Shankweiler’s Drive-In – Photo: L. Weikel

A Pandemic Pleasure

If we squint hard enough, every now and then we can discover a sweet spot in our lives that Covid-19 has either made possible or highlighted from another era. One such bonus to society, actually, is the resurgence of drive-in movie theaters. We could almost call our experience this evening a pandemic pleasure.

Part of the reason going to a drive in movie nowadays (as opposed to when I was a teenager) is actually a delight is the digital experience and the ability to have the audio delivered via radio. Does anyone reading this remember the speakers that were attached to the poles along each parking space?

More saliently, does anyone remember a time when those speakers weren’t dilapidated pieces of heavy metal crap with severed wires hanging from a vast majority of them? The audio on those speakers was abysmal, all crackly and only sporadically audible.

Just as I was growing up and coming of age drive-ins were becoming passé. They were falling into a state of disrepair. Malls were being built and movie complexes alongside them. Everything was changing with movies.

I do remember watching Jaws with my mom, older sister and brother-in-law, and their kids. We were at the drive-in theater in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. It was the ‘perfect’ summer movie to watch when all we did was basically live on the beach and swim in the ocean all day!

Tonight’s Feature

I have to say, though, tonight’s adventure at Shankweiler’s (America’s oldest drive-in!) was an absolute delight. Because they’d scoped it out earlier in the season, my son and daughter-in-law knew exactly what to do to transform a ‘movie night’ into a pandemic pleasure. They knew just how early we needed to get there to snag a great location (although there probably aren’t any bad locations at Shankweiler’s – it truly is a sweet location).

It’s been at least nine months since we saw a movie. And even though local indoor theaters are open, I personally have no desire to roll the dice for a chance to sit inside a building with pretty much anyone to watch a movie I could rent at home.

But going to the drive-in tonight was so much fun! We each contributed to a delicious tailgater’s evening of snacks and salads and then watched as the sun set and the stars came out. The weather couldn’t have been better. While the three of them got comfy in chairs set out in front of and between our two cars (which were all spaced out with double the room due to social distancing rules), I made myself a nest of blankets and pillows.

We watched Bill and Ted Face the Music, which was a cute, campy movie. I have to admit, it made me sigh a little deeper to realize that the original in the series, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure came out 31 years ago. Holy cow.

We had two little kids at that time, so we didn’t got to see it in the theater. But I know for sure that we rented it (and probably watched it on a VCR also rented from the video store!).

Wow, have things changed. And yet…here we are. I don’t know what the stats are, but I’ll bet drive-in theaters are doing extremely well this year. It’s a pity the drive-in we used to take our sons to down in Warrington is now a Lowe’s parking lot. That makes me sad.

 

One Last Thing

The old fashioned interludes they play on the big screen both prior to the main feature and then at the intermission between films are worth the price of admission. They’re hilarious. Here’s a still from one of the ones that graced the screen tonight. Seriously.

If you have a chance to go to a drive-in this fall, go! Especially while the summer weather is still around and the hint of a cool fall breeze is just becoming a feature of its own. It’s a veritable pandemic pleasure. And a super way to spend some socially distant time with friends or family in the great outdoors.

(T-446)