what the???

i found this picture of myself today and had to ask myself, what the crap is wrong with me? why must i always look like i am a retarded person who just got off of the short bus?

(listening to "Tiptoe through the Tulips" by Tiny Tim)

holiday drive-in

ahhh, the drive-in. remember those? sadly, most of them are now gone and have been flattened by the newest Super Wal-Mart. if you think about it, we are destroying a little part of American history, one theatre at a time, as more and more of these relics are forgotten about and fall into disrepair. i would love to have been alive during their heyday, to celebrate this unique way to go to the movies. recently, while on vacation, i was able to journey back through time to experience going to the drive-in. i went with my husband, his dad and sister (polly too!) to the holiday auto-theatre in hamilton, ohio to take in a double feature.

polly and her dad, on their way to the drive-in

Rebound and Mr. & Mrs. Smith were playing, and even though i had already seen the later, it was going to be fun to watch them in such a cool environment.

after driving for an hour we finally saw the sign that let us know we had arrived. i was prettty sure that we weren't going to see another sign like this in the cornfield that we were driving through!

as we turned the corner and the screen peeked into view i became extremely excited. memories of past visits to establishments such as this, came into my head. Spaceballs and Superman IV were the movies being shown on my first visit to a drive-in. the year was 1987 and i was only nine years old. i remember peering at the giant screen watching Spaceballs from the backseat of my parents' car. i was eating popcorn while covered up with a ridiculous amount of blankets, and surrounded by every pillow that i could stuff into the backseat while still having enough room for my brother to sit. i didn't make it through both movies. i fell asleep during Superman. but i sure did try to stay awake for both, because i didn't want to miss out on such a cool movie-going experience.

anyway, back to my most recent encounter. it was a beautiful night for watching a movie outdoors. the temperature was not too warm and not too cool, but just perfect. after settling on a spot, we tuned the stereo to the right station, set out chairs and prepared the suv by layering blankets and pillows in the back cab. we sat around chatting and listening to old radio programs that were being piped through the loud speakers. one in particular, probably from the 1950's, was a man reciting the pledge of allegiance and talking about what it meant to him. it doesn't get more american than that... let's hit the refreshment stand!

while in the snack bar, i met a wonderful worker there named Debbie. she was very sweet and told me that i could take pictures of anything that i wanted, except for the screen after the movies had started. she even let me take a picture of her! i told her that she would be on my blog, but she didn't know what a blog was, so i promised to send her some pictures via the postal service.

the refreshment stand was so cool. it still had some of the original displays that continued to be used to present and sell food.

if i can speak candidly, and since i know that debbie will probably never be tech-savvy enough to search and find my blog, then i must say that the food sucked and was way over priced. no candy! can you believe that? i know, how could i survive, right? candy takes up 5 out of 6 of my basic food groups. luckily, it was such a cool atmosphere that my hungry belly didn't mind going without sustenance for a little bit longer.

jenn at the snack bar

vintage speaker

this drive-in didn't have any in working order, but one was on display.

the rules never apply to me!

everyone is ready for the show...

polly too!

during the intermission, we hit the snack bar one last time.

overall, it was a great time. both of the movies were good, and what could have been an ordinary night of going to the movies, really became an event that was unique and special with a family that i love and cherish. it was so much fun!

going to the drive-in is rad!