Friday, March 25, 2016

Drive In Theater

I think we are missing out now a days.  Remember the old Drive In Theaters?  The one in Park Rapids has given way to a housing development.

As teenagers It used to be great fun sneaking a bunch of kids in.  One time Far Guy and John were driving and Rhonda and I hid under a blanket on the floor of the back seat.  All of a sudden the guys took off hollering “You will never catch us” as the tires spun gravel into the air. WELL…the Drive In was closed and they were just fooling us. Rhonda and I laughed so hard we almost peed our pants.

There is a remnant of a Drive In Theater over at Wadena.

Wadena Drive In 

We stopped to take photos last summer.

Snack Shack

The “Snack Shack/Projection Building/Bathroom” building could still be seen.

I recall as a youngster playing on the swings and teetertotters at some Drive Ins before the movie started and the bugs got bad.

Later as a young couple it was an affordable night out.  We would dress the girls in their pajamas and grab their pillows and blankets.  Taking a paper bag of popcorn from home and koolaid in a jar….a date night where we didn’t need a babysitter.

Blog Signature

29 comments:

Country Gal said...

Yeah those were the days . Over here there is still one drive in theater going and it is still popular . . Thanks for sharing , have a good weekend and a Happy Easter .

Georgina said...

Of course I've seen Drive Ins in the movies but we never had them in the UK. Or not that I know of. It gets dark too late and after dark it gets cold very quickly so not so much of a fun night out. Might as well do it in winter when everyone would be sensibly dressed and there wouldn't be any bugs.
I feel I've missed out.

linda m said...

I grew up with Drive Ins. My parents did the same thing; dressed us kids in our PJ's; filled a bag with popcorn; and packed some Kool Aid and off to the Drive In on a Friday night. It was fun and inexpensive. I won't go into my adventures there as a teenager. Miss those Drive In days! Have a wonderful weekend.

DJan said...

I remember drive ins from my own youth, but it's been so incredibly LONG since then I had forgotten about them until you reminded me and woke up all those long ago memories. :-)

thecrazysheeplady said...

There are still two drive ins around here. I'll try to remember to check them out this summer.

Paul said...

Taking a trip to Callaway to see the carnage there? When the Soo Line tangles with a propane tanker it is a mess. Nothing compared to Weyauwega though.

Tired Teacher said...

I loved going to the Drive-in, too. There were two in my town: Knight's Drive-in and West Drive-in. Both closed in the 70s or early 80s. They always had a fireworks show on the Fourth of July. Fun times.

Jenn Jilks said...

We have one right around the corner from us!

Linda W. said...

Oh yeah....I used to love going to the drive in. It's sad that there are not many left anymore.

Mac n' Janet said...

I remember drive-ins well, my husband and I use to go to them when we were dating.

Terry and Linda said...

We have two in our small town. One still shows show late spring to early fall, the other one is rusting away. When the one that still shows shows is showing a show every slot is taken. A very popular place, I must say.

Linda

Jan said...

I've never understood why they went out of style. So many reasons to go to them.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Hi Paul, I think Fire Crews are still there so we will stay away:(

Henny Penny said...

I remember going to drive-in theaters too. There is one in Henderson, about twenty minutes from us. We've talked about going, but probably never will.

Rita said...

Ahhh! I remember watching South Pacific and Old Yeller from the backseat in my pajamas. Managed to find a drive-in still open in Mpls to Bring Dagan when he was a kid so he'd have the experience. Maybe they stopped making enough money during the summers to keep the places open. Sad to see them vanish one by one.

Red said...

People have many memories about drive ins and all the antics carried on. Now wonder the poor old drive ins went broke! Well they didn't just go broke. Technology caught up to them and put them out of business.

Sam I Am...... said...

I know I'm getting old and emotional but if i make it to heaven, those are the days I want to go back to....literally..."the good old days".

Granny Marigold said...

You've sure made us all take a trip down memory lane. Those definitely were the good 'ol days.

Linda said...

We had one in town too......the Bossman and I went once....the movie was called White Buffalo I recall.

Intense Guy said...

I saw the first Star Wars movie in a drive in. It was the last movie I recall seeing in one! (c. 1982-ish)?

Patsy said...

The good old days!

Unknown said...

We used to have a couple drive-ins here but they didn't get much use in the winter time! Maybe that is why we don't have one anymore.

Primitive Stars said...

One of my favorite memories of childhood, drive in theatre. Thanks Francine.

Jan said...

Used to go there with my parents-they put us in the back seat in our pajamas with a bag of popcorn and we were always asleep before the movie ended. Sometimes, we even got to sit on the top of the car when we were older!

L. D. said...

The only drive in movie that I have ever been to was in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. It was a black and white bad movie but it was fun. We both fell asleep before the movie was done. That was 40 years ago. We still have one intact in East Des Moines.

Linda Reeder said...

This post brought back memories. We didn't go often, but I do remember playing on the swings before the movie. I'm sure the younger siblings, the babies, were in their jammies.

Paula said...

Just today I was writing about My First Date (it is for the A to Z Challenge) and we went to a drive in movie. What fun those were. Our kids definitely miss out!

MTWaggin said...

I adored the drive in theater and yes we are indeed missing out - on so many things that brought families together!

Monica said...

I miss the drive-in theaters, too. Would you consider sending the photos to Cinematour.com? They are documenting current and closed theaters. I don't see any photos for this one on their website.