others who recalled similar glory days spent seated in cars, watching films we now deem classics--or corny. "Let's all go to the lobby and have ourselves a snack."
Early on it was family time at those shows. But then the teenage years with those brand new hormones lured us to the drive-in, apart from prying parents, putting us in the mindset for some kissing, maybe, hoping to get past second base with that someone special.
It became an event, an American tradition played out all summer long across this great nation. And it didn't matter the era, either--50s, 60s, 70s, or 80s. It played out the same.
The movies had little to do with the adventure. There are few films I can recall once I reached those teen years. Maybe there'd be a carload of buddies going there, a case of beer in the trunk, ideas of meeting girls in our heads. And most of the time there were girls with those same crazy notions of meeting guys. They call it hooking up today. We just called it fun.
The older we get, the more we reach back for a quick touch from the past. "What were those girls names we met that time in 1984? You know, the night we went to see Red Dawn?" Old friends remind me, "Pam, Vanessa, and Cheryl." True story--though I won't go into details.
Like youth, those old spots vanish with time, victim to the wrecking crew, replaced by the modern. There was a drive-in just outside of Lansing, Michigan, called the Crest. Family entertainment--until 1973. That's when it became an adult movie theater. Funny thing is, it was torn down and replaced by a Catholic church. How's that for messing with somebody's memories? Of course, I never went there after it ceased being family oriented. Truth. But all those other drive-in theaters that once dotted the landscape maintain a hold on my fondest memories--even if they are gone.
I miss those days. I'm sure many others miss those days as well. Kids today will never know the great fun of a drive-in movie beneath the stars on a warm summer night. And maybe that's not such a bad thing, either. It's something that belongs only to those of us who lived it.
